How to Reduce Rising B2B Marketing Costs per Lead

Acquiring new customers is an ongoing challenge for B2B marketers. There’s loads of competition, all marketing and selling similar products and services, limited channels, and budget restrictions that make B2B lead generation stressful, no matter what you’re selling. But leads are important. They are often the first step toward acquiring new customers. Unfortunately, the cost attached to every lead is also important. So, you can’t afford to compromise on either. You have to have leads to grow the business, but acquiring them can’t break the bank. That’s why finding the right balance between your cost per lead (CPL) and the leads’ value is important.

Finding that balance is proving to be difficult for many B2B marketers. In a recent report from Wordstream, there has been a 19% increase in CPL across various industries while conversion rates have decreased. The report found that the average cost per lead was $40.74, with the highest CPLs in legal services, furniture, business services, and apparel (each exceeded $85). However, no matter which industry you’re in, it’s a good time to take a look at your current CPL and work to reduce it.

Reducing B2B Cost Per Lead

How can you reduce your CPL and improve the cost-effectiveness of your advertising budget? Here are five best practices to consider:

Narrow Your Target Audience

It’s possible that you’re not getting the results you want because your marketing efforts are not reaching the right audience. As a result, you may need to narrow down your target, so you’re not wasting those important marketing dollars trying to reach leads who aren’t interested in your products or services.

Taking the time to segment your target audience is essential. It will help ensure that you send the right message to the right prospects at the right time. Your campaign will be more successful because you’re engaging the right audience.  

Write Relevant Content

Relevant content that aligns with your target audience’s interests is crucial for earning conversions. The content you deliver has to be valuable and search engine optimized. The best way to ensure that you have relevant, engaging content is to start with search intent. What questions or problems are your target customers looking for answers to? Your content should address those questions in a clear and concise manner. Fill in the gaps that other sites have overlooked.

Create Powerful Calls to Action

Sometimes, simply adding or updating calls to action can increase your lead generation. You probably already know that CTAs are an important part of marketing strategy. This is true even when your ideal prospect is another business. Though it’s a company you’re selling to, there is a person looking at your content, and that individual still has to be persuaded to take steps to make a purchase. That’s why your CTAs should be clear and easy to find. Make your CTAs stand out from other content with bright colors and action words such as “Subscribe, Join, Download,” etc. Don’t make your viewers hunt through pages on your site to find how to buy – they are likely to click over to a competitor who makes it simpler.

A/B Test Your Ads

If you’re only running one ad at a time, then you don’t have anything to compare its performance with to truly understand if it’s working. That’s why performing A/B testing on your ads is a best practice. Even running just two versions of an ad can give you valuable insights about what is more likely to generate leads. Be sure that your different versions are displayed the same number of times, and just change one element of the ad at a time. The version that results in the most conversions of leads is the winner, and it lowers your CPL.

Retarget Hesitant Buyers

Retargeting is the strategy of targeting someone who has already shown some interest in your products or services by visiting your website. Sometimes people will see your content or your ads and be interested, but they don’t act at that time for one reason or another. Retargeting those prospects can encourage them to make a purchase. Because the leads you are reaching out to have already expressed interest by visiting your site, they may be more likely to buy when you get your product back in front of them.

Final Thoughts about Reducing Your CPL

While the above best practices are just a handful of strategies to improve quality lead generation, they can be effective in lowering your CPL. Of course, the level of effectiveness depends on the types of B2B marketing campaigns you’re running, your target prospects, and the channels you’re using. So, be sure to take a close look at your current B2B lead generation strategies and hang onto what’s working, but try something new from the list above to improve the things that aren’t.