The document is a report on the state of B2B lead generation in 2021. It finds that most companies (66%) plan to increase spending on online lead generation in 2021 as the importance of digital channels has grown during the pandemic. Leaders in online lead generation, defined as those with good or excellent ROI from it, are more likely to be increasing their budgets (87% vs 67% of others). Leaders also generate a higher portion of their sales online (35% vs 28% for others) and are more likely to invest in marketing automation technology.

1. THE STATE
OF B2B LEAD
GENERATION
2021
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

2. 2
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system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
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© London Research 2021
THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
Linus Gregoriadis
Director, London Research
Linus is an experienced digital marketing analyst
and business writer who co-founded London
Research in 2017 as a sister company to Digital
Doughnut, the world’s largest community of
marketers and digital professionals, and also
to Demand Exchange, an advanced B2B lead
generation platform. He spent more than a decade
setting up and building the research function
at Econsultancy, a digital research and training
company now owned by Centaur Media. After
leaving Econsultancy, where he oversaw the
production of hundreds of survey-based trends
reports, buyers’ guides and best practice guides,
he launched ClickZ Intelligence for B2B media
company Contentive.
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
ABOUT DEMAND EXCHANGE
The customer journey for technology buyers has
fundamentally changed. They use the web, just like
you, to discover and better understand technology
solutions and create shortlists of suppliers they are
interested in.
This is where the Demand Exchange platform comes
into its own. Our technology enables the syndication
of content across hundreds of B2B sites to provide
value to those researching technology investments,
whilst helping publishers monetise through the
creation of value exchanges and providing suppliers
with high-value leads and sales opportunities.
For more information, visit
https://demandexchange.com
ABOUT LONDON RESEARCH
London Research, set up by former Econsultancy
research director Linus Gregoriadis, is focused
on producing research-based content for B2B
audiences. We are based in London, but our
approach and outlook are very much international.
We work predominantly, but not exclusively, with
marketing technology (martech) vendors and
agencies seeking to tell a compelling story based
on robust research and insightful data points.
As part of Communitize Ltd, we work closely with
our sister companies Digital Doughnut (a global
community of more than 1.5 million marketers) and
Demand Exchange (a lead generation platform),
both to syndicate our research and generate high-
quality leads.
For more information, visit
https://londonresearch.com

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system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
Foreword by Demand Exchange 4
Executive summary and highlights 5
Methodology 6
Introduction – defining lead generation leaders 7
1 Strategies and budgeting during and beyond Covid-19 8
2 Maturity of lead generation activities 12
3 Effectiveness of channels and content types 15
4 Marketing and sales alignment 18
5 Data hygiene and data regulation 20
6 Challenges relating to online lead generation 24
Conclusion 26
Appendix – respondent profiles 27
CONTENTS

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
Foreword by Demand Exchange
Online B2B lead generation has risen to greater
prominence over the past year, largely driven by
Covid-19 and the reallocation of budgets from field
marketing and events.
The State of B2B Lead Generation 2021 report shows
that two-thirds of the companies that we surveyed
are increasing their online lead generation budgets
this year. There has also been a significant shift
among B2B marketers towards creating their own
online events and webinars to showcase their own
content as a conduit to getting their message out to
the right audience and stakeholders.
This is where many companies will come across
the key problem: putting on a webinar is one thing,
but creating compelling content and then getting
the right people to engage with it so they become
prospects, is quite another.
In the conversations we’ve been having, and as this
research shows, B2B marketers are now looking for
quality in the leads they receive, as well as volume.
They need to verify and validate lead data to ensure
its integrity, and to qualify leads against defined
criteria and buyer personas. Data from publishers
and other third parties often lacks the required
quality, which is why marketers need technologies
like Demand Exchange to ensure high-quality leads,
and so they can attribute subsequent sales to the
right channels and providers to optimise for ROI.
This research shows that leaders are pulling away
from average performers, both in terms of overall
investment in online lead generation and, specifically,
on the technology required to support this.
Lead generation leaders are also working smarter,
and are more likely to have broken down silos
between their sales and marketing departments.
For example, leading organisations have defined a
clear set of metrics and KPIs so sales and marketing
are better aligned to achieve company performance
objectives.
Leaders are also very clear that data hygiene is a
priority and so are significantly more likely to use
technology and outside providers to ensure data is
sanitised, without the internal expense associated
with manually inspecting every single lead coming
into the business for fit and quality.
As a result of their greater investment in a channel
where sales and marketing are aligned, leaders are
more than twice as likely as the average marketing
organisation to describe their online sales leads
as ‘excellent’. Additionally, being able to measure
the ROI of their lead generation activities creates
a virtuous circle where, since the channel can be
proven to work, it gets further funding.
In summary, here at Demand Exchange we’re not
surprised that digital lead generation has moved up
the agenda of B2B businesses, and that a greater
emphasis is being placed on generating higher-
quality leads at scale.
Through our publisher network we’ve been providing
high-quality, verified and data-compliant leads at
volume since our inception, and now we are putting
the power of what we have built in the hands of top-
performing organisations that are getting great ROI
from the channel.
John Horsley
Founder CEO
Demand Exchange

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
The State of B2B Lead Generation 2021 report,
produced by London Research in partnership
with Demand Exchange, is based on a survey
of more than 650 companies. It focuses on how
organisations have adapted their marketing and
lead generation strategies and tactics in the wake of
the Covid-19 pandemic.
The research, which follows on from similar studies in
2017 and 2019, highlights how many businesses are
doubling down on digital marketing channels and
assets as they seek to mirror the changes in business
buyer behaviour brought about by the crisis.
‘Leaders’ in the space – defined as those
organisations with ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ returns from
online lead generation, coupled with the ability
to clearly assess return on investment based on
sales data – have responded to the disruption by
increasing their investment in online lead generation.
They have also invested in strengthening their
technology platforms, to get more value from their
data, and to enhance their ability to generate, score
and nurture their leads.
Online lead generation is evidently offering B2B
organisations a trusted and proven way of driving
sales during the pandemic, with slightly more than
a third (35%) of all sales now attributed to leads
generated through digital channels.
Best practice: what makes the difference
Beyond highlighting the increased spend being
directed towards online lead generation by B2B
leaders, this report offers insights into the best
practices which are making a difference.
Organisations classified as leaders are being
adaptive when it comes to channel selection in the
pandemic, with many diverting more spend towards
LinkedIn, social media and video in a bid to attract
new prospects.
Critically, leaders are more likely to have fostered a
cooperative environment between their marketing
and sales departments, thus enabling their
businesses to create a healthy feedback loop on
campaigns. They are also ahead of the game in
terms of adopting more effective techniques to
ensure the validity and cleanliness of their lead-
related data.
Challenges remain
At the same time, B2B marketers continue to face
multiple challenges when it comes to optimising their
digital lead generation performance.
Delivering both lead quality and lead volume
remains a difficult balancing act for many
organisations, with more than a third citing the
former as a key challenge.
Finding the means to produce high-quality content
is also becoming increasingly important as more
and more eyeballs move online. Standing out is
becoming more of a challenge as competitors scale
up publication and syndication of assets.
Many B2B marketers also continue to feel that
their efforts are being held back by budgetary
constraints, a challenge which highlights the need to
demonstrate ROI through better attribution based
on sales data.
Executive summary and highlights
Online lead generation is evidently
offering B2B organisations a trusted
and proven way of driving sales
during the pandemic

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
AND HIGHLIGHTS
Traits of online lead generation leaders versus
mainstream organisations
Directing greater investment into
online lead generation: 87% of leaders
have increased their spending since
the start of the crisis vs. 67% of
mainstream organisations.
Proportion of total sales generated
online. On average, leaders are
generating more of their overall
sales through online lead generation
(35% vs. 28%).
Strengthening their technology
foundations: 88% have increased
investment in marketing automation
and lead generation solutions, vs. 65%
of the mainstream.
Breaking down silos. The overwhelming
majority of leaders (91%) say their
marketing and sales functions maintain
regular feedback and working sessions,
compared to 61% of mainstream
respondents. Sales teams within leading
organisations are almost three times
as likely to describe leads from online
channels as ‘excellent’ (40% vs. 14% for
the mainstream).
Defining what good looks like. Leaders
are much more likely than mainstream
companies to have an intra-department
definition of a ‘good customer prospect’
in place (56% vs. 28% ‘strongly’ agree).
Checking and validating data
cleanliness through automated
solutions (54% vs. 32%) or an external
provider (46% vs. 19%).
Key areas where high-performing organisations are differentiating themselves include:
METHODOLOGY
This State of B2B Lead Generation Report is based
on a global survey of 678 marketers working
for organisations with a B2B focus. The survey,
carried out in November and December 2020, was
publicised through LinkedIn, and via dedicated
emails sent out by London Research and its sister
company, Digital Doughnut.
Forty-two percent of respondents work client-side,
while the remainder work as consultants (22%), for
agencies (20%) or for marketing and advertising
technology vendors (15%). Just under two-thirds of
respondents (62%) said they work in marketing or
advertising roles, with the remainder split between
other functions including sales.
For respondents working on the supply side, we
have made a distinction between those who
are more focused on their own lead generation
activities (68%) and those who predominantly
work on their clients’ activities (32%). Supply-side
respondents working on their own companies’ lead
generation activities were grouped with client-side
respondents.
Please see the Appendix of this report for more
information about survey respondents, including
company sector, annual revenues and geographic
region.

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
Online lead generation involves the use of digital
assets and channels to initiate interest in products
and services from prospective customers. While the
techniques and marketing channels used for online
lead generation overlap with B2C lead generation,
this research is focused on B2B.
The report seeks to establish what kind of strategies,
tactics and organisational behaviours characterise
the B2B companies that are outperforming their
peers when it comes to successful online lead
generation and management of those leads as part
of their pipeline marketing activities.
To achieve this objective, the study compares
lead generation leaders and the mainstream, and
explores the differences in the approach of the two
groups, with the aim of defining what it takes to
succeed.
The leaders group represents 36% of the overall
sample, with the mainstream comprising the
remaining 64%. The difference between these
groups is illustrated in Figure 1. Leaders are defined
as those companies that rate their overall return
on investment (ROI) from online lead generation as
either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’, and who either ‘strongly’
or ‘somewhat’ agree that they ‘have a clear
understanding of ROI based on sales data’.
Introduction –
defining lead
generation leaders
How would you rate
your overall ROI
from online lead
generation activities?
“We have a clear
understanding of ROI
based on sales data”
FIGURE 1
Identifying lead
generation leaders

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1
THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
54%
39%
7%
48%
39%
13%
55%
30%
15%
Increasing Staying the same Decreasing
More than half (55%)
of B2B companies are
increasing their overall
marketing budgets this
year.
l 2017
l 2019
l 2021
The 2021 edition of this report comes amid a
period of dramatic change for many organisations
of all shapes and sizes. Businesses are reacting
to the economic and social turbulence that has
accompanied the Covid-19 pandemic by expanding
their use of online lead generation as adoption of
digital channels increases.
As highlighted in Figure 2, more than half of
businesses (55%) are planning to expand their
overall marketing budget during 2021, up from 48%
in 2019 pre-coronavirus (48%). Figure 3 shows that
an even greater proportion (66%) are planning to
spend more specifically on online lead generation
over the coming 12 months, a jump of 16 percentage
points over the prior year - a clear reflection of the
activity's growing role in B2B business growth.
Unsurprisingly, given the cashflow pressures and
reduced economic activity since the onset of the
pandemic, there is still a proportion of businesses
that are being forced to squeeze their marketing
budgets during 2021 (15% vs. 13% in 2019).
Nonetheless, given the scale of the crisis, it is notable
that they remain a small minority. Further, when
it comes to budget specifically geared towards
online lead generation, even fewer businesses are
planning to rein in their spending (9%). This suggests
strong levels of confidence in the effectiveness and
ROI of digital lead generation activities which are
increasingly seen as a robust base upon which to
build competitive advantage as the economy opens
back up.
FIGURE 2
Will your overall
marketing budget
be increasing or
decreasing over the
next 12 months?
Strategies and
budgeting during and
beyond Covid-19

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
44%
36% 34% 34%
23%
38%
35%
31% 34%
28%
12%
23%
21%
21%
29%
2% 3%
9%
7%
10%
4% 3% 5% 4%
10%
We have shifted
marketing
budgets online
We have
invested more in
online content
Our online lead
generation
budget has
increased
We are increasing
investment in
marketing
automation and
lead generation
technology
We have shifted
marketing
budgets from
physical events
into whitepaper
marketing
More than four in five
respondents (82%) have
invested more in online
content since the start of
the pandemic, and 71%
say they have shifted
marketing budgets
online.
60%
35%
5%
50%
41%
9%
66%
25%
9%
Increasing Staying the same Decreasing
Two-thirds of B2B
companies are increasing
their online lead
generation budgets this
year.
l Strongly disagree
l Somewhat disagree
l Neither agree nor disagree
l Somewhat agree
l Strongly agree
FIGURE 4
Please indicate
whether you agree
or disagree with the
following statements
relating to your
lead generation and
broader marketing
activities since the
start of the Covid-19
pandemic.
The shift to online
Figure 4 and Figure 5 provide further evidence
that, in light of the Covid-19 crisis and the resulting
cancellation of in-person events and conferences
that are normally used by many B2B companies to
drive interest in their products and services, many
businesses have pivoted towards digital marketing
and online content..
• 82% of respondents agree they have invested
more in online content, and 71% say they have
shifted marketing budgets online (Figure 4).
• 51% agree they are shifting budgets from physical
events into whitepaper marketing, compared to
20% who disagree (Figure 4).
• 82% of respondents agree that the pandemic has
made them more reliant on online lead generation
compared to only 6% who disagree (Figure 5).
• 72% of respondents say they have shifted
marketing budgets away from event and trade
show sponsorship to producing their own events
and webinars (Figure 5).
The pandemic has also made companies more agile
and reactive in the way they approach lead generation
with the vast majority (80%) agreeing that this is the
case. The research suggests that the changes to the
way many companies are approaching marketing and
lead generation will outlast the global health crisis.
Companies are more likely to disagree than agree
that they will revert to how they did things previously
‘when coronavirus goes away’ (44% vs. 32%).
FIGURE 3
Will your budget
for online lead
generation be
increasing or
decreasing over the
next 12 months?
l 2017
l 2019
l 2021
SECTION 1
STRATEGIES AND BUDGETING
DURING AND BEYOND COVID-19

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
89% 88% 87% 87%
60%
68%
65%
80%
67%
52%
We have shifted
marketing
budgets online
We have
invested more in
online content
Our online lead
generation
budget has
increased
We are increasing
investment in
marketing
automation and
lead generation
technology
We have shifted
marketing
budgets from
physical events
into whitepaper
marketing
Nine out of 10 leaders
(89%) have shifted
marketing budgets online
since the beginning of the
health crisis, compared
to 68% of mainstream
companies.
49%
40%
35%
13%
33%
40%
37%
19%
12% 15%
19%
24%
5% 3%
4%
30%
5%
14%
1% 2%
The pandemic has
made the business
more reliant on online
lead generation
Covid-19 has made us
more agile and
reactive in the way
we approach online
lead generation
We have shifted
marketing budgets
from event and trade
show sponsorship to
producing our own
online events and
webinars
When coronavirus
goes away we’ll go
back to the way we
always did things
The vast majority of
respondents (82%) agree
the pandemic has made
them more reliant on
online lead generation
l Leaders
l Mainstream
FIGURE 6
Proportion of
respondents
agreeing (‘strongly’
or ‘somewhat’)
with statements
relating to their
lead generation and
broader marketing
activities since the
start of the Covid-19
pandemic (leaders
vs. mainstream)
Leaders quicker to respond to the pandemic by
ramping up lead generation investment
Tellingly, organisations classified as leaders are the
most bullish in the way they are doubling down on
online content and lead generation in recognition
of how buyers have been compelled to make even
more use of digital channels for research.
Nine out of 10 leaders agree they have shifted
marketing budgets online since the beginning of
the crisis (89%), compared to 68% of mainstream
respondents (Figure 6). Similarly, the vast majority of
leaders have expanded their online lead generation
budgets, and channelled greater spend towards
online content creation (87% in both cases).
Leaders are also more likely to have considered
the long-term impact of the pandemic on their
strategies, and are not just opportunistically
boosting digital spend at a time of disruption.
They are significantly more likely than mainstream
companies to have increased their technology
investment in marketing automation and lead
generation platforms (88%, vs. only 65% for the
mainstream).
FIGURE 5
Please also indicate
whether you
agree with these
statements, also
relating to your
lead generation and
broader marketing
activities since the
start of the Covid-19
pandemic.
l Strongly disagree
l Somewhat disagree
l Neither agree nor disagree
l Somewhat agree
l Strongly agree
SECTION 1
STRATEGIES AND BUDGETING
DURING AND BEYOND COVID-19

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THE STATE OF B2B
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1%
20%
17%
16%
11%
8%
6%
7%
5%
3%
6%
91-100%
81-90%
71-80%
61-70%
51-60%
41-50%
31-40%
21-30%
11-20%
1-10%
0%
On average, leaders are driving
signficantly more of their total sales from
leads generated online, compared to
mainstream companies.
45%
36%
19%
Yes, slightly Yes, significantly No
More than a third of B2B
companies (36%) report
a significant increase in
the proportion of leads
generated online since the
onset of Covid-19.
FIGURE 8
Approximately
what proportion
of your total sales
originate from leads
generated online?
FIGURE 7
Has the proportion
of leads generated
online increased
since the start of the
Covid-19 pandemic?
Pandemic has shifted buying online
Figure 7 underscores the change in buyer behaviour
that has been triggered by Covid-19, providing
further justification that prioritisation of digital lead
generation is a solid strategy. About four in five
respondents (81%) say that, since the start of the
pandemic, a higher proportion of their leads have
originated online. More than a third (36%) say this
increase has been ‘significant’.
On average, just under a third (30%) of sales by B2B
companies surveyed are generated online (Figure 8).
For more than a quarter of companies (27%), more
than half of their sales are generated from online
leads.
As we would expect, on average, leaders are
generating significantly more of their total sales from
online lead generation than mainstream companies
(35% vs. 28%).
SECTION 1
STRATEGIES AND BUDGETING
DURING AND BEYOND COVID-19
30%
35%
28%

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
3%
5%
5%
10%
11%
26%
40%
3%
5%
5%
10%
11%
27%
39%
4%
5%
5%
11%
13%
29%
33%
Planning and strategy
Content production and development
Driving traffic and volume
Data and lead capture
Transferring data between business systems (e.g. CRM)
Measuring costs and ROI
Data verification and validation
Planning and strategy
is now the strongest
discipline for 40% of
companies, up from 33%
in 2017 and 39% in 2019.
l 2017
l 2019
l 2021
FIGURE 9
Which of the
following lead
generation areas
do you rate as your
strongest discipline?
Our research shows that, while online lead
generation is an increasingly strategic and mature
part of the marketer’s toolset, organisations differ in
what they perceive to be their strongest discipline.
Figure 9 shows that businesses still favour planning
and strategy as their strongest lead generation
discipline, now up to 40% compared to 39% in 2019
and 33% in 2017.
The next strongest discipline is content production
and development (26%), followed by driving traffic
and volume (11%), and then data and lead capture
(10%).
As was also the case in previous editions of
this survey, however, it is evident that far fewer
practitioners (5%) regard measuring costs and ROI
as their strongest discipline. Data management
remains another challenge, with few citing
transferring data between business systems (5%)
and data verification and validation (3%) as areas
where they are most capable.
Maturity of lead
generation activities
2

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l In-house
l Outsourceda3
THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
Around two-thirds of companies now have
a clear strategy for online lead generation
activities, with individual campaigns fitting
into an overall framework (65%, up from
60% since 2019).
71%
60% 59%
52%
70%
57%
60%
53%
80%
71%
65%
62%
We use a variety of
channels for driving
traffic to our
content assets
We produce different
types of content based
on a clear understanding
of different persona
requirements and
different stages of the
buying cycle
We have a clear strategy
for our online lead
generation activities,
with individual
campaigns fitting into an
overall framework
Our technology
platforms allow us
to capture data
efficiently
Four in five companies
now use a variety of
channels for driving
traffic to content assets.
l 2017
l 2019
l 2021
FIGURE 10
Proportion of
respondents
agreeing ('strongly'
or 'somewhat')
with statements
relating to their lead
generation activities
A holistic approach to lead generation
Since the inception of this research four years
ago, we have tracked a range of lead generation
capabilities to assess the extent to which companies
have certain strategic, organisational and technical
foundations in place to drive the best possible ROI.
Figure 10 shows an encouraging across-
the-board jump since the 2019 survey in the
proportion of respondents agreeing that various
key characteristics for success apply to their
organisations:
• Using a variety of channels for driving traffic to
content assets (80%, up from 70% in 2019).
• Producing different types of content based
on a clear understanding of different persona
requirements and different stages of the buying
cycle (71%, up from 57%).
• A clear strategy for online lead generation
activities, with individual campaigns fitting into an
overall framework (65%, up from 60%).
• A technology platform that enables data to be
captured efficiently (62%, up from 53%).
SECTION 2
MATURITY OF LEAD
GENERATION ACTIVITIES

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
69%
48%
46%
41%
63%
45%
47%
38%
78%
62% 61%
51%
We are constantly
seeking to improve the
quality of leads, based
on input from our sales
team
We have the processes
in place to ensure that
all data is checked and
validated
We have a clear
understanding of return
on investment from
online lead generation,
based on sales data
Leads are scored and
nurtured, and only
made available to the
sales team when they
hit a carefully defined
threshold
More than three-quarters
of companies (78%)
say they are constantly
seeking to improve the
quality of leads, based on
input from sales teams
(up from 63% two years
ago).
89%
56%
We use a variety of
channels for driving
traffic to our
content assets
We produce different
types of content based
on a clear understanding
of different persona
requirements and
different stages of the
buying cycle
We have a clear strategy
for our online lead
generation activities,
with individual
campaigns fitting into an
overall framework
Our technology
platforms allow us
to capture data
efficiently
91%
74%
96%
52%
89%
65%
Leaders are significantly
more likely than
mainstream companies
to exhibit a number
of traits relating to
their lead generation
activities.
l Leaders
l Mainstream
l 2017
l 2019
l 2021
FIGURE 12
Proportion of
respondents
agreeing ('strongly'
or 'somewhat')
with statements
relating to their lead
generation activities
FIGURE 11
Proportion of
respondents
agreeing ('strongly'
or 'somewhat')
with statements
relating to their
lead generation
activities (leaders vs.
mainstream)
Figure 11 looks at the responses to the very same
descriptions as in the previous Figure 10, but this
time we compare leaders to mainstream across all
four statements: a significantly higher proportion of
leaders agree that they apply to their companies.
Most notably, virtually all leaders agree that they
have a clear strategy in place, with individual
campaigns fitting into an overall framework (96% of
leaders vs. 52% of mainstream companies).
Importance of data and processes
Figure 12 shows that significant progress is also
being made when it comes to enabling data to flow
within organisations – a key factor in allowing lead
generation returns to be improved.
Compared with 2019, significantly higher proportions
of respondents indicate that they are ‘constantly’
using sales data to improve the quality of leads,
have processes in place to check and validate data,
and use sales data to ‘clearly’ understand ROI. More
marketers also have systems in place to score and
nurture leads, passing them on to the sales team
when they hit a ‘carefully’ defined threshold.
This level of coordination is of paramount importance
in B2B lead generation, enabling companies to be
closely attuned to where prospects are in terms of
readiness to buy, and allowing them to deliver the
correct messaging at the right moments.
SECTION 2
MATURITY OF LEAD
GENERATION ACTIVITIES

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
4%
4%
5%
5%
4%
5%
7%
5%
7%
9%
14%
7%
11%
11%
11%
11%
11%
8%
22%
13%
12%
26%
16%
15%
30%
33%
29%
LinkedIn
Organic
search
(SEO)
Email
(to
first-party
lists)
Paid
search
Facebook
Direct
mail
Online
publishers
Telemarketing
Email
(to
third-party
lists)
Twitter
50%
40%
33%
50%
41%
44%
34%
50%
44%
Print
media
(e.g.
newspapers
/
trade
press)
Content
syndication
(e.g.
Outbrain
/
Taboola)
LinkedIn and SEO are
seen as the most effective
channels for driving
high-quality leads.
FIGURE 13
Which channels are
most effective for
driving high-quality
leads?
l 2017
l 2019
l 2021
B2B marketers utilise a wide range of tactics and
channels to reach prospective buyers, and there
continue to be changes in the mix as new platforms
grow and customer behaviour evolves. The pressures
created by Covid-19 have evidently prompted
marketers to increase their levels of experimentation
and revisit where they deploy spend.
The emergence of LinkedIn as a lead generation
mainstay continues to have a major influence on
where marketers are directing their investment –
a trend that may have been accelerated by the
changes wrought by the pandemic.
Half of the survey respondents (50%) now describe
LinkedIn as one of their most effective channels
for generating high-quality B2B leads – a ten
percentage point increase on 2019 (Figure 13).
Effectiveness
of channels and
content types
3

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
Two-thirds (66%) of B2B companies have
increased their spending on LinkedIn as
a result of the Covid pandemic, more
than for any other channel.
15%
21%
27%
30%
33%
34%
40%
45%
47%
51%
60%
66%
40%
54%
44%
48%
42%
38%
37%
34%
35%
35%
30%
24%
45%
25%
29%
22%
25%
28%
23%
21%
18%
14%
10%
10%
LinkedIn
Organic search (SEO)
Email (to first-party lists)
Facebook
Paid search
Direct mail
Email (to third-party lists)
Publishing on third-party sites
Twitter
Telemarketing
Content syndication (e.g. Outbrain / Taboola)
Print media (e.g. newspapers / trade press)
Companies are most
likely to have increased
their spending on
LinkedIn and SEO since
the start of the pandemic.
SECTION 3
EFFECTIVENESS OF CHANNELS
AND CONTENT TYPES
l More
l The same
l Less
FIGURE 14
Are you spending
more or less on the
following channels
as a result of the
Covid pandemic?
LinkedIn is tied for first with organic search in
terms of high-quality lead generation. Two thirds of
businesses (66%) report that they have increased
spend on this business platform following the
pandemic – more than on any other channel
(Figure 14).
Facebook has also seen an increase in activity in
the wake of Covid-19. Approximately a quarter of
respondents (26%) see it as one of the most effective
channels for driving high-quality leads, and nearly
half have responded to the crisis by directing more
investment into the platform (47%).
Even Twitter is seeing greater spend from three in
ten practitioners, despite very few regarding it as a
go-to-source of high-quality leads (4%).
Email dominance shaken by coronavirus
pandemic
Adding to the sense that the pandemic has
caused something of a shake-up, it is notable that
confidence in email – a long-established cornerstone
of digital lead generation – appears to have taken a
knock.
In 2019, email (to first-party lists) was the
channel that was most widely seen as effective
for generating high-quality leads; since then, the
proportion of respondents citing it has dropped
markedly (from 50% to 34%).

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THE STATE OF B2B
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Compared to 2019, nearly twice as
many respondents describe video
as ‘very effective’ for driving good
quality leads (46% vs. 25%).
25%
34%
20%
29%
24%
19%
25%
38%
26%
31%
21%
25%
46%
40%
36%
35%
24% 24%
Video Events Webinars Case studies White papers /
research reports
Buyer guides
There has been a sharp
rise in the proportion of
respondents describing
both video and webinars
as 'very effective' for
driving good-quality
leads.
l 2017
l 2019
l 2021
FIGURE 15
Proportion of
respondents rating
these content assets
as 'very effective' for
driving good-quality
leads
However, email continues to be seen as a cost-
effective lead generation medium, and one that
delivers sufficiently strong ROI to justify investment.
More than half of respondents have increased spend
on first-party email distribution since the start of the
pandemic (51%).
With the rise in home-working, it is surprising that
many marketers have been increasing spend on
direct mail (40%). Print media has not seen any
such uplift, however. Only 15% of practitioners have
boosted investment on this channel.
Video on rise as marketers widen digital focus
The pandemic has also resulted in a significant
increase in interest in video content as a source of
leads.
Compared to 2019, nearly twice as many
respondents describe video as ‘very effective’ for
driving good quality leads (46% vs. 25%). Also
evident in Figure 15 is the rise in popularity for
webinars following the enforced cancellation of
physical events. Thirty-six percent of practitioners
see them as ‘very effective’ – a ten-point rise on 2019.
SECTION 3
EFFECTIVENESS OF CHANNELS
AND CONTENT TYPES

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
37%
47%
16%
32%
50%
18%
43%
41%
16%
Very joined-up, with shared
leadership and shared KPIs
Quite joined-up, but by
no means seamless
Marketing and sales
functions are separate silos
Since 2019 there has been
an 11-percentage-point
increase in the proportion
of respondents describing
marketing and sales
functions as 'very joined-
up'.
l 2017
l 2019
l 2021
FIGURE 16
How would you
describe the
relationship
between marketing
and sales at your
organisation?
Close collaboration between the marketing and
sales departments is rightly regarded as a key
success factor for effective online lead generation. It
is vital that these two functions be on the same page
when it comes to defining responsibilities, developing
common KPIs and strategy, and creating a healthy
feedback loop on how to target and score prospects.
Historically, the two departments have not always
been on the best of terms and, unless artificial
barriers between them are broken down, results
will naturally be stunted. Without close cooperation
there will inevitably be a disconnect between the
type and quality of leads marketers generate, and
those the sales team can best exploit.
This survey has shown digital marketing channels
are gaining even more traction as a result of
the pandemic, so it is more important than ever
that the two functions work hand in glove. This
cooperation needs to be driven by the leadership of
both departments, allowing alignment of resources
and teams, and opening the way for data to flow
between them.
Although there is still significant lack of alignment
within many businesses, there is clear progress being
made in terms of bringing the two departments
together. Across all respondents, 43% say their
marketing and sales functions are now ‘very joined-
up’ – an 11-percentage-point increase on 2019
(Figure 16). A majority (58%) report that their sales
teams would say they are receiving ‘excellent’ or
‘good’ leads from online channels, up from 52% two
years previously (Figure 17).
Marketing and
sales alignment
4

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
94%
91%
88%
78%
67%
61%
59%
51%
Marketing and sales teams
have worked together to
produce a shared definition
of what a good customer
prospect looks like
Marketing and sales teams
maintain alignment with
regular feedback, working
sessions and iterative
improvement
We are clear within the
business about whose role
it is to work on each stage
of the buying funnel, and
how handovers work
between teams
Marketing and sales teams
have worked together to
create a shared set of
metrics with explicit
definitions for metrics such
as SQLs and MQLs
Leaders are significantly
more likely than
mainstream companies
to have a range of
measures in places to
align marketing and
sales teams.
9%
43%
41%
7%
11%
41%
35%
13%
18%
40%
35%
7%
5%
Excellent Good Okay Poor
A majority (58%) report
that their sales teams
would describe leads
generated online as
‘excellent’ or ‘good’.
l Leaders
l Mainstream
FIGURE 18
Proportion of
respondents
agreeing ('strongly'
or 'somewhat') with
statements relating
to the marketing and
sales alignment
Teamwork key to success
Fostering this more cooperative environment
between marketing and sales remains one of the
key differentiators between the businesses that are
nailing online lead generation and those that are
behind the curve.
Leaders are much more likely to assert that they
have key components in place to support continuous
improvement of lead generation activities through
collaboration between the two functions (Figure 18).
Leaders overwhelming agree that their marketing
and sales departments have worked together to
jointly define a ‘good customer prospect’ (94%),
that they maintain alignment with regular feedback
and working sessions (91%), that they are clear
on ownership and handovers at each stage of the
buying funnel (88%), and that they have shared
metrics and definitions (78%). Adherence to these
four best practices drops to 67%, 61%, 59% and 51%
among mainstream respondents.
l 2017
l 2019
l 2021
FIGURE 17
How would your
sales team describe
the quality of leads
they get from online
lead generation
activities?
SECTION 4
MARKETING AND SALES ALIGNMENT

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
49%
41%
10%
47%
41%
12%
51%
41%
8%
A top priority A priority Not a priority
Around half of companies
(51%) say that it is a 'top
priority' for marketing
teams to collect data that
is as clean as possible.
l 2017
l 2019
l 2021
FIGURE 19
How much of a
priority is it for your
marketing team to
ensure that data you
are collecting is as
clean as possible?
Data hygiene
and data regulation
As competition for buyers’ attention online increases,
it goes without saying that businesses must meet
customers’ – and regulators’ – expectations when it
comes to keeping their customer databases current
and error-free.
Without adequate data hygiene, it is hard to see
how marketers can deliver relevant and engaging
content to the right customers at the right time.
This is especially important in the B2B space,
where customer value tends to be higher and trust
particularly key.
Regulatory interventions, including the introduction
of the EU GDPR in 2018, have helped encourage
organisations to get a firmer grip on data
management.
As noted earlier in this report (Figure 12), an
increased proportion of organisations now report
that they have processes in place to ensure that all
data is checked and validated (62%, vs 45% in 2019).
Furthermore (Figure 19), over half of organisations
now name data cleanliness as a ‘top priority’ (51%,
up from 47% in 2019).
5

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
Three-quarters of leaders (77%) say
their businesses see data cleanliness
as a top priority, compared to 42%
of mainstream companies.
19%
52%
Quite confident
29%
Very confident Not at all confident
Overall, 29% of
companies are 'very
confident' the data their
business is using is
thoroughly verified and
validated. This decreases
to 22% for mainstream
companies, but goes up to
52% for leaders.
SECTION 5
DATA HYGIENE AND
DATA REGULATION
Confidence in data
It follows that those organisations that are willing
and able to maintain data hygiene and manage
their databases more efficiently and effectively will
also tend to be those extracting most value from
their customer information.
Drilling down, we see that more than three-
quarters of the leaders say their businesses see
data cleanliness as a top priority (77%, vs. 42% of
mainstream respondents), demonstrating that good
data-related practices are not just a hygiene factor,
but also a driver of commercial success.
Strikingly, despite the regulatory and commercial
incentives, there is still a hold-out segment of one-
in-10 mainstream respondents that do not treat
verification and validation of data as a priority at all
(11%).
Given the relatively lower level of emphasis on
data cleaning, fewer than a quarter of mainstream
organisations are ‘very confident’ that the data
their businesses are using is ‘thoroughly verified and
validated’ (22%, against 52% of leaders).
FIGURE 20
How confident are
you that the data
your business is
using is thoroughly
verified and
validated?

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
54% 54%
46%
4%
60%
32%
19%
14%
Internal resource to
manually inspect
records individually
Technology solution
to automate cleaning
of data
External data
provider to match
and clean records
None of the above
Leaders are 69%
more likely than
the mainstream to
have implemented a
technology solution to
automate cleaning of
data (54% vs. 32%)
45%
27%
19%
9%
Internal resource to
manually inspect
records individually
Technology solution
to automate cleaning
of data
External data
provider to match
and clean records
None of the above
Quality control of leads
is typically being done
internally, in a manual
fashion (by 45% of
companies).
l Leaders
l Mainstream
Quality control
Encouragingly, more organisations are now
recognising the importance of data hygiene and
putting into place software tools or outsourcing
arrangements to bring down the cost of list cleaning.
Many companies (45%) still rely on a manual
inspection system, but this is a significant reduction
from 2019 (69%).
There is a clear ‘dual-carriageway’ in terms of
developing these capabilities, however. B2B lead
generation ‘leaders’ are in the fast line, being 69%
more likely to have implemented a tech-based
solution to automate cleaning than their mainstream
peers (54% versus 32%, Figure 22). They are also
more than twice as likely to be using an external
data provider to match and clean records (46%
versus 19%).
Nine percent of all the respondents say they
don't use any of the methods (manual inspection,
automation or external data). Not surprisingly, only
4% of the leaders use none of the quality control
measures vs. 14% of the mainstream.
FIGURE 22
How do you carry
out quality control
on the leads
collected by your
business? (leaders
vs. mainstream)
FIGURE 21
How do you carry
out quality control
on the leads
collected by your
business?
SECTION 5
DATA HYGIENE AND
DATA REGULATION

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
32% 31% 30% 29%
47%
44% 49%
45%
21%
25%
21%
26%
Managing consent Ensuring compliance
of third-party data providers
Proving consent
(audit trail)
Dealing with opt-outs
Managing consent (32%),
ensuring compliance
of third-party data
providers (31%), proving
consent through audit
trail (30%) and dealing
with opt-outs (29%) are
all ‘major’ challenges
for around three in 10
companies.
57%
43%
Yes No
More than four in 10
companies (43%) say they
don't have web forms for
gated content that verify
email and phone numbers
in real time.
l Not a challenge
l Minor challenge
l Major challenge
Verification of email and phone numbers
Verifying user contact information at the point
of capture is a key facet of data hygiene – and
represents a broader assessment of lead quality –
and one where, not surprisingly leaders also tend to
do better.
A significant proportion of marketers are missing
this opportunity (43%) by failing to verify email
and phone numbers in real-time, when users
register to access their gated content. Nearly half
of organisations are freeing up access to their key
marketing material without properly ascertaining
users’ identity in return.
Figure 24 shows that managing consent (32%),
ensuring compliance of third-party data providers
(31%), proving consent through audit trail (30%)
and dealing with opt-outs (29%) are all ‘major’
challenges afflicting about three in 10 of the B2B
companies surveyed.
FIGURE 24
How significant
are the following
challenges in the
context of lead
generation and
data protection
regulations?
FIGURE 23
Do your web forms
for gated content
verify email and
phone numbers in
real time?
SECTION 5
DATA HYGIENE AND
DATA REGULATION

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
With businesses facing an array of challenges which
extend beyond compliance with data regulation,
driving measurable ROI is by no means a simple task
(Figure 25).
As we've seen in previous editions of this report,
ensuring lead quality remains the standout difficulty
marketers face. Thirty-five percent of respondents
cite this as one of their top-three challenges – putting
it ahead of any other issue, including lead volume
(28%).
As shown earlier in this report, the ongoing search
for sources that generate high-quality leads
is prompting more and more organisations to
experiment with new lead generation channels,
including LinkedIn and more mainstream social
media. Having the means to attract and identify
strong leads is especially key as buyers change
behaviour and procurement budgets come under
pressure following the pandemic.
Creating the content that can capture and hold
prospects’ attention is another major, ongoing
challenge. It has also become especially important
following the crisis, with eyeballs having moved
further towards online research sources. Content
quality is also evidently becoming critical as more
and more businesses ramp up production of digital
resource, and it becomes harder to cut through
the noise. This is now the second most commonly
cited lead generation challenge for B2B businesses,
following a sharp rise since 2019 (from 20% to 30%).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, in the current environment,
money is another area where an increased
proportion of respondents see their lead generation
efforts being held back. A quarter cite lack of budget
as a top challenge (25%), up from 18% in 2019.
One possible­– admittedly optimistic scenario – is
that this is evidence that even despite the majority
of marketers saying their lead generation spend will
increase during 2021 – many still want to be investing
even more. Further, this cash-constrained segment
outweighs the proportion of marketers who say their
lead generation budgets are being cut this year, so
these frustrations cannot solely be down to fiscal
tightening from the finance department.
Another area of qualified positivity is that there has
been a slight drop in the proportion of marketers
citing tracking ROI from leads as a top challenge
(29%, against 33% in 2019). This chimes with
indications, highlighted earlier in this report, that
an increasing number of companies are gaining a
clear understanding of returns from lead generation,
based on sales data.
Challenges relating to
online lead generation
6

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
SECTION 6
CHALLENGES RELATING
TO ONLINE LEAD GENERATION
11%
19%
16%
11%
7%
6%
Quality of leads
Creating high-quality content
Tracking ROI from leads
Volume of leads
Lack of budget
Cost of acquisition
Getting the right processes in place
Lack of skills and knowledge internally
Technology restrictions / poor technology
Disconnected systems for data (e.g. marketing and sales)
Poor data quality
Poor relationship between sales and marketing
Managing third-party companies
Drain on internal resources
12%
12%
12%
13%
12%
13%
14%
15%
17%
14%
13%
14%
18%
13%
18%
20%
26%
28%
21%
21%
17%
25%
18%
26%
28%
26%
25%
29%
33%
26%
30%
20%
26%
35%
35%
30%
Ensuring the quality of
leads is once again the
most significant challenge
B2B businesses face in
the context of their lead
generation activities.
l 2017
l 2019
l 2021
FIGURE 25
What are the top
three challenges
your business
faces around lead
generation?

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THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
Conclusion – Three lessons from B2B
online lead generation leaders
Strategy, budget and technology
Clearly, the top priority for those who wish to become marketing leaders is to shift budget
online and invest in content and webinars.
Leaders in B2B lead generation hone their strategy so all involved understand who are
their key targets, and how campaigns can be built to reach them. They are also more
likely to have deployed the necessary technology to capture lead data efficiently.
An important step for marketers to get right is ensuring data is thoroughly vetted and
verified – it’s rated as either a ‘priority’ or ‘top priority’ by nine in 10 organisations, yet one
in five are not confident they are achieving it.
A lesson from leaders is not to rely on expensive internal resources to verify data, but
instead either utilise the right tools to do this automatically, or partner with an external
lead generation partner that offers cleansed data as part of the service.
Be adaptable with content and channels
Leaders have an overall strategy with individual campaigns deployed to deliver against
overall objectives. They do this by producing the right type of content for the right type of
target, on the right channel. Rather than stick with a particular favoured route to market,
they are adaptable.
The optimal combination of content and channel will vary from one organisation to
another, and will differ with each campaign for a particular target market. The top three
channels relied on most frequently have been LinkedIn, SEO and email. In terms of content
type, video, webinars, case studies and white papers have all seen large growth.
So, a stepping stone to better performance is to be adaptable, with each campaign built
around a combination of these content forms and channels to meet B2B lead generation
objectives.
Align sales and marketing
The stand-out finding for many in this report will be how leaders in B2B digital lead
generation have aligned their sales and marketing teams. For more than nine in 10 leading
organisations, both teams have agreed-upon strategies, and they communicate regularly
on what leads are required, and how their quality can be measured.
Key action points here are putting the right technology and processes in place so each
team is agreed on what constitutes a valuable lead, and at which part of the funnel sales
executives take over. The right metrics also need to be in place to score leads and to
measure ROI.
Taken together, these three action steps can help organisations become leaders in the
field, and help them to become more than twice as likely than their peers to generate
leads which they consider ‘excellent’.
The research reveals a lot about how lead generation is evolving, and how leaders in
the field have improved their performance this year by focusing on some key steps.

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THE STATE OF B2B
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Appendix
Respondent
profiles

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APPENDIX
RESPONDENT PROFILES
THE STATE OF B2B
LEAD GENERATION 2021
43%
28%
4%
9% 9%
3%
4%
Less than
£5 Million
£5 Million -
£49 Million
£50 Million -
£99 Million
£100 Million -
£249 Million
£250 Million -
£499 Million
£500 Million -
£999 Million
£1 Billion plus
42%
20%
14%
5%
2%
17%
Europe Asia Pacific North America Middle East South Africa Other
14%
1%
1%
1%
1%
2%
3%
3%
4%
4%
5%
6%
7%
7%
8%
15%
18%
Technology
Manufacturing
Consumer goods
Food and beverage
Financial services and insurance
Professional services
IT consultancy
Telecommunications
Retail
Media and entertainment
Healthcare / Medical / Pharmaceutical
Travel, leisure and hospitality
Charity / Non-profit
Utilities
Government and local authority
Accountancy / Business services / Law
Other
FIGURE 27
In which business
sector does your
organisation
operate?
FIGURE 26
What is your annual
company revenue?
FIGURE 28
In which region are
you based?

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