How to Do Lead Research: Solid Tips for SDRs and Marketers

Your marketing efforts do their magic when you can pinpoint the promising leads. But, to reach the right prospects, you must master your lead research efforts. It may involve better ideal customer profiling, social intelligence, and more. 

Where 67% of B2B marketers already focus on quality lead gains, you can compete ahead by refining your research strategies. So, explore this guide on the best tips to improve your capabilities as a lead researcher. We'll also check out select best practices and possible challenges. 

6 Tips for a Thorough Lead Research Process

Your competitors might be trying hard to get the best lead data. But the tips given below for your research practices will help you get the upper hand. These are as follows:

1. Find Your Exact Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) 

When researching leads, identifying your ICP is a significant step. It serves as a strategic compass, ensuring your outreach resonates with the right audience. 

To craft a robust ICP, delve into its key components:

• Demographics: Understand the characteristics of your ideal customers. It includes age, gender, location, and other relevant personal details.
• Industry: Specify the industries that align with your product or service. 
• Company Size: Define the ideal size of the companies you want to target, whether small businesses, mid-sized enterprises, or large corporations.
• Geographic Location: Pinpoint the geographic areas where your ideal customers reside. 
• Challenges: Identify your ideal customers' major and minor difficulties and pain points.  
• Buying Behavior: Analyze the typical buying behavior of your ideal customers. It involves understanding their decision-making process and preferences.
• Budget Considerations: Determine the lead's budget range. Check if it aligns with your product or service. 
• Tech Stack: Explore the technologies and tools your ideal customers use. Check for integration possibilities and compatibility.
• Decision-Making Authority: Define the roles and positions within the target organization that hold decision-making authority.  
• Cultural Fit: Consider the cultural values and preferences that resonate with your ideal customers. 

An accurate ICP plays a pivotal role in finding high-value leads faster. Plus, you can allocate resources wisely once you know whom to target. To ensure the best outcome of your research efforts: 

• Employ reliable sales lead research platforms that help you build a lead list. 
• Cross-reference collected data with your existing client base to eliminate overlaps. 
• Maximize potential by A/B testing ideal client profiles.

2. Conduct Preliminary Research

The next tip is to run thorough and strategic lead research across various databases and resources. Here are a few great ways to do it:

Pick Prominent Sources for Research

Select reliable and authoritative sources for gathering lead information. Prominent sources may include:

• Well-established websites
• Academic journals
• Reputable publications
• Government databases

Explore Advanced Search Techniques

Go beyond basic search engine queries and use more effective search techniques. It involves using specific search operators or modifiers to refine your results. 

For example: 

• Use quotation marks to find exact phrases, such as:
  • "Artificial intelligence in healthcare"
  • "Best practices for project management"
• Exclude particular terms from the keyword with the minus sign for specific results. Use the sign at the beginning of the word you want to remove from search results, like:
  • Renewable energy -solar
  • Web development -JavaScript
• Search within a specific site with the "site:" operator, such as:
  • site:nytimes.com "latest technology trends"
  • site:stackoverflow.com "Python programming tips"

These techniques help retrieve more targeted and relevant information. Besides it, you can also try: 

• Deep Web Search: It lets you access information not indexed by traditional search engines. 
• Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT): They allow you to search for more complex and precise search queries. 
• Niche Platforms: These refer to specialized websites or databases tailored to specific industries or topics. 

Check Out Lesser-Known Search Databases

Access sources that may not be commonly used but can provide valuable insights. These could include:

• Industry-specific databases
• Research repositories
• Platforms that cater to niche areas

Collect the information in a unified sales lead database for easy access. 

Identify Where to Find Decision-Makers

You must understand where and how to find information about executives, managers, or prospects with decision-making authority. It includes exploring: 

• Company websites
• Professional networking platforms
• Industry directories

3. Harness Social Media Intelligence Insights

Social media platforms are valuable sources for filling up your lead generation database.

89% of marketers are already on platforms like LinkedIn to find and generate leads.

So, you only need to recognize and tap into the vast data on social media platforms. Here, you can find details about individuals, companies, and industries. You can also get insights into people's interests, activities, connections, and professional backgrounds. 

NOTE: For B2B lead research, LinkedIn and Twitter are the best sites. 

However, beyond basic social media browsing, you should use advanced techniques. These include:

• Using social media analytics tools like Hootsuite Analytics, Google Analytics, etc. 
• Monitoring relevant hashtags or keywords
• Employing advanced search functionalities on social platforms
• Leveraging social listening tools to track decision-makers discussing issues, topics, and solutions your business relates to.
• Participating in discussions, joining groups, or leveraging paid advertising features. 

Remember: When you gather information about prospects through third-party or built-in social media analytics, address ethical considerations and respect privacy. Avoid intrusive methods to collect data, and be transparent about data usage. 

4. Perform Competitive Analysis for Lead Insights

56% of executives actively monitor potential competitors and strategize to expand into new markets. So, why should you be left behind? 

Study and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors in the market. It's a goldmine for lead research because competitors often target similar audiences. Thus, you must analyze your competing businesses:

• Strategies
• Customer interactions
• Market positioning

It gives insights into potential leads, market trends, and customer preferences. Here's how you can do competitor analysis: 

• Examine your competitors' existing customer base to identify potential leads and understand their characteristics. 
• Analyze customer reviews.
• Monitor social media interactions.
• Study public testimonials

You can tailor your approach to attract similar leads by identifying who is engaging with your competitors. Additionally, you can modify your targeting and messaging strategies.

5. Implement Collaborative Research Efforts

Your sales and marketing teams should collaborate well for a unified and practical approach to lead research. These two departments must align their goals, share insights, and create a cohesive strategy. 

Discuss ways both teams can share data, tools, or expertise resources. Strategies may include:

• Establishing a centralized database
• Conducting regular team meetings to share findings
• Utilizing collaborative tools that facilitate information exchange

By pooling resources and sharing research findings, teams can ensure everyone accesses valuable insights. Here's how you can make your collaborative lead research more effective:

• Set clear communication channels between sales and marketing
• Establish a shared understanding of the target audience
• Create a feedback loop to improve research strategies continuously

6. Leverage Connection-building Psychology

B2B prospects mainly focus on tangible and rational considerations. But they also exhibit universal human characteristics. These include experiencing:

• Anxieties
• Concerns
• Frustrations

Thus, they prioritize consistent quality, safety, reliability, and excellent customer service while buying. It shows the impact of emotion-driven decision-making in business.

So, while building a prospecting list, focus on the sentiments of decision-makers and organizations that your solution can satisfy. Besides emotions, also recognizing their: 

• Distinctive viewpoints
• Mutual interests
• Shared experiences 

It will help you search for leads likely to be loyal due to shared values.

Best Practices for Error-Free Lead Research

While finding leads, your lead database's quality, completeness, and correctness are essential. Here's how you can make it happen:

1. Fill in Missing Lead Data

Actively seek additional information about your leads to fill in gaps in your created database. Conduct interviews or surveys with your target audience to get exclusive insights that may not be readily available through other means. 

2. Replace the Old Database with Up-to-Date Information

Over time, contact information and other details about your leads can change. It's essential to update your database with the most current information available by using various methods like data enrichment and email scrubbing. It may include recent contact numbers, email addresses, job titles, and other relevant details.

This way, you can verify lead data, removing errors while reaching out. 

Here are some ways to do it:

• Cross-reference available information with multiple sources
• Use data validation tools like Webbula, Astera, etc.
• Reach out directly to leads for confirmation.

Common Challenges and Solutions

Here are the top challenges while searching for the right business leads. You can also find their provided solutions:  

1. Lengthy Manual Entry and Routine Tasks

Challenge: Conducting thorough lead research involves sifting through large volumes of data. When your team does it manually, it can be time-consuming and prone to errors. 

Solution: Incorporate automation tools and technologies like:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems ( HubSpot, Salesforce, etc)
• Data enrichment tools (Clearbit,  Enricher.io, etc.)
• Lead generation platforms (Zendesk Sell, Revnew, etc.)

These tools can automate data entry, update information in real-time, and handle routine tasks.

2. Unclear ROI Feasibility for ICP

Challenge: You need to invest significant resources in researching and pursuing leads. However, it's challenging to tell whether the leads align with your expected return on investment (ROI). 

Solution: Regularly reassess and refine the ICP based on performance metrics. It ensures your resources reach leads with the highest ROI feasibility.

3. Scenarios Where No Leads Match Your ICP

Challenge- In some cases, no leads may precisely match your selected ICP. It causes a considerable loss of money and time. 

Solution: Have contingency plans in place. It could involve:

• Broadening the criteria of your ICP to capture a wider audience.
• Exploring adjacent markets that may share similarities with the target audience.
• Investing in market research to identify emerging trends and potential new segments that align with their offerings. 

Conclusion

Advanced B2B lead research hinges on a data-driven, collaborative, and industry-specific methodology. You must emphasize these principles for a successful lead generation campaign. 

Integrate these strategies into your existing practices for a holistic and practical approach that maximizes superior lead research results.

Make the process easier with expert-recommended specialized strategies at Revnew. We have proven expertise to help you reach high-value B2B leads. Contact us today to know more.