Driving Lead Generation in 2025: Insights from 100+ B2B Tech Companies

Talking to B2B SaaS companies every day, I see that finding the right strategies to drive growth is more important than ever and at the same time, harder than ever. This year, marked by rapid changes and new technologies, has brought fresh challenges and opportunities. To understand what really works, my agency teamed up with Databox and surveyed over 100 B2B SaaS companies. 

My goal was to discover the most effective ways to turn website visitors into sales-qualified leads (SQLs). From my research, I found several insights from small to medium-sized businesses, revealing which marketing channels and tactics are leading the way, and that you might find interesting. 

I hope these research highlights will help you navigate the evolving landscape of B2B lead generation with confidence. 

All the best,

Adam Helweh
CEO, Secret Sushi Digital

Behind the Data – Unveiling Our Research Approach

Our research, conducted from July 2023 to March 2024, involved an extensive survey that culminated in responses from 108 B2B companies, primarily small- to medium-sized enterprises. We intended to paint a comprehensive picture of current B2B lead gen efficacy.

B2B SaaS Companies Pioneering Lead Generation Techniques in 2024

Our key findings illustrate a landscape dominated by innovative marketing and targeted offers:

• Respondent Demographics: 65% from companies with ≤50 employees, 22% from companies with 51-200 employees, <2% from companies with >1000 employees.
• Industry Representation: 26% Marketing/Advertising, 22% Saas, and 22% Software & Technology.
• Preferred Advertising Platforms: Google (50%), LinkedIn (28%), negligible response for Facebook, Microsoft, or TikTok.
• Top Conversion Offers: Contact sales (60%), demos (47%), newsletter or blog subscriptions (46%), free consultations (45%), and case studies (42%).

A trend that stands out is the critical nature of personal connection through direct contact and consultations.

Google and LinkedIn Emerge as Powerhouses in B2B Lead Generation

• Preferred Advertising Platforms: Google (50%), LinkedIn (28%), negligible response for Facebook, Microsoft, or TikTok.

The research reveals that Google Ads remains a formidable channel for lead generation due to its precision targeting capabilities. This data is unsurprising, considering that 90% of internet users see Google ads, and this lead generation method has an average return on investment of 200%, according to HubSpot. Feedback from experts like Oliver Goodwin of Synthesys AI Studio underscores the significance of clear goals and thorough keyword research in leveraging Google Ads effectively.

“Google Ads is the top marketing channel for lead generation on our website. To create a successful campaign, we set clear goals, conducted keyword research, crafted compelling ad copy, optimized landing pages, and tracked performance for improvement. Google Ads has been a valuable lead generation tool for us.” – Oliver Goodwin, Synthesys AI Studio, synthesys.io

LinkedIn’s influence cannot be overstated as it serves as a key lead-generating platform, especially for B2B companies seeking to connect with professionals and decision-makers. According to LinkedIn, 70% of users believe the platform is one of the most trustworthy sources of information, making it a valuable tool for B2B companies looking to nurture relationships with potential customers. 

Parth Shrivastava shares that Plena leverages LinkedIn to develop thought leadership pipelines and provide meaningful content to the company’s audiences on the platform. 

“LinkedIn is a place where we are generating a lot of deals. It’s a tie between our company pages and engagement with employees, CEOs, and everybody else. We’re trying to build that thought leadership pipeline–it doesn’t have to have a clear CTA in mind. We just want to give the community meaningful content and be involved with relevant small, LinkedIn groups or niche communities as well. Overall, it’s using the entire [ecosystem] of LinkedIn, not only posting via a company account but also through employee engagement and then giving more to the community itself.” – Parth Shrivastava, Plena, plena.io

AJ Rochow sees the social platform as a way to gauge how well messaging resonates with people with little purchase intent. 

“LinkedIn lets you get in front of people who have zero intent of looking for what you’re providing as a platform. Your goal is to build awareness and see if messaging resonates with people who are low to zero and 10.” – AJ Rochow, MFour Mobile Research, mfour.com

The Unseen Impact of Organic Search and Social Media on Lead Conversions

Organic Search for Engaging B2B Lead Generation

A leading source of new leads is organic search, referred by 43.4% of respondents. For organic search to be a success, companies need to place a strategic emphasis on SEO to drive visitors to web pages based on target keywords and search intent. This reinforces the need for search-optimized pages spotlighted by experts like Deidre Hudson of Bloomfire, who emphasizes leveraging intent data to connect with potential customers early in the buying process and drive organic traffic to a website.

“So aside from organic driven traffic, the signals people are exhibiting indicate that they are even interested in a product like ours. We can use [this data] to reach out and target those people and bring them to the site.” – Deidre Hudson, Bloomfire, bloomfire.com

In addition to industry insights, Junaid Ahmed of TestGrid shares a strategic approach for using organic channels in lead generation. Targeted landing pages ranking high for specific keywords are effective in driving leads. TestGrid focuses on creating detailed content around product features to inform visitors and prepare them for real-world use.

“Over the past year, organic channels have been the most effective tool for generating leads; we have seen a good amount of growth from educational resources designed to prepare visitors to use our tools in real-world scenarios.. The pages we created to target those keywords are ranking pretty well.” – Junaid Ahmed, TestGrid, testgrid.io

A standout tactic in TestGrid’s strategy is offering a free lifetime account, significantly lowering the barriers for potential customers to engage with their tools. This highlights the importance and effectiveness of a strategic, keyword-driven, content-focused approach to organic search optimization as a potent tool for lead generation within the B2B SaaS space. 

And when it comes to organic search traffic, social media can play an indirect, yet vital role. While search engines like Google do not consider social media performance in a web page’s location in search results, social media can help to build a company’s authority and can make people who engage with a brand on social media more likely to visit their website if it appears in a search. 

Social Media for Engaging B2B Lead Generation

Social media is a significant tool for sharing engaging content that sparks conversation and builds community. TheySaid, a company using thought leadership and polarizing topics, drives engagement and generates leads on platforms like LinkedIn.

“Our CEO is a very sharp person; she’s a great blogger. She likes to put out spicy content on LinkedIn and see how people respond. So, we did a push on a blog around NPS versus CPV. That really got people talking because some people are incredibly invested in NPS and still see it as a viable solution (while TheySaid.io’s platform is based on the CPV approach).” – Sarah Lambert, They Said, theysaid.io

Leveraging social media is also a valuable strategy for companies looking to get deeper insights into how customers talk about their pain points and perceive a company. Con Cirillo from Funnel believes that this information can help companies craft messaging that is more conversational and frame ads and offers based on how customers think.

“The biggest thing that we’ve done is be data-driven. We run a lot of quick experiments to identify how to frame different things and how to articulate the value just a little bit more in a conversational way.” – Con Cirillo, Funnel, funnel.io

Engaging in discussions, whether about trending topics or industry debates, attracts attention and positions the company as a thought leader. Companies can use social media effectively by creating authentic and compelling content that resonates with their audience. It’s more than just sharing content; it’s about sparking meaningful conversations that nurture a community of engaged leads into a sale.

Content Marketing: The Silent Hero in SaaS Lead Nurturing

In a CMO survey conducted by the American Marketing Associate, Deloitte, and the Fuqua School of Businesses at Duke University, it was revealed that 65% of CMOs can’t directly quantify the financial impact of their content marketing. This hasn’t kept content marketing from being a critical contributor to generating leads. Adine Deford, VP of Marketing at Informed, notes the importance of valuable resources such as blog posts, ebooks, and guides. Creating high-quality content that addresses pain points incentivizes user engagement and fosters lead conversion.

“We blog weekly. We have a bunch of SMEs who contribute to it, and we cover anything that we can think of related to our industry, including conference recaps, event recaps, trends, surveys, and awards. We write very consistently, and our content gets tons of views. It’s what’s filling our social channels.” – Adine Deford, Informed, informediq.com

Focusing on quality content over quantity can ensure you provide content that is insightful, valuable, and reliable to your audience. Also, experiment with different forms of content. In 2024, 89% of customers want to see more video content from brands–but keep it short, videos less than 60 seconds have an engagement rate of more than 50% on average.

“We’re generating a lot of content in LinkedIn sessions. One of the things that I really want to develop is taking out the best excerpts and creating short compilation videos on YouTube or possibly a podcast. Just generating and repurposing the same content in different media and channels.” – Vincent Kovar, Land On Top, landontop.io

Converting Clicks to Clients: How ‘Contact Sales’ Offers Dominate B2B Lead Gen

Unsurprisingly, the ‘Contact sales’ offer is utilized by nearly two-thirds of the respondents, given that this type of offer tends to be the minimum leveraged by companies in the B2B SaaS space. The survey reveals a deep reliance on this type of offer, often augmented by a variety of top- and middle-of-funnel incentives. Companies like Bloomfire have taken an interesting approach by offering multiple calls to action to see what resonates best with website visitors.

“After the website launch, we’ve offered four CTAs. We’re in the process of looking at those and seeing how they map out.” – Deidre Hudson, Bloomfire, bloomfire.com

Despite the importance of a strong CTA, companies can often run into difficulty by including too many offers or failing to make the offers compelling enough for visitors to take action. If more than one CTA is included on a page, avoid putting customers in a position where they may have to decide between two or more primary CTAs. If looking to see how different CTAs perform, consider employing A/B testing to see which drives more action from customers. 

Beyond considering the number of CTAs to include on a given page, how they may a visitor feel is equally important. For example, tweaking CTAs to be more customer-centric (i.e., offering to help instead of trying to make a sale) can prove more effective at driving conversions. 

Free Consultations and Newsletters: Key to Unlocking B2B Lead Potential

Free consultations and newsletters are valuable tools for securing MQLs. Free consultations, highlighted by experts like Sam Weisfeld of Finimpact, are seen as gateways to nurturing leads and establishing trust. 

“The most effective marketing channel for generating leads from FinImpact’s website is the free consultation offer. Visitors who schedule a free consultation are more likely to become leads than visitors who simply contact sales or sign up for a newsletter. This is because free consultations allow us to qualify leads and provide them with personalized advice.” – Sam Weisfeld, FinImpact, finimpact.com

Email marketing is another strategy that often pays off; according to Constant Contact, the average ROI on email marketing is $36 for every $1 spent. Companies like 88stacks have seen email marketing become an invaluable component of their lead generation strategy. The company has found that by creating personalized email campaigns and integrating strategic offers, 88stacks is seeing measurable success when it comes to email newsletters.

“Our standout approach to lead generation from our website revolves around leveraging email marketing.  Through the integration of generative AI, we craft personalized email content to help with increasing engagement. This, combined with strategic incentives, has led to a notable 20% rise in lead acquisition. Our approach harnesses the power of generative AI to create a dynamic and effective lead generation strategy.” – Jason Toy, 88stacks, 88stacks.com

Size Matters: Tailoring Lead Generation Strategies for Different Company Sizes

Sufficient data suggests smaller companies may lean more towards certain channels or offers, aligning with their nimbleness and propensity for direct customer engagement. Adine Deford from Informed plans to focus on building partnerships for co-marketing, joint thought leadership, and executive launches. Adine mentioned that partnering with larger brands through co-branded events and content was leading to business and leads because it allows for organic conversations between customers, prospects, and the partner companies. At the same time, Adine believes that as a smaller company, Informed has the agility that some larger companies may lack. 

“In a way, maybe riding the coattails of some bigger brands works out really well. They may be bigger, but we’re more agile. My goal is to leverage the larger partners’ scale while maintaining our agility to quickly organize collaborative initiatives. The combination of the might of the bigger partner and the agility of the smaller partner.” – Adine Deford, Informed, informediq.com

How marketing leaders tailor their strategies based on their company’s size

50 or fewer employees:

• These smaller companies often focus on cost-effective strategies like content marketing, SEO, and social media.
• Many mention the importance of networking and word-of-mouth referrals.
• There’s a trend towards exploring new, emerging channels or tactics to gain a competitive edge.
• Several mention plans to develop partnerships or affiliate marketing programs.

51-200 employees:

• There’s a more diverse mix of marketing channels being used.
• Many are investing in marketing automation and lead nurturing processes.
• There’s often a focus on scaling up successful strategies from their earlier growth stages.
• Several mention developing more sophisticated content marketing strategies, including thought leadership initiatives.

201-500 employees:

• These companies often have more resources to invest in paid advertising and marketing technology.
• Many mention the importance of integrating multiple marketing channels for a cohesive strategy.
• There’s often a focus on refining and optimizing existing strategies rather than exploring completely new channels.
• Several mention developing account-based marketing strategies.

501+ employees:

• These larger companies often have more complex, multi-channel marketing strategies.
• Many mention the importance of brand building alongside lead generation efforts.
• There’s often a focus on global or multi-market strategies.
• Several mention leveraging advanced analytics and AI for marketing optimization.

Key Takeaways:

1. Smaller companies tend to focus on cost-effective, high-ROI strategies, while larger companies have more resources to invest in diverse, complex marketing ecosystems.
2. Industry-specific trends are evident, with each sector focusing on channels and tactics that resonate with their particular audience.
3. Regardless of size or industry, there’s a common thread of providing value, building trust, and establishing expertise through content and thought leadership.
4. Companies of all sizes are recognizing the importance of digital marketing, even in traditionally offline-focused industries like manufacturing.

These insights can help marketing leaders tailor their strategies based on their company’s size and industry, while also learning from successful approaches in other sectors.

Industry-Specific Lead Generation: Trends and Tactics in B2B SaaS Marketing

A deep dive into industry-specific trends showcased the diverse array of strategies ranging from freemium models to rethinking the way demos are offered to potential customers Allen Fin from Triple Whale explains the benefits his organization was able to leverage by offering a freemium version of their platform:

“It’s worth mentioning that in the middle of 2023, we launched a freemium motion. This cut demo volume, but improved with rates and lowered CAC dramatically. Less qualified opportunities stuck with the freemium tool or became a customer via touchless upsell, and AE’s were armed with specific data when pitching high-value prospects.” – Allen Finn, Triple Whale, triplewhale.com

Companies like Cacheflow have begun to invest in interactive demo softwares that provide potential users a better look into their platform without needing to schedule a call.

“We’re really leaning into helping the product sell for us. The reason we’re doing it is so that people can understand how Cacheflow works before they want to book a demo. Most people don’t really want to book a demo to experience a tool. They’d rather get their hands on it first. With this interactive demo, a higher number of people can experience how Cacheflow works, and will then want to actually book a demo.” – Riley Timmins, Cacheflow, getcacheflow.com

The Future of Emerging Marketing Strategies in B2B SaaS

Word-of-mouth referrals and social media template sharing becoming increasingly influential. Some companies, like Trusting Solar Calculator, have even developed their own lead-generation bots that have proved effective.

“I think the most effective [lead generation tool] we’ve developed has been a bot to go out and to locate solar installers. The bot goes to Google My Business, searches for solar companies, and goes to their website to see if it’s WordPress. If it is, the bot sends them an email with an offer.” – Anna Covert, Trusting Solar Calculator, SolarWizardPlugin.com

Companies are also looking to develop chatbots that can offer web visitors helpful information for complex, technical products. 

“We found that especially for a technical product, there’s a lot to explain. Oftentimes, the easiest way to explain is just to get in a conversation with somebody. We’re going to start by looking at pages and traffic drivers on the site to come up with contextual conversations the chatbot or agents could have.” – Con Cirillo, Funnel, funnel.io

At FreightWaves, the company is looking into leveraging reviews on product review sites like G2 to generate leads after working with a consultant that has seen this strategy pay off for other companies. 

“One of the big channels that we’re going to start exploring is G2 reviews. We have a good number of reviews on the site and we’ve won all of the different types of banners. I have resources and a consultant that I work with that is incredibly smart and helps me in so many ways. She has seen G2 reviews be incredibly beneficial from a paid lead gen opportunity. So we’re going to explore that openly.” – Mac Bovee, FreightWaves, freightwaves.com

Another emerging trend that continues to emerge is leveraging generative AI and incorporating the technology with tried-and-true marketing strategies like content marketing. 

“My focus for this year is cultivating an impactful content marketing and blogging avenue by enhancing it with the integration of generative AI. Similar to our email marketing channel, we intend to use generative AI to craft compelling and personalized content that resonates with our audience to drive organic traffic. The plan is to use innovative technology and content creation to establish our brand’s thought leadership, amplify our online presence, and contribute to sustained growth and audience expansion.” – Jason Toy, 88stacks, 88stacks.com

For many companies developing their partnership channels is anticipated to be a valuable channel to drive lead generation. 

“I actually think the thing that will carry us forward and make the biggest impact is an investment in our partner channel and figuring we programmatically engage with technology and platform partners, both to take advantage of the programmatic things that say like AWS, GCP, and Microsoft can offer, but also thinking about how can leverage these channels to really drive better awareness and do co-marketing with them.” – Michael Francisco, Liquibase, liquibase.com

 “We have partnerships and I think that we are going to look to capitalize on those even more, because there are other technologies that are used by our primary customer, which is healthcare companies, and we are compatible with them. We are looking to partner where we can to take advantage of the fact that these other folks already have their foot in the door.” – Cindy Machles, SecureCHEK AI, securechek.ai

Summarizing the Future: Key Takeaways for B2B Marketing Success

What does this all culminate to? An understanding that B2B lead generation is gravitating toward value-driven offers that provide direct, personalized contact points for conversion. Companies are reevaluating their marketing efforts to prioritize authenticity, meaningful connections, and strategic content creation.

Acknowledging Sources: The Foundation of Our Insights

Our research is grounded in the invaluable contributions of industry specialists whose insights shape our understanding of B2B lead generation. We extend our gratitude to these experts and their respective companies whose full details and additional findings can be accessed throughout this report.

This in-depth report serves as a vital compass for B2B marketers venturing into the forefront of SaaS lead generation in 2023. We trust it will enlighten your strategies and invigorate your marketing efforts for the year ahead.