You’ve seen it. Maybe you’ve lived it (we hope not): A beautiful campaign that drives a TON of engagement… but misses the mark on generating pipeline.
It can be frustrating when a campaign you’ve poured your creative heart and soul into doesn’t take off the way you had hoped. Take one B2B company that spent nearly $9,300 on LinkedIn Ads, driving over 300,000 impressions and 800 clicks. But in the end, the campaign generated zero leads or conversions. Yikes.
But you’re not alone—creative that’s not aligned with the buyer journey is a common problem. 85% of B2B marketers say lead generation is their #1 content goal, yet only 42% feel they’re successful at it. However, with the right process, your creative strategy can fuel lead generation at every stage of the buyer journey.
Here’s how to get there:
1. Know the Buyer Journey (and Build Creative for Every Stage)
Creative can’t just be all fun images and catchy headlines. From first touch to purchase decision, every piece of creative should map back to where your buyer is in their journey.
All too often, teams build stunning awareness ads but forget about the consideration and decision stages, which is where lead gen lives. A recent study found that 62% of B2B buyers consume anywhere from 3-7 pieces of content before speaking with sales. So if your creative only addresses the top of the funnel, you’re likely missing critical lead-gen moments.
To capture more lead gen, build creative briefs in line with the buyer journey to ensure you include mid-and bottom-funnel content offers.
2. Craft Content Offers That Deliver Value
The days of generic PDFs are over. Buyers today expect content that delivers value. That means industry-specific benchmarks, interactive tools, and actionable playbooks… content that answers questions and solves problems.
And for good reason: Content marketing generates 3x more leads than traditional outbound methods and costs 62% less. So, skip the fluffy thought leadership and go all-in on content pieces that match the theme and really speak to your audience’s pain points.
3. Design for Conversion, Not Just Engagement
Beautiful creative that doesn’t convert is a missed opportunity. Instead, aim for smart creative that balances design and aesthetics with clear conversion cues.
Consider this: personalized CTAs convert 202% better than generic ones. Whether that means tailoring the button text, adjusting form lengths, or highlighting benefits, CTA personalization is a powerful catalyst for action. Try A/B testing CTAs to improve conversion rates.
4. Align Messaging Across Channels to Drive Next Steps
From emails to social media posts, your audience sees messages across multiple channels. Which means they expect consistency.
Consistency in branding can boost customer loyalty by 23% and increase the likelihood of conversions by 57%. Don’t let your awareness ads promise one thing while the landing page delivers another. For better lead gen, build message maps for campaigns so every touchpoint reinforces your CTA.
5. Test, Measure, Optimize (Creatively!)
The best creative teams out there treat performance data as inspiration for their next big idea. They regularly measure what’s working—and what’s not—to refine their creative strategy.
Look at lead conversion rates, form fills, and pipeline attribution metrics. Then, brainstorm how to iterate on your creative approach. At Intelligent Demand, we like holding creative and demand gen retrospectives after each campaign, so insights can be shared and refined for our next effort.
6. Collaborate!
Lead-generating creative doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It takes tight collaboration between creative strategists, demand gen leads, and content teams. High levels of cross-functional collaboration can generate 2.2x more revenue from new products, and campaign effectiveness can grow by up to 67%. Involving your creative team in campaign planning meetings and aligning on shared KPIs from day one are great ways to start collaborating.
At the end of the day, creative strategy isn’t just about grabbing attention with cool designs and catchphrases. It needs to inspire action, as well. Aligning your creative process with lead generation goals means your work does more than look great—it builds pipeline. So if you’re ready to get your strategy ducks in a row (so to speak), send us an email.