Lead Generation for IT & Technology Companies: Our 34 Top Tactics

In his book, Rethink Lead Generation, Tom Shapiro, CEO and founder of Stratabeat, provides a practical blueprint for attracting quality prospects through innovative marketing strategies that go beyond traditional appointment setting techniques.

Five Core Principles That Drive Results

1. Be Different: The most successful tech companies don’t follow the crowd. By creating distinctive marketing approaches, organizations can capture attention and convert target customers more effectively. Companies that differentiate their marketing planning approaches from competitors see conversion rates up to 3x higher than industry averages.

2. Optimize Your Customer Acquisition Channels: Develop a comprehensive strategy that includes:

• Targeted cold emails
• Strategic phone calls
• Personalized content
• Optimized website experiences

Companies that strategically optimize their lead generation channels see 42% more qualified opportunities.

3. Create Content with Purpose: Generic content gets ignored. Tech vendors who develop resources as part of a strategic B2B content strategy generate 73% more qualified leads. Focus on creating materials that directly speak to your target customers’ specific challenges.

4. Target High-Value Accounts: Personalized campaigns for your most promising prospects deliver outsized returns. Tech firms using sophisticated account-based marketing report deals 91% larger than those using broader approaches. This means going beyond generic outreach to develop deep, meaningful connections with potential leads.

5. Activate Your Advocates: Your existing customer base can be your most powerful marketing asset. Referred prospects convert 4X faster in the tech sector. Develop robust referral programs that leverage the trust and credibility of your current clients.

This framework helps position your company ahead of competitors still relying on outdated lead generation processes, enabling you to effectively engage and convert your target audience.

1. Get Your Foundations Right

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 30-45 days

You need clear objectives and a deep understanding of your buyers before anything else will work.

What to do:

• Set specific, measurable goals like “increase high-quality leads by 20% this quarter”
• Create detailed buyer profiles that capture what really matters to different decision-makers
• Check your results quarterly and refine your understanding based on what you learn

2. Map Out the Buying Journey

Difficulty: More challenging | Results Timeline: 60-90 days

As demonstrated in our work with Provenir, understanding the complex B2B journey and mapping all stakeholders is critical. Tech purchases involve multiple decision-makers with different priorities across a complex B2B customer journey.

What to do:

• Identify all the people involved in buying decisions—technical evaluators, business users, finance teams
• Document every touchpoint from initial research through final decision
• Create tailored messages for each person at each stage

3. Take the Road Less Traveled

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 30-60 days

When everyone else zigs, you should zag. Strategic differentiation helps you stand out in a crowded market.

What to do:

• Analyze what your competitors are doing so you can do something different
• Choose underutilized channels or messaging angles that highlight your strengths and differentiators
• Track performance to see what’s working

Differentiating your approach in a saturated market positions your generation company as a proactive partner, allowing you to tap into growth opportunities that others overlook and cut through the noise with smarter targeting.

4. Borrow Ideas From Other Industries

Difficulty: Easy | Results Timeline: 14-30 days

Fresh marketing approaches often come from outside your immediate industry. Tech and software companies that adopt a proactive approach to cross-industry inspiration often uncover smarter growth playbooks.

What to do:

• Look at successful tactics from adjacent fields like financial services or healthcare
• Bring together marketers from different sectors to generate new ideas
• Test promising approaches on a small scale before going all-in

5. Use AI for Personalization

Difficulty: More challenging | Results Timeline: 60-90 days

AI helps you deliver the right message to the right person at scale. Artificial intelligence is a powerful lead generation tool that helps tech companies create hyper-personalized messaging based on behavioral data—making outreach feel human, relevant, and timely.

What to do:

• Use AI analytics to spot intent signals and interest patterns among website visitors
• Customize your website messaging based on visitor behavior
• Create follow-up systems that adapt based on how people engage

6. Listen to Your Customers

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 30-45 days

Your customers tell you exactly what matters to prospects—if you’re listening.

What to do:

• Add quick 1-2 question surveys throughout your digital touchpoints
• Have regular conversations with current customers about their challenges
• Turn these data-driven insights into marketing materials within two weeks

Using customer surveys and analyzing CRM data to understand the pain points of your email list or B2B accounts allows you to deliver more relevant messaging, improve email deliverability optimization, and convert interest into opportunity.

7. Partner With Tech Industry Voices

Difficulty: More challenging | Results Timeline: 90-120 days

As we saw with a leading robotics company, partnering with industry voices provides immediate credibility and expands reach.

What to do:

• Identify respected analysts and thought leaders who influence your target audience and buyer personas
• Create collaborative content that delivers real value, not just name-dropping
• Track the impact of these partnerships on your sales pipeline

According to research, most companies (67%) prefer campaign-based influencer partnerships rather than ongoing collaborations. A Matter Communications study found that 43% of consumers find expert personalities appealing in influencer content, making partnerships with industry specialists particularly effective for building trust.

Aligning with industry voices not only boosts credibility but gives your lead generation campaign the authority needed to collect more B2B emails from decision-makers looking for trusted thought leadership.

8. Choose What’s Right for Your Business

No two companies are alike—successful marketing efforts require selecting tactics that align with your resources and goals. Whether you’re a startup or a mid-size B2B company, choosing the right lead generation partner, strategy, and process can make all the difference.

Here’s a simple guide to help you prioritize based on your company size and resources:

Company Size	Resources	First Priority	Second Priority	Third Priority
Enterprise	High	Map the Buying Journey	AI Personalization	Industry Partnerships
Enterprise	Limited	Differentiated Positioning	Listen to Customers	Get Foundations Right
Mid-Market	High	Listen to Customers	Borrow Ideas	AI Personalization
Mid-Market	Limited	Get Foundations Right	Differentiated Positioning	Borrow Ideas
Startup	High	Industry Partnerships	Differentiated Positioning	Get Foundations Right
Startup	Limited	Get Foundations Right	Borrow Ideas	Listen to Customers

Your B2B website should be a lead-generating machine, not just a digital brochure.

9. Create Interactive Landing Pages

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 30-60 days

As shown in our work with Fourth, 47% of users engage more with interactive landing pages that include elements like quizzes, calculators, and polls, making them more likely to convert. Tech buyers engage more deeply with content tailored to their specific challenges.

What to do:

• Create dedicated pages for specific pain points with clear, focused messaging
• Add assessment tools, ROI calculators, and dynamic forms that respond to user input
• Place your main call-to-action prominently, with secondary options following key benefits

Interactive landing pages help B2B companies gather valuable first-party data while supporting verification of contact information—a key factor in reducing wasted spend and driving more qualified leads.

10. Test and Optimize Everything

Difficulty: More challenging | Results Timeline: 60-90 days

Systematic B2B CRO testing based on visitor behavior eliminates conversion barriers and improves lead quality.

What to do:

• Test different value propositions to see which resonates most
• Experiment with progressive form fields versus single-step collection
• Try different testimonial formats and placements

Pro tip: Use heatmaps, scroll tracking, and click analysis to see how people actually use your site, not how you think they use it.

From optimizing CTAs to improving UX, tech marketers must treat conversion rate optimization as a core capability. Partnering with a B2B marketing agency ensures your lead generation process is data-informed and outcome-driven.

11. Identify Anonymous Visitors

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 14-30 days

Our work with Sciessent demonstrated that identifying anonymous website visitors gives you early engagement opportunities before they fill out a form. This approach helps you proactively connect with potential buyers showing high intent.

What to do:

• Use IP-based tracking to identify which companies are visiting your site (Consider tools like RB2B and Dealfront)
• Score visitor engagement based on pages viewed, content consumed, and time on site
• Develop outreach strategies for companies showing high interest

By combining firmographic data with tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, your generation specialists can prioritize anonymous visitors from high-value B2B accounts and initiate contact searches to begin targeted outreach before competitors even spot them.

12. Set Up Smart Marketing Automation

Difficulty: More challenging | Results Timeline: 60-90 days

As we saw with AppFolio, strategic automation creates personalized experiences at scale while saving your team time. By implementing full-funnel optimization, mid-size tech firms see 41% more qualified opportunities, 28% lower acquisition costs, and 36% improved team productivity.

What to do:

• Design email campaigns triggered by specific actions like downloading resources or visiting pricing pages
• Create scoring models based on company fit and engagement behavior
• Set up website personalization that adapts messaging for return visitors

Automation platforms powered by machine learning allow B2B lead generation strategies to scale with precision. When integrated with a verified database and personalized approach, automation nurtures leads through a full-funnel lead generation framework—delivering better results with less manual effort.

13. Let Prospects Experience Your Product

Difficulty: Easy | Results Timeline: 30-45 days

Product experience is a critical accelerator for tech solution sales. When prospects can directly interact with your offering, buying decisions happen faster and with greater confidence.

What to do:

• Design low-friction product experiences that allow quick value assessment
• Create a focused journey that connects product features directly to specific buyer challenges
• Implement multi-channel guidance that anticipates and addresses prospect questions

Our recent work with an AI analytics company demonstrates the power of this approach. By reducing trial activation from 7 steps to just 3, we helped the company increase trial starts by 56%.

The numbers speak volumes: our clients have seen demo request conversions jump by 158%. By making your product accessible and easy to explore, you remove barriers and accelerate the path to purchase.

Letting prospects explore your offering early supports a personalized approach while reducing friction in your sales pipeline. A digital marketing agency with experience in lead generation for tech can help build immersive trials tailored to different decision-makers’ challenges.

Strategic B2B content marketing and SEO for IT companies attracts high-quality prospects while establishing your firm as an industry authority.

14. Target the Right Search Terms

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 30-60 days

Aligning content with how tech buyers search is a core component of effective B2B SEO.

What to do:

• Focus on specific terms technology decision-makers use frequently
• Optimize for conversational phrases and voice search
• Connect related content with strategic internal linking

Combining inbound marketing with targeted search terms ensures you’re attracting the right audiences from the start. Use industry filters and firmographic data to align your SEO strategy with your ideal buyer profile, reducing wasted effort and improving conversion quality.

15. Create Content for Each Stage of the Buying Journey

Difficulty: More challenging | Results Timeline: 60-90 days

Tech purchases involve multiple stakeholders at different decision stages. Your content should address each stage.

What makes sense at each stage:

• Early research: Educational blogs, explainer videos, trend reports
• Active evaluation: Comparison guides, technical webinars, solution briefs
• Final decision: Interactive demos, ROI calculators, implementation guides

Your content managers and team of copywriters should design content for every stage, from awareness to decision, integrating inbound marketing best practices. Using a verified database of business contacts, you can ensure your outreach reaches decision-makers with timely, relevant materials.

Learn more about creating a B2B content marketing strategy for lead generation.

16. Focus on Decision-Stage Content

Difficulty: Easy | Results Timeline: 14-30 days

Decision-stage content directly influences purchasing decisions by showing clear business value.

Most effective formats:

• Interactive product demonstrations showing specific capabilities
• Case studies with measurable results and implementation details
• Evaluation frameworks and comparison tools supporting internal decisions

Content like comparison tools and ROI calculators resonate most when paired with cold emailing or personalized email drafting. These assets support sales professionals by reinforcing value and enabling follow-ups that speak directly to specific buying criteria.

17. Build Thought Leadership

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 90-120 days

Authoritative content positions your company as a trusted advisor rather than just another vendor.

What to create:

• In-depth articles addressing key technology challenges
• Original research on industry trends and opportunities
• Comprehensive case studies showing business transformation

Establishing thought leadership requires more than publishing blogs—it demands industry expertise, insightful analysis, and a strong social media management strategy. This builds trust among B2B decision-makers and gives your generation specialists compelling content for outbound engagement.

18. Use Video Content

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 15-30 days

Video delivers complex technical information clearly and memorably.

Most effective video types:

• Brief product demonstrations of key features
• Client testimonials explaining selection criteria and results
• Technical explainers addressing specific challenges

Video content increases engagement and reduces the need for cold calls by delivering value upfront. Sales experts can use videos as part of a personalized outreach sequence—reducing time-to-meeting while offering a scalable alternative to manual prospecting.

19. Partner for Content Distribution

Difficulty: More challenging | Results Timeline: 60-90 days

Our work with Perlu showed that strategic partnerships with industry voices extend your reach and credibility. Their podcast series generated hundreds of qualified leads by featuring recognized experts discussing market challenges.

What works:

• Host or sponsor podcasts featuring recognized experts
• Create webinars with industry analysts addressing market challenges
• Publish articles on respected industry websites

Strategic partnerships help you reach pre-qualified audiences while minimizing additional marketing expenses. Whether through webinars, podcasts, or guest articles, a B2B content marketing agency can coordinate effective project management to maximize exposure and lead quality.

20. Implement Social Selling

Difficulty: Easy | Results Timeline: 30-60 days

LinkedIn and Twitter provide direct channels to decision-makers when approached strategically.

What to do:

• Regularly share valuable insights, research highlights, and analysis on professional social media platforms
• Engage meaningfully in prospect conversations with thoughtful comments
• Create a structured outreach program that offers value before asking for meetings

Your sales professionals can use LinkedIn Sales Navigator alongside contact lists and firmographic data to create highly targeted outreach campaigns. With a little email drafting support and a personalized approach, social selling becomes a powerful B2B lead generation strategy.

21. Be Strategic About Gating Content

Difficulty: Easy | Results Timeline: 14-30 days

Balancing open access and gated content maximizes both brand authority and lead generation. Gating high-value resources like white papers or proprietary research helps ensure you’re capturing verified email addresses from serious buyers—then your skilled team follows up promptly to support timely delivery of value.

What to do:

• Keep educational blogs, short videos, and infographics freely accessible
• Gate high-value resources like technical guides and proprietary research
• Clearly communicate the specific value prospects will gain by providing contact details

22. Maximize Content ROI Through Repurposing

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 30-45 days

Strategic repurposing extends content reach and maximizes return on investment.

What to do:

• Transform comprehensive guides into blog series, videos, and infographics
• Extract key statistics from research for social media and email marketing campaigns
• Share content systematically across all your channels

A dedicated management team for content creation and atomization ensures your best content doesn’t sit idle. Repurposing across formats—infographics, videos, email sequences—amplifies reach without requiring massive new investments.

23. Focus on High-Value Accounts

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 30-60 days

Use data to identify and target the organizations most likely to become potential customers.

What to do:

• Use tools like Bombora or 6sense to find companies actively researching solutions like yours
• Map all the key stakeholders within target accounts
• Categorize prospects based on potential revenue and fit with your ideal customer profile

By concentrating efforts on high-potential accounts, lead generation for tech companies can maximize return on effort. Using advanced segmentation and personalization, a skilled team can tailor messaging for strategic outreach and meaningful engagement.

24. Align Sales and Marketing

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 30-45 days

A unified sales process and marketing approach drives ABM success and lead generation efforts.

What to do:

• Create shared goals focusing on account engagement and revenue
• Connect your marketing and CRM systems for complete visibility
• Hold regular meetings between sales and marketing to review progress

28. Build a Strong Referral Program

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 30-60 days

Lead generation for tech companies benefits greatly from word-of-mouth. A structured referral program generates trusted opportunities with lower acquisition costs. A skilled team can manage a referral program with timely delivery of thank-yous, rewards, or exclusive access—motivating advocates to take action.

What to do:

• Identify the best times to ask for referrals—after successful implementation or reaching ROI milestones
• Focus on your most influential and satisfied clients as priority referral sources
• Create personalized messages that acknowledge specific successes

29. Make the Benefits Clear

Difficulty: Easy | Results Timeline: 14-30 days

Communicating clear value propositions increases participation and referral quality.

What to do:

• Create a tiered reward structure based on referral quality and outcomes
• Clearly explain how both referring customers and new prospects benefit
• Keep the program top-of-mind through regular updates

When promoting your referral program, work with your lead generation agency to clearly communicate the business impact. Sharing real examples of reduced acquisition costs or faster sales cycles can turn clients into proactive ambassadors.

30. Make Referring Easy

Difficulty: Easy | Results Timeline: 14-30 days

Simplicity is key. A streamlined experience dramatically improves referral completion rates.

What to do:

• Create simple, mobile-friendly referral forms with minimal required fields
• Provide email templates that customers can easily personalize
• Regularly share success stories to reinforce program benefits

Ensure your referral system includes pre-filled forms, email templates, and one-click share options. This not only supports timely delivery but also frees up your dedicated management team to focus on high-impact marketing efforts.

31. Leverage Reviews and Influencers

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 30-60 days

Third-party validation significantly influences technology purchasing decisions.

When tech professionals research vendors, they often look for social proof from peers in their professional community. Encouraging reviews on trusted platforms, especially from individuals with a relevant job title, helps build credibility and attracts more promising leads through permission-based lead generation.

What to do:

• Implement structured processes to request reviews on platforms like G2 and TrustRadius
• Partner with respected industry analysts and thought leaders
• Share positive reviews across your digital properties

32. Develop Strategic Partnerships

Difficulty: More challenging | Results Timeline: 60-90 days

Collaborating with organizations in adjacent software industries expands your access to a wide array of targeted sales leads. These partnerships can strengthen your online presence, reinforce authority, and unlock co-marketing opportunities that deliver mutual value.

What to do:

• Target companies with similar prospective customers but different solutions
• Create clear agreements outlining referral processes and commission structures
• Develop joint webinars, guides, and integration documentation

33. Create a Measurement Framework

Difficulty: Moderate | Results Timeline: 30-45 days

Strategic measurement transforms marketing from guesswork to precision.

What to do:

• Track prospect quality, conversion rates, time-to-conversion, and campaign ROI
• Implement structured testing for value propositions and calls-to-action
• Use analytics platforms for centralized tracking

A strong measurement framework supports smarter email outreach by helping you track which content, job titles, and channels yield the most promising leads. Using generation software tied to search history and behavioral data, you can prioritize outreach with greater precision.

34. Adapt to Emerging Trends

Difficulty: Easy | Results Timeline: Ongoing

Proactive adaptation to emerging trends positions your company ahead of competitors.

What to focus on:

• Use predictive analytics to identify high-potential prospects
• Monitor shifts in content consumption and decision-making processes
• Keep your team current on emerging technologies and approaches

As the tech space evolves, your email, social media marketing and other digital strategies must stay agile. By consistently sharing valuable content and educational content across platforms, you can maintain top-of-mind presence with tech professionals and continue generating high-quality, permission-based leads.

Quick Wins (First 90 Days):

• Set up comprehensive measurement tracking
• Improve your landing pages and start A/B testing
• Create decision-stage content addressing specific buyer pain points

Medium-Term Initiatives (6 Months):

• Implement ABM for your top-tier prospects
• Build a structured referral program
• Optimize your keyword strategy for high-conversion terms

Transformation Initiatives (12 Months):

• Scale your ABM approach across all target segments
• Implement advanced personalization technology
• Develop strategic partnerships for expanded reach

What to Measure	What It Means	Target Improvement
Visitor-to-Lead Conversion	Percentage of website visitors who become leads	30-40% increase
Lead-to-Opportunity Ratio	Percentage of leads that convert to sales opportunities	25-35% increase
Cost Per Qualified Lead	Marketing spend divided by number of qualified leads	20-30% reduction
Average Deal Size	Typical revenue per closed deal	15-25% increase
Sales Cycle Length	Time from first touch to closed deal	15-30% reduction

These lead generation strategies provide a clear roadmap to attract and convert high-quality IT leads. Implementing them strategically will create measurable improvements in your marketing performance.

Stratabeat’s data-driven approach helps technology companies boost pipeline growth, improve lead quality, and increase revenue. Learn why Stratabeat’s lead generation services are trusted by leading technology companies.