The 3 Key Components of Lead Generation for Manufacturers

Lead generation. It’s the holy grail for every marketer, and in the eyes of management, those seemingly elementary words are the measure by which marketing success is judged.

We’re in constant pursuit of new leads. We want better leads. And, we’ll take them however we can get them. We focus a lot of time, effort, and money on generating leads – finding ways to appease the incessant cravings of our lead hungry sales force.

Lead generation is one of our most important job functions as a B2B marketer, and if you’re looking for lead generation success, it’s critical to set up a successful lead generation ecosystem for your manufacturing company.

What is a Lead Generation Ecosystem?

An ecosystem is a network of interconnected (emphasis of connected) systems and your lead generation ecosystem should consist of three systems:

1. Website
2. Customer Relationship Management System (CRM)
3. Marketing Automation Technology (MAT)

A properly designed lead generation ecosystem is built to convert, nurture, and report on your lead generation activities in a way that increases the number of leads generated, quality of leads generated, and ultimately revenue.

Each piece of the ecosystem is powerful on its own, but when they work together, like a well-oiled machine, we become more efficient and successful lead generation marketing departments

Roles of each Component in a Quality Lead Generation Ecosystem for Manufacturers

All Roads Lead to Your Website

A website is the cornerstone of lead generation efforts for manufacturers.

It’s your marketing hub and it’s where you generate your highest quality leads. Whether someone has just heard of you or they’ve met you at a manufacturing tradeshow, they’ll eventually end up on your website.

Your website turns unknown visitors into known contacts and engages prospects and customers. It’s critical to build a website that creates a seamless and engaging user experience that converts.

Your website has a unique relationship with your CRM and your marketing automation technology.

Your website generates new leads for sales, furnishes your CRM with data that allows sales/marketing users to make data-driven decisions and provides collateral/ a platform for your marketing automation to leverage in lead nurture campaigns.

The CRM Data Hub

Your company’s CRM is a data hub.

Every person in your organization should be working out of, updating, and leveraging the data within your CRM. When this happens, you, as a marketer, are able to make data-driven decisions that impact your website and marketing automation.

Think of your CRM as an aggregator.

Yes, data exists in each platform in your lead generation ecosystem…but, in your CRM, data from your website, marketing automation technology, and sales is combined to give you a clearer picture of each individual lead’s journey through the buying cycle.

As marketers, we can leverage this data to set up reporting, workflows, notifications, triggers, automated programs, and more!

To add a cherry on top, a CRM that works well with your website and marketing automation technology creates more effective and efficient sales reps. It allows them to spend their time closing more and bigger deals by targeting the “right” prospects.

Your Marketing Automation Technology Workhorse

The workhorse of lead generation for manufacturers is by far your marketing automation technology. It’s where the “magic” happens.

It takes all your leads, no matter where they’re from, and works to turn them into paying customers. It leverages data from your CRM and depends on your website to provide valuable content.

Think of your MAT as an engine that is fed by your website and controlled by your CRM.

While sales may not be directly working in your marketing automation or account-based marketing platform, they should be trained in how to personalize messages and email communications that align with marketing’s content. They need to know how to push feedback, track metrics, and successes, and record their progress in a way that gives insight into how the campaign is performing. Without proper training in your CRM or account-based marketing software tools, you're setting your team up for failure.

Good Alone…Better Together

Each system, be it your website, MAT, or CRM, can exist alone as its own entity. But, like a lot of things in life, systems perform better when they work together.

In our lead generation ecosystem, one system does not carry more weight than the other. They are equals, performing their own function. Feeding off each other. Making each other better.

That’s the beauty of a lead generation ecosystem. It’s a well-oiled machine, that once set up, works automatically to produce new leads for your company. Sure, it needs routine maintenance and attention, but it is by far the most successful way for you to start generating high-quality leads that make a real impact on your company.