Smartcore’s Expert Guide to B2B Lead Generation Success in the Food and Nutrition Industry

Lead generation is far more than just a buzzword; it’s the lifeline of any successful business-to-business (B2B) company. Simply put, it’s the process of identifying and attracting potential customers or businesses interested in your products or services while ensuring a steady flow of prospects into your sales pipeline. After all, maintaining your sales is good, but growing your sales – especially in a competitive market – is even better.

In our dynamic digital marketing landscape, the importance of effective lead generation cannot be overstated. A 2024 survey of 1,400 global marketing professionals revealed that 15% face challenges in generating leads. This highlights the common obstacles businesses face and reinforces the need for strong lead generation strategies. 

In this blog post, we’ll provide insights into why lead generation matters for your business, highlight the top solutions for B2B lead generation success, and share best practices to enhance your lead generation strategies.

Who are we? Smartcore is your best-in-class B2B food and nutrition marketing solutions partner for smarter digital campaigns that drive business growth. We help ingredient suppliers in the B2B food and nutraceutical industries reach their buyers based in key regions around the globe. Download our 2024 Digital Media Kit to explore the best smarter digital products and packages for your marketing needs. 

What sets Smartcore apart? Our invaluable first-party data, including 400,000+ ingredients buyers in key global markets, our data-driven insights, and our specialised digital content channels in the B2B food and nutrition industry. Explore our smarter digital products and packages, custom-created to help you boost your brand awareness, generate leads, and establish thought leadership in the industry. 

Our Custom Branded Emails are a highly targeted marketing tool that offers benefits such as reaching ingredients buyers directly in their inboxes throughout the year and generating high-quality leads. This dedicated email campaign allows you to handpick your target audience from our database of 400,000+ ingredients buyers and direct them to your desired landing page, where your contact form awaits them.

Are you interested in creating and sharing gated reports or whitepapers that empower your business to establish itself as an industry expert among your target audience? Our  is your solution. Whether it’s interviews, reports, or whitepapers that differentiate you from competitors, we can deliver it seamlessly integrated alongside our editorial content on Ingredients Network, Fi Global Insights or Vitafoods Insights, and promote it on our buzzing social media channels.Custom Content Production offers you content created by expert editors and seamlessly integrated alongside editorial content on Fi Global Insights or Vitafoods Insights. It includes one email newsletter feature, as well as promotion to the Fi Global or Vitafoods LinkedIn groups, encompassing 44,000+ members. Combine this with our Custom Landing Page product and you’ll have a page dedicated to your message with an integrated lead-generation form. By gating your content, you can share insights and convert interested prospects into high-quality leads.

3. Networking and Events: Participating in industry events presents an excellent opportunity to connect with potential customers and increase interest among your target audience. These face-to-face interactions can lead to valuable relationships and new leads, helping you differentiate your company in a crowded market. If you’re preparing to exhibit at Fi Europe, utilise Fi Europe visitor data to optimise your pre-event marketing campaigns, helping you capture relevant contacts and generate targeted business connections. 

As the official digital marketing provider of Fi Europe and Vitafoods Europe, we provide exclusive access to organiser-verified visitor data and connect you with event attendees through impactful digital marketing campaigns that deliver measurable ROI. Explore our Boost-Your-Event Packages to boost your event visibility. Choose our Top of Mind package for the most detailed targeting solution or opt for High Reach or High Relevance for a wider event audience reach.

4. Webinar Marketing: Webinars are effective solutions for persuading prospects to engage with your brand, enabling you to capture contact information and generate quality leads. In this 2023 research report by Content Marketing Institute, 47% of marketers voted for webinars as the top content asset for producing the best results. Curious to know more? Watch our free webinar for key insights into webinars as a transformative digital marketing tool for your business. 

Partner with us to engage, convert, and succeed in your webinar marketing journey. Be seen as a true leader in the market by presenting your products and brand in an editorial webinar of your choice and reach an engaged live and on-demand audience. Gain maximum brand visibility, generate excellent-quality GDPR-compliant leads, and establish thought leadership in your industry. Alternatively, if you wish to share research results and studies or promote your expertise on a topic while generating a high volume of highly qualified leads, our custom webinars are the way to go.

To ensure your lead generation efforts produce the best results, consider these best practices:

1. Understand Your Target Audience: Develop detailed buyer personas for efficient segmentation, to craft compelling messages, and to tailor your lead generation strategies effectively. 

2. Quality Over Quantity: Focus on generating high-quality leads that are more likely to convert, rather than overwhelming your pipeline with unqualified leads. 

3. Multi-Channel Approach: Utilise a mix of channels to reach potential leads where they are most active. Diversifying your approach increases visibility and engagement.

4. Personalisation: Personalise your communications and content to resonate with individual prospects, increase engagement, and conversion rates.

5. Data-Driven Decisions: Use data analytics to track and measure the performance of your lead generation efforts, refining as needed for better results.

6. Automation Tools: Marketing automation tools will help you streamline your lead generation processes, saving you time on administration and ensuring your focus on converting leads into sales. 

7. Continuous Improvement: Regularly review and refine your strategies based on performance metrics and feedback to ensure your ongoing success.

As you’ve seen, essential digital strategies such as email marketing, content marketing, industry events, and webinars can help you generate high-quality leads. By focusing on understanding your target audience, personalisation, and using data-driven insights, you can optimise your lead generation efforts not just to maintain but grow your sales.

If you’re a supplier of food, beverage, or nutraceutical ingredients, and want to take your lead generation efforts to the next level, partner with us. Gain access to our extensive database of global buyers in the food and nutrition industry. We can help you generate high-quality GDPR-compliant leads from gated content—yours or ours. Choose our tailored, hassle-free Lead Generation Digital Marketing Package to turn your compelling content into lead magnets (we handle the complete promotion for you) and our Light Lead Generation Digital Marketing Package that utilises our insightful industry reports to generate high-quality leads for you. Explore them here.

Browse through our success stories featuring industry players such as IMCD Food & Nutrition, Hügli Nährmittel AG, and Gencor, and learn all about their smarter digital marketing campaigns. If you’d like to experience the power of data-driven content tailored to your specific needs and goals, don’t hesitate to contact us to learn more about the smarter solutions we can offer you.