Social media is an obvious choice for marketers looking to build brand awareness, generate leads and, in some cases, find talent all in one go. Data from the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) shows that LinkedIn is the leading platform among B2B marketers, but other platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others have their place, too.

Social media ads are often cheap to run and come with impressive targeting tools that can help you cut through to your ideal customer. However, privacy legislation coming out of the EU and California is reshaping the effectiveness of these channels, and differences in platform demographics could mean choosing the wrong platform limits the ROI on your ads so it’s best to not rely on these channels too much.

The same data from the CMI shows that in-person events are rated as one of the most effective lead generation tools. Customers often attend these sorts of events with high-purchasing intent, so they offer businesses a reliable way to find, qualify and convert prospects quickly.

What’s more, in-person events also have a more personal touch that other advertising channels mentioned in this article, so playing to this strength with freebies and eye-catching stalls can be an excellent way to attract potential customers.

However, in-person events can be expensive, resource intensive and difficult to scale, so they shouldn’t be the main focus of your marketing calendar. These downsides are especially true if you’re the organiser or if you need to travel lots to attend flagship events where prospects will be.

Second to social media, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns and search engine marketing is another great way to generate leads. If done well, search engine adverts target high-intent customers using specific keywords and can even be customised to appear in certain regions, giving marketers ways to fine-tune their lead generation process.

However, unlike content marketing, PPC campaigns don’t generate organic brand awareness, so it can be easy to become reliant on these tools as your only way to generate leads. Similarly, this advertising method isn’t always transparent and is vulnerable to click fraud and other manipulative tactics. Mixing your marketing strategy with organic blogging can help optimise your website for search engines and benefit from both advertising channels.

More modern advertising channels like podcasts and online video platforms like YouTube are highly effective at engaging younger audiences. However, with the right audience segmentation, you can reach various demographic groups – including business audiences. 

The ‘snackable’ content mediums are superb for busy professionals looking to catch up on the latest business news or learn more about a particular software. In the last 12 months, the CMI report showed around a third of B2B marketers used podcasts to advertise, and investment in video content is on the rise in 2023. Just be wary of hopping on viral trends, since it can easily age your content and tarnish your brand image.

Traditional advertising channels like printed media, television and radio still rank among the best places to advertise your business. These mass marketing tools offer an excellent way at reaching a large portion of the population quickly and easily. What’s more, you can segment your advertisements along certain geographies and target certain regions more than others.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to measure the effectiveness of these channels since there’s less connection between audience and customer groups. As a result, it’s almost impossible to measure the return on investment from traditional advertising channels, so aim to use them more as brand awareness tools than revenue generating ones.

Finally, industry publications and news platforms are another excellent way to reach your ideal customer profile.

By partnering with publishers and websites directly, you get guaranteed access to their readership. You can even target a select number of news outlets for maximum brand exposure. You also maintain full control over your ads, allowing you to be more creative with your advertising strategy. You can choose everything from banner ads to full-cover spreads, meaning you can reach audiences no matter your budget and generate leads easily.