While the holiday season is around the corner, businesses may struggle with B2B lead generation. Getting high-quality leads becomes a challenge, as closing new deals isn’t the top priority for many businesses. This often prompts B2B businesses to use the time to unwind and rest, causing them to relax their lead engagement efforts. But don’t do this. This article will cover why you should keep running lead generation campaigns during the holidays, and what tips and tricks will help you forge strong B2B relationships.
The challenges of generating leads during the holidays
With team members taking vacation leaves during the holiday season, you may not have enough resources to engage with leads, connect with vendors, and attend meetings. Another major challenge is sticking to your normal rates. With holidays in full swing, your customers are scouting for steep discounts, and hunting for the best holiday offers from other businesses. Your buyer’s behavior is unique in this period, and so should your lead engagement efforts.
Besides, you may also get a cold response from prospective leads. Either they’re busy sorting end-of-the-year reports and budgets or planning next year’s. Or they’re simply too busy embracing the holiday spirit to be hunting new business partners
Reasons not to stop generating leads during the holidays
Planning and crafting a well-researched holiday lead gen and marketing offer can help you close qualified leads. Below are reasons why this is the right time to gear up for the upcoming season with a winning holiday marketing strategy and get high-quality leads.
Prospects are looking to close key gaps
In the last few months of the year, senior-level executives are busy designing next year’s plans. They’re actively hunting for gaps to fill, and solutions to improve their processes. This is the perfect time to pitch them your product or service, as they are more likely to be open and responsive to new pitches.
Golden time to establish credibility amid low competition
This time of year, your competitors slow down their lead-generation activities. It’s the perfect time for you to reach out aggressively and establish your expertise. Even if you don’t close any leads immediately, prospects may remember you in the New Year when they resume operations.
Leads are active on social media
Some 84 percent of B2B executives use social media as a source for making purchasing decisions. And, interestingly, they’re even more active on social channels during the holidays. This is the perfect time to get creative with your social media campaigns. It’s easier to grab the attention of your leads with festive posts, and kick-start conversations by extending a simple and personalized Happy Holidays message.
Prospects may be closing year-end targets
While prospects are planning their strategy for the new year, this is the time when they also analyze their pending goals versus the leftover budget. They’ll be actively seeking solutions if they have some budget that must be spent this quarter and they have targets to achieve. There’s no better time than this to introduce your product or service and help them meet year-end targets.
Elements of a great holiday lead-gen strategy
There’s no denying that the holiday season challenges lead-generation efforts in several ways. But with an aggressive approach and a well-curated lead generation checklist, you can turn the game in your favor. Here’s how.
Optimize your inbound marketing strategy
Check your website for ease of access and organic reach. Highlight the content that responds to the holiday buyer’s psychology. Make sure you can feed your customers’ journey with specific content that’ll prompt them to decide more quickly.
Stay active on social media
With social media strategies, tone down the promotional content so there’s a balance between business and holiday spirit. Keep it light and not too sales-y. This is the time to get conversational instead. Share free tips and aim at sparking a conversation. And when you succeed with a response, be proactive to respond.
Go full-scale on personalization
While your prospects may be waiting to close the business with some great offers, you can provide lucrative deals that promise unbeatable returns. Send personalized messages and season greetings to arouse their interest in your brand. Even if you don’t find success, seek their valuable feedback and show you’re very much invested in their interests.
Tips for generating leads during the holidays
Are you gearing up to generate those last-minute leads during the holidays and right up until the New Year? Here are some key holiday marketing tips to follow:
Turn your festive mood on
In the holiday season, you don’t want to hit your prospects’ inboxes with dry, corporate emails.
Keep your holiday campaigns light and fun. Add a tinge of festive and fun to your messages and pitches.
Don’t miss key networking opportunities
You can explore year-end parties, conferences, and celebrations and grab plenty of opportunities to connect with future customers. Don’t go around talking business at a party, but list these connections perhaps for your email marketing campaigns for later.
Stick around
Be patient and consistent with your follow-ups and emails during the holiday season. While you might feel that you’re overdoing your follow-ups, 90 percent of your engagement efforts may get missed by your leads. A continuous follow-up technique won’t only increase your odds of receiving a response but will also demonstrate to prospects that you’re keen to conduct business with them.
Don’t let the holidays be a wasted opportunity
With so many possibilities in store, it would be such a loss to let this golden period go by without making a mark. Get started with crafting those creative emails and plugging smart tools to maximize lead engagement efforts and ace your B2B lead generation game during the upcoming holiday season.
bant.io can be your go-to sales and marketing solution if you’re too busy over the holidays to devote extra time to your outreach and marketing initiatives. We’ll source excellent prospects, engage with them, and schedule appointments for you so you can return to the workplace in the New Year with a full schedule. Request a demo with us right away, and we’ll show you how we do it.
Jaclyn
Jaclyn joined the bant.io team as an Account Manager in early 2018 and now proudly supports bant.io as CEO, where she is responsible for wrangling and organizing our team initiatives.