Leads are the lifeline of a company. Without leads, a company won’t have any clients. Without clients, there are no profits. Without profits, a company has no reason for being. In other words, without leads, you’re dead.

As much as leads are essential, lead generation, on the other hand, is the most challenging position anyone can have in a B2B marketing company. Ask any lead generation guy, and it won’t be surprising to find out that he has a bad case of an ulcer. In such a very stressful position, who wouldn’t develop such kind of pain?

“Well, the Internet surely has a lot of information about that,” you say.

We say, “Yes there’s a lot of so-called information about lead generation on the Internet, but most of them are full of BS.”

If you don’t believe that, what do you think about the following advice?

Tweet everything that is happening to you five times a day.

Share a funny picture of your grandma on Reddit to engage your target audience.

If you have been in B2B marketing for quite some time, you know that these do not work at all. Does it mean we ditch social media altogether? Of course not. If you use social media in your lead generation activities, be sure to use it strategically.

Before we delve into that deeper, however, here are two facts about B2B lead generation for you.

No one really knows for sure where the biggest amount of leads come from. Twitter is the least effective lead generation channel. Tweet this!

No One Knows Where the Good Amount of Lead Comes From

Hubspot created a chart to show where the leads come from, and it’s not surprising to see different channels, such as social media, PPC, and advertising, as part of the list. What’s surprising, however, is that the most significant source of those leads come from “Others.”

Where did that “Others” come from?

No one really knows.

The information only shows that as B2B marketers, we should stop looking for the pot of gold leads. Instead, you have to understand that lead generation is a combination of different activities and behaviors that work but cannot be quantified. In other words, it is a mashup of various interactions, efforts, and activities you have made along the way.

Twitter does not work.

Okay, so the statement might sound so harsh.

Twitter works but not in the way most B2B marketers expect compared to other lead sources. Different data gathered by various groups showed that many marketers use social media, but they yield the lowest lead sources.

Placester compiled lead generation data and showed that among the social media channels, Twitter is at the bottom and LinkedIn is at the top as the strongest source in B2B lead generation.

Here’s the harsh reality: social media is an ineffective source of leads. However, it doesn’t mean you cannot use them anymore.

Here are some tips on how to get the most out of social media for your lead generation:

Use social media to direct visitors to your websites – make it easy for your social media visitors to go to your site by providing different links that lead to your website or your landing page where you can capture them with various offers and promotions, newsletter signups, and more.

Create newsletter signups on your social media pages – you don’t have to lead your visitors anywhere. Instead, you can invite them to signup for your newsletter right there on your page.

Put the CTA to use – social media’s primary purpose is for marketing, so why not put that Call to Action to good use and invite your visitors to give you some feedback, go to your landing page, or present your product to them.

Focus on LinkedIn – LinkedIn is an excellent source of leads for B2B lead generation, so make sure you are active on that platform by joining groups and participating in discussions. You can also pay for lead collection, which is the easy route on LinkedIn.

Related: 5 Methods that Will Help Increase Conversion Rates Using Social Media

People love gifts

People love gifts is an understatement. The present becomes more meaningful to the recipient if it solves a need the person is looking for. With that in mind, boost your lead generation efforts by giving away free stuff, in which case tools that will help your target audience.

It is simple, too:

You give them a free tool or resource

They give their email address

It might be one of the oldest tricks in the book but it still as effective as before. What are these tools? Here’s a guide:

It should be digital – The reason is simple – digital is easy to transfer and can be delivered immediately.

It is content marketing – There are many opportunities for content marketing and giving away free stuff is just one of them.

– There are many opportunities for content marketing and giving away free stuff is just one of them. eBooks are the best, but you can also give away free images, tracks, or royalty-free photos – These days, the word “eBook” might seem overused; thus, you can replace it with terms like “handbook” or “guide.”

Related: Use the Psychology of Free Stuff to Generate Leads

Don’t forget to automate

Marketing automation is popular among digital marketers nowadays; however, only a few understand it full well.

Automation primarily uses software so you can deliver the most relevant content to each of your target audience. By doing so, you have a higher probability of converting your target audience. Aside from that, you save time by reducing time-consuming marketing tasks that occur repeatedly. All you need to do is input what you want result you want to see.

Marketing automation allows you to track the buying and social media behavior of your target audience. Once you identify those leads, you nurture them by sending them targeted content. You smoothly guide them through the marketing funnel with the help of the software.

Just a word of caution

The term “marketing automation” often misleads many marketers into thinking that because it is automated, everything will be a breeze. On the contrary, it is quite complicated because it requires a setup process for it to become a success.

Related: 10 Scary Marketing Automation Fails and How to Avoid Them

No matter what kind of B2B lead generation strategy you might have, it will require much hard work. Take note of methods that work and keep an eye on new tactics.