Prospecting New Leads

I was invited by LinkedIn to attend B2Believe, and the message was clear: B2B is shifting faster than most teams realise. Creativity, buyer confidence, and human connection are becoming the new growth levers. Here are my 7 core takeaways (share & save this!) 1. Creativity is becoming the language of B2B Creative that grabs and holds attention multiplies leads by 3x. But while 92% say consistent creative matters – only 12% deliver it. 49% B2B decision-makers say they’re more likely to explore a company if its advertising is creative 40% B2B decision-makers say they’d be more likely to consider a purchase if the ad is seen as “creative” 2. Millennials + Gen Z now make up 71% of B2B buyers You need to engage them differently – they respond to: Cultural references; human stories; faces, not logos. 87% of B2B buyers now prefer content from trusted industry influencers over brand-authored content. 3. Buyability: the new model for growth B2B buying is slow because buyers don’t feel safe with 64% of marketers saying decisions now take longer. The top job-to-be-done is: “Can I defend this decision if it goes wrong?” Buyers don’t need more information — they need more confidence. 4. Your network is a marketing asset — not a distribution channel When employees from your target accounts follow your company, you generate 2.4x more leads. And when senior decision-makers at those target accounts are connected to your employees, that jumps to 2.2x more leads. You are more than 20x more likely to be bought when everyone in the Buyer Group knows you on Day One. Build brand, trust & authority with the right people. 5. Video is non-negotiable Jonathon Palmer said it well: Sound, movement, and visual cues trigger far stronger memory formation than static content ever can. It generates 1.4x more engagement, meaning more people stop, watch, and interact. And most importantly: viewers retain 95% of the message when it’s delivered via video. +20% more leads are driven with video Attention is scarce and recall is even scarcer. Video gives you the highest chance of being remembered — and being acted on. 6. Employee content > corporate content B2B is shifting from logos to faces; from corporate statements to human voices. Even when only 3% of employees post regularly, companies drive 20% more leads. So bring your team to the forefront. 7. Brand and demand are no longer separate Everything now all comes down to trust, Tunji Akintokun put it: “In B2B, trust is the ultimate growth metric that closes deals.” The era of “brand OR performance” is finished. Full-funnel integration is now a growth multiplier with always-on brand activity showing +10% conversion lift. In summary: The brands that win in 2025 won’t be the ones who look good in reports — they’ll be the ones who move buyer groups to act. In partnership with LinkedIn for Marketing #Ad 

Here is how a B2B marketing strategy SHOULD look like (and how it actually looks in most B2B companies). 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐁2𝐁 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬: 1. Paid ads promoting product/demo 2. Automated email & LinkedIn outreach 3. Gated e-books to generate "leads" 4. Product pitching webinars 5. AI-generated blog articles. 6. Occasional posts on the company's social pages 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 (based on the State of Full-Funnel Marketing research): -Miserable "lead" to opportunity conversion and endless debates about the quality of the leads - Missed revenue targets - High cost of acquisition - Extended sales cycle Usually, the core problem of these companies is a lack of marketing fundamentals and a clear GTM strategy. 𝐆𝐓𝐌 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁2𝐁 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞: 0. 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬. Goals should be based on your current resources, opportunities, and historical growth, not based on wishes or unrealistic expectations. 1. 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. Segmentation is the first step in developing ICP. Different segments have different use cases, buying processes, and revenue potential. You need to select the focus segment. 2. 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞 (𝐈𝐂𝐏). Here are 5 ICP pillars. - Firmographics - Buying committee - Account segmentation (Tiers & Lists) - Qualification and disqualification criteria - Customer research 3. 𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. During customer research, define what triggers the buying process, and what are the typical steps buyers take. But keep in mind that most customers are not actively buying. Try to figure out what channels they use for education, who they follow, and what content resonates with them and motivates them to learn more about specific solutions (demand triggers). Understand typical questions, concerns, and inhouse approval process. 4. 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. In the AI era, the differentiation, strong narrative, and clear messaging are vital. 5. 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧. Define programs to influence the whole buying process: — Awareness and demand generation. — Demand capturing and activation — Sales and buyer enablement — Retention — Expansion 6. 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 & 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐲. Last stage is often ignored, but without an efficient CS and advocacy, your company will deal with: - Lack of case studies and referrals - High churn Build a great relationship and minimize time to value with appropriate onboarding. Embed customer research into the CS process. Leverage the opportunity to create case studies and share insights with marketing and sales for further expansion. 7. 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐬 & 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬. Create a dashboard with key revenue metrics and sales pipeline velocity. Define key leading indicators. Create a blended attribution model to see the impact of marketing.

How I'd fill pipeline as an AE if I started fresh today. (Send this to your Slack group) Here is my plan: 1. Find Active Buyers The secret? Focus on prospects who posted in the last 30 days. Response rates are 2x higher from active profiles. Quick setup in Sales Nav: ↳ Create saved searches by seniority ↳  Build targeted prospect lists ↳ Update lists weekly for fresh leads Smart reps look for prospects who are active. 2. Strategic Outreach     Too many people say never do a cold dm, and tell you to sit back and wait. Please don't listen to this advice. Here's what I would do: ↳ Block 1 focused hour daily ↳ Send 20-30 targeted messages ↳ Be brief, brilliant, gone Example framework: "Reason I am reaching out [specific insight] → This matters to you because [direct benefit] → Imagine [concrete result/use ask] → CTA [simple, compelling next action]" The big fat pipeline is in the outreach. 3. Smart Engagement Don't just drop "Great post!" comments. Like real talk.. please don't do this. Start real conversations instead. The framework: ↳ Find a post ↳ Share specific insights from their content ↳ Ask one thought-provoking question Now if you did 20 messages a day check the math: 400 messages/month 10% conversion rate = 40 meetings/month There are no silver bullets. This is just an example, If you stay consistent what could happen. Stay prospecting my friends. ----- P.S. Mention someone who could benefit from this strategy. P.S.S. Which step are you going to use today?

Recently a Sales VP of a $200M ARR SaaS company confided in me that her job is on the line if she can't get more revenue from existing customers FAST. Here are 3 strategies I shared with her on how to spot and grow high potential customers (backed by data): 1. Identify upsell signals - Customers attending at least one webinar per quarter show a likelihood of cross-sells - High number of low severity support tickets during onboarding has an upsell correlation of 80% - Higher number of active users than avg cohort shows a 96% chance of renewals  - Showing up to QBRs and high email response rates have a strong correlation to upsells  - ROI or Value words mentioned in emails or external comments like G2 show a 50% likelihood to expand - Champion getting promoted had a 44% correlation to upsells and cross-sells 2. Set up Account Governance For your highest upsell candidate customers, put governance programs in place. Customers showing the most promise, give them the most love. A good governance structure goes beyond QBRs with the CS team.  It should include semi-annual strategic sessions with system owners and annual executive summits. 3. Start a customer Strategic Development Partnership There is nothing like feeling special. Ping your top three high potential logos and say: “Hey, you guys are awesome and things are going great in the engagement but we think we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible. How’s about you and Company X and Company Y meet with my product team monthly to advise us on what capabilities you would want us to build next. It’ll be a low lift for your people, we’ll do all the work and you’ll get to influence our roadmap.” That’s oversimplified, but you get the point. Special treatment engenders reciprocity, significantly upping your shot at additional seats, true ups, and new module sales. How else do you identify great upsell opportunities among your accounts?

Five years ago, Warburg Pincus LLC invested in BetterCloud and urged us to work on a project to narrow our ideal customer profile (ICP). It's the most impactful thing I've ever done to improve conversion rates, shorten sales cycles, increase deal size and ultimately transform the company. A big mistake many CEOs make is believing their product is for everyone. It’s tempting. More potential customers should mean more sales, right? But in reality, chasing too broad a market drains resources, distracts your team, muddles messaging, confuses your product roadmap, and kills go-to-market efficiency. Being laser-focused on your ICP drives alignment across product, messaging, and the go-to-market motion. When the right prospect engages, they’ll feel like you built it just for them. Anyone who has built a product or service knows that the things a small business needs are very different than what a huge enterprise needs. A company is different from a school. An IT buyer is different from a security buyer, a sales buyer is different from a marketing buyer, a director level decision maker is different than a C level decision maker… but we still believe we can sell to different segments and personas as the same time. The process to define and use your ICP is relatively straightforward but does take time. The larger your business, the more data you have, the more resources you have to crunch that data the more time you should spend to do it as scientifically as possible. The high level steps are: 1. Build a Customer Dataset: Gather all your customer data. Current and churned customers, won and lost opportunities. Enrich it with firmographic, business-specific, and buyer demographic data. 2. Engage Your Team: Your best sales and customer success people hold invaluable insights about your most successful (and worst) customers. 3. Analyze & Identify Pockets of Gold: Identify common attributes of high-performing accounts and avoid the traps of poor-fit customers. 4. Communicate the ICP to the entire company with the “why” behind the attributes that make up an ideal customer.  5. Rework your messaging to appeal to your newly defined ICP and narrow your growth initiatives to be focused only on the accounts that matter.  6. Assign the right ICP accounts to your reps and ensure they’re focused on the right buyer personas. 7. Product Development: Reassess your roadmap to align with the needs of your ICP. You should see impact fast. GTM funnel metrics will improve. Conversion rates should rise, with better leads turning into stronger opportunities. You may not get more leads, but their quality will increase. I’ve been discussing this with many Not Another CEO Podcast guests, so don’t just take my word for it. I wrote a deep dive on how to “Narrow Your ICP and Transform your Company”, with real examples from other companies. You can read the full article here https://lnkd.in/e5EN3XSR

139,000 videos sent. One Vidyard award. Zero competitors even close. And I still don't understand why more teams aren't using video. It is truly the most under utilized tool in sales (not just propsecting) My teams at PatientPop sent more one-to-one videos than anyone I know. Not generic marketing videos. Not AI. Personal, one-to-one prospecting and post sale/mid sales cycle videos. 139,000 in 18 months. Vidyard literally gave us an award for it. And here's what kills me: Most sales teams send maybe 10 videos a month. Total. It. f'n works. Execs get 10 cold emails a day. 10 cold calls a day. They get 2-3 videos a month. MAYBE (execs chime in here, how many do you get?) You do the math on where you can stand out. But it's not just about being different. Video lets you control everything: - The tone (enthusiastic, not desperate) - The pace (fast, not rushed) - The humanity (real person, not automation) You become human in 30 seconds. It also lets you show, not just tell. Email: You tell them you noticed something. Video: You show their actual website while explaining what you noticed. Email: You tell them you're excited. Video: They see your energy, your research, your preparation. Email: You tell them about your product. Video: You show them exactly what matters to them. See the difference, ya'll? Here is the exact framework that we used for videos. **K** - Know: "Here's what I know about you..." **P** - Problem: "Here's the problem you're probably facing..." **I** - Impact: "Here's what that problem is costing you..." **C** - Connect: "Here's why I'm reaching out..." **C** - Call to action: "Here's what I'd like you to do..." Under 60 seconds if you've never talked. 90 max. Up to 3 minutes if you've spoken before. A lot of people also overthink video in a big way. We had one key rule. End it and send it. Stumbled? Send it. Dog barked? Send it. Said "um" three times? Send it. No redos. No perfection. No overthinking. The stumble makes you human. The dog makes you real. Perfect videos feel like marketing. Imperfect videos feel like people. One last key tip here. The email/msg has to sell the click. Nobody cares that you sent them a video. They care about what's in it for them. Your subject line, your email, your link text - everything should scream value, not "watch my video." Tell them WHY to watch. What they'll learn. What problem you'll solve. The video isn't the value. What's IN the video is the value. Here's my challenge to you. Pick 5 prospects tomorrow. Send them each a personal video: 1. Show their website/LinkedIn while you talk 2. Use KPICC structure (60 seconds max) 3. End it and send it (no redos) 4. Email sells the click, not the video 5. Follow up with confidence: "Did you see what I put together?" Then call each of them 2-3x the next week & watch your connect rates triple. Because while everyone else is sending bland email templates, you're showing up as a human. And humans buy from humans.

I used to rely on guesswork for leads... Now, every lead I target is backed by data. Most businesses struggle with: 1) Generating consistent, high-quality leads. 2) Outreach can sometimes feel like a gamble Without clear targeting or systems. You're relying on guesswork. Here’s Jérémy's 6-step system: 1) Use AI for smarter research. Tools like Clay target decision-makers precisely. Stop wasting time on irrelevant prospects. 2) Automate outreach but keep it human. Lemlist + Instantly = Personalized follow-ups at scale. Test subject lines with A/B testing to boost responses. 3) Tap into LinkedIn’s potential. Combine Sales Navigator and PhantomBuster. Use Clay for refined targeting to supercharge efforts. 4) Enrich your data for insights. AI tools can analyze pricing pages or trigger trends. Deep research makes your outreach relevant. 5) Integrate inbound and outbound. Share engaging content to capture intent signals. Align personal branding with outreach messaging. 6) Act fast on intent signals. Monitor signals or engagements with tools like Trigify. Speed is your competitive edge in follow-ups. Quality leads are from precision, speed and relevance. AI doesn’t replace strategy—it enhances it. Follow us for more spicy LinkedIn tips.

I warmed up a prospect for 3 months on LinkedIn before our first call. They signed a £75K deal in 3 days. Modern selling demands a new approach: cold outreach fails, warm relationships win. Think about it... That prospect had consumed 47 of my posts. Watched my videos. Read my articles. Engaged with my content. By the time we jumped on that first call? They already trusted me. They already knew my approach. They already understood the value. I didn't have to sell them. They'd already sold themselves. Here's my framework for turning content into closed deals: 👇 1. Build trust at scale BEFORE the pitch Stop spraying and praying with cold messages. Start building relationships through value. Each post builds trust. Your insights mark credibility. Stories create connection. Your content is doing the heavy lifting while you sleep. 2. Let buyers self-educate on THEIR timeline Modern buyers don't want to be sold to. They want to discover solutions themselves. ↳ 70% of the buying journey happens before they talk to sales ↳ They're researching you before you even know they exist ↳ Your content is either attracting or repelling them Give them what they need to make informed decisions. 3. Recognize the REAL buying signals Forget MQLs and SQLs. Think about PQLs (product qualified leads) Here's what actually matters: - Multiple engagements across different posts - Bringing colleagues into the conversation - Asking specific, detailed questions - Moving from public comments to private messages These aren't leads. These are pre-qualified buyers. 4. Keep momentum BETWEEN meetings Here's where most deals die: The 167 hours between your calls. While you're chasing other prospects, your buyer is: ↳ Getting cold feet ↳ Talking to competitors ↳ Forgetting why they were excited Smart sellers stay present even when they're not there. This is where tools like Consensus come in. They let buyers explore demos on their own time. Answer their questions at 10 PM. Share materials with their team. Stay engaged between touchpoints. It's how you keep social selling momentum right through the demo stage. https://lnkd.in/ePVWw-Bi 5. Close with confidence, not pressure When trust is already built? When value is already proven? When buyers are already educated? Closing feels natural, not like a battle. The best deals I've ever closed felt inevitable. Because the relationship started months before the opportunity. Here's what this approach delivers (in my experience): ✓ Significantly faster sales cycles ✓ Much higher close rates ✓ Bigger deal sizes (pre-sold = less negotiation) ✓ Happier customers (they chose you, not the other way around) Stop thinking of social selling as "nice to have." Start treating it as your primary sales strategy. Your next big deal isn't in your CRM. They're scrolling LinkedIn right now. What content are you creating to catch them? #ConsensusPartner

Here’s an uncomfortable truth: many AEO discussions focus only on technical fixes like llms.txt, schema, crawlability, etc. But there is a lot of leverage sitting in your site's content too. Optimizing for AEO includes your content evolving from "optimized for Google keywords" to "optimized for fully answering real questions with easily understood, well structured content." What this looks like in practice: 1️⃣ Answer Real Questions Look at your sales call recordings, sales + CS emails, and Google's "People Also Ask" for ideas about the real questions prospects are asking AI now. At Webflow, we added top answers (via FAQs) to our top six product pages and saw 24% more organic traffic in two weeks! 2️⃣ Create Easy To Understand Structure Topical clusters shift from baskets of keywords to groups of questions. Group your answers into those topical clusters, use descriptive headlines, and add lists to your content. 3️⃣ Keep It Fresh. LLMs reward recent, relevant information. 95% of ChatGPT citations are ≤10 months old. At Webflow, our SEO/AEO team refreshed content 5x more often and that led to 42% more organic visits (with that traffic converting at a 14% higher rate). 4️⃣ Add Human Texture. LLMs prioritize authenticity and authority. Include real stories, named people with deep expertise in the topic, and first-hand experiences. That’s what gets cited more often. Good AEO content does what good marketing always should: delivering meaningful, relevant content at the right moment in the prospect's journey. Is your team AEO optimizing your site both technically AND in content?

Follow these steps to master B2B video marketing: ☑ Set clear goals for your video marketing efforts: 1. Raise brand awareness 2. Generate leads 3. Drive conversions ☑ Define your target audience. Understand: 1. Pain points 2. Content preferences 3. Decision-making processes ☑ Develop a comprehensive video marketing strategy: 1. Types of videos 2. Distribution channels 3. Marketing funnel integration ☑ Choose the right types of videos: 1. Product demonstrations 2. Customer testimonials 3. Explainer videos 4. Thought leadership content 5. Webinars 6. Case studies ☑ Align your video content with the appropriate channels and funnel stages: 1. Different types of videos for different stages 2. Platform-specific strategies ☑ Create a budget for video production: 1. In-house production vs. vendor collaboration 2. Resource allocation ☑ Optimize your videos for search engines: 1. SEO best practices 2. Descriptive metadata ☑ Incorporate calls-to-action (CTAs) in your videos: 1. Guide viewers to the next step 2. Encourage downloads, trials, or demos ☑ Distribute your videos across multiple channels: 1. LinkedIn 2. YouTube 3. TikTok 4. Your website 5. Email marketing ☑ Measure and analyse your video performance: 1. Key performance indicators (KPIs) 2. Views, engagement rates, conversion rates, watch time ☑ Personalise your video content: 1. Customised videos for high-value prospects 2. Account-based marketing (ABM) strategy ☑ Focus on educating and providing value: 1. Informative content for decision-making 2. Address pain points and demonstrate expertise ☑ Ensure your videos are mobile-friendly: 1. Optimise for various devices 2. Increase mobile engagement Save and apply this guide today, repost if you find it useful.