How to Generate B2B Leads with Email Marketing: A Guide for 2025, not 2008

Thinking about using email marketing to generate leads? You might be planning to launch a lead magnet, promote it, and wait for qualified leads to start rolling in.

However, in 2024-2025, traditional lead magnets aren't cutting it like they used to, especially those your competitors are using. In this post, we'll guide you in reimagining your email marketing lead generation strategy.

Here's what you need to know to start seeing results before the quarter ends:

Why Most Lead Magnets Don't Work

Many teams rely heavily on lead magnets like free ebooks or checklists to attract potential leads. We could argue that lead magnets are one of the pillars of the B2B lead generation playbook. But in this day and age, they're not working anymore.

B2B lead magnets rarely attract the right crowd

Unfortunately, these resources often end up filling your email list with people who are more interested in the freebie than your actual offering. This happens because such lead magnets appeal to those looking for quick answers or resources without any real intent to engage further.

For example, a freelance content writer downloading a free eBook on email marketing strategies might do so just to gather general information for a piece of content, with no actual interest in adding tools to their stack - much less, an enterprise-level solution designed for teams.

Similarly, a checklist for project management might attract budding managers looking for free resources rather than seasoned professionals who are more likely to invest in comprehensive training programs. As a result, while your list may grow in numbers, few to no contacts match your ideal customer profile.

A starving sales pipeline and distorted metrics

This influx of unqualified leads can be detrimental, as it skews your audience data and reduces engagement metrics. Without a proper lead scoring system to separate the wheat from the chaff, your email nurturing sequences may miss the mark.

If you're not reaching the right audience, you might end up misdiagnosing marketing problems. Teams often blame low performance on their blog posts or email sequences, when the actual problem is that the leads aren't there.

How Transform Your Email Marketing Strategy & Start Generating Leads

Tired of low-quality lead magnets filling your email lists with low-value contacts?

You can turn things around in 5 steps. Let's see how:

Step 1: Assess your current list's quality

What does your current email marketing list look like? How many high-quality leads do you actually have?

Create a segment of email subscribers that engage with your messages on a regular basis.

Take a closer look at that segment, and detect how many non-customer contacts:

• Signed up to your list with a company email
• Are at a company with firmographics that match your ICP

Assessing whether a contact's company matches your ICP at scale may seem impossible. Consider using a data enrichment tool, such as Clay. Clay allows you to import a contact list, enrich it with robust firmographic data. With such tools, you'll be able to detect potential target accounts hiding in your email marketing list.

Once you've filtered your list, ask yourself:

• How many users are left in the resulting segment?
• Of those subscribers, how many signed up through a lead magnet?

Needless to say:  Hold that segment close to your heart. Focus your future nurturing efforts on turning those high-quality leads into customers. If that segment is too small - or empty, don't worry. It won't be for long.

Step 2: Audit your existing lead magnets & ungate low-performing assets

Now that you know how many marketing-qualified contacts your lead magnets have already brought you, it's time to evaluate the lead magnets themselves.

We've created a handy template to help you hit the ground running. Don't worry, you can access it for free, no email required. To duplicate it, navigate to File > Make a copy.

Delete the (very optimistic) placeholder data, and get to work.

Make an inventory of all your lead magnets, including how many signups and qualified leads they produced. Aside from the raw numbers, you'll want to detect cases in which you got tons of new signups, but a low percentage of qualified leads.

Wondering what you should do with underperforming assets?

We suggest you ungate them. Making underperforming lead magnets publicly available can offer several benefits:

• It allows a wider audience to access the content, increasing brand awareness and organic traffic.
• It can help you understand which content works best by tracking how people interact with it, helping you fine-tune future marketing campaigns.
• It helps you foster trust with your audience by offering value and helping them ease pain points from the get go.

Step 3: Create a product-led lead magnet

A gated resource can be a great lead generation tool. But it's time to rethink the traditional approach.

While PDFs have been the go-to for a while, they can feel a bit stale and static. They demand too much time and attention, and they rarely provide users with enough actionable value.

Instead, consider diving into interactive, product-led lead magnets. These tools can be far more engaging, provide a richer experience, and generate leads that are actually a good fit for your product.

Imagine giving potential leads a taste of your product through a demo, a quiz, or a tool that highlights your product’s ROI. Not only does this approach capture their interest more effectively, but it also gives them a clearer understanding of what you offer, potentially speeding up the conversion process. So, why stick with the old when you can innovate and captivate with new, interactive lead magnets?

Here are some interesting lead generation tactics for 2025, not 2008:

Interactive product demos

Source: Navattic

Interactive product demos are a real game-changer for B2B SaaS companies. They let potential clients get hands-on with the software, seeing it in action without the friction of signing up for a free trial.

These demos give users a chance to really play around with the product's features and interface. This means they get a clearer picture of what the software can do and how it could meet their business needs. Plus, when clients experience the practical benefits and unique selling points firsthand, it often leads to higher conversion rates and smarter buying decisions.

ROI calculators

Source: Ramp

ROI calculators attract potential clients by producing tangible, personalized value. Unlike regular lead magnets like PDF whitepapers that just give information, these calculators let users input their own data to see potential returns on investment.

This makes the experience more engaging and helps users grasp the real business value of a SaaS solution in their specific situation. By offering immediate, tailored insights, ROI calculators can speed up decision-making, making them more effective at capturing leads and converting them into customers than static content ever could.

Quizzes and self-assessments

Source: Postdigitalist

Quizzes and self-assessments offer immediate, personalized insights that really speak to what each user needs and is interested in. Unlike old-school lead magnets like PDF whitepapers that you just read passively, interactive quizzes get users actively involved and really grab their attention.

Quizzes can help users pinpoint challenges or highlight areas for improvement, steering users towards tailored solutions offered by the SaaS product. Plus, they gather valuable data about new leads' preferences and pain points, allowing for more focused follow-up and nurturing strategies.

So overall, quizzes and self-assessments:

• Boost the user experience
• Ramp up engagement
• Provide actionable insights for new leads, the sales team, and the marketing team

Webinars and live Q&A sessions

Webinars and live Q&A sessions are awesome interactive lead magnets, especially for B2B SaaS companies. Unlike the usual static resources, webinars let you engage in real-time and have personal, spontaneous interactions with promising leads.

Webinar participants can ask questions and get instant answers, making it easier for them to really get why your product could make an impact for them. This lively format builds trust and shows off your expertise, giving new leads a chance to see your solution in action. Plus, webinars tend to pull in a very qualified audience, because they attract folks who are genuinely interested in your brand. With those factors in mind, we can assure you that webinars pose a great opportunity to convert high-quality leads.

Pro-tip: Don't treat it as a sales pitch.

Step 4:  Add friction to your lead generation form

Source: Salesforce

Share your lead magnets through your usual marketing channels, and maybe even send them to some advocates at target accounts with a personalized message.

As we've discussed throughout this post, not every new contact is a lead, and not every lead is a good lead. Add friction to your lead generation forms. That way, you'll filter out bad-fit users and only capture higher-quality leads. Instead of only asking for an email, make sure your form:

• Disallows personal email addresses.
• Asks for name, surname, and company.
• Includes a qualifying question - for example, a question related to whether they’re feeling a certain pain point or in the market for a solution like yours.

Step 5: Gather results

Monitor your results and adjust.

Transitioning from static assets to interactive tools allows you to gain new insights into user behavior. Rather than solely measuring lead acquisition, you'll also be able to identify where your tools fall short and continuously optimize them.

Since these tools are hosted online, you can refine them over time to achieve progressively better results. This level of adaptability isn’t possible with PDFs, which become inaccessible once downloaded.

Okay... there are some platforms that let you host PDFs and track user behavior! But we want to provide an interactive experience where users actively engage, not simply flip through pages.

How to Nurture B2B Leads in 2025

So far, we've discussed why B2B lead generation is broken. But, is lead nurturing overdue a revamp too?

The state of lead nurturing

Many marketers rely on outdated methods that fail to engage potential customers effectively.

Most lead nurturing strategies suffer from:

• A lack of personalization, with generic email campaigns failing to resonate with diverse audience segments.
• An over-reliance on automation, which can lead to impersonal and repetitive communications that disengage prospects.

Moreover, there is often a disconnect between sales and marketing teams, resulting in inconsistent messaging and missed opportunities to nurture leads effectively.

As customer expectations continue to rise, the inability to provide timely and relevant content hampers the conversion process.

Is there a better way?

Yes, there is a far better way to nurture leads!

For high-value accounts, bring out the sales team. Focus on building one-on-one relationships with the account’s advocate, the person actively engaging with your brand. For broader lead nurturing, proper segmentation is key. 

A side note, coming from experience: It’s essential that both marketing and sales have a commitment to gathering and organizing deal information at scale. This is particularly important for recognizing patterns, rather than being reactive. Otherwise, anecdotal evidence could have a disproportionate impact on strategic decisions. 

Create a funnel that smoothly guides users from one stage to the next without overwhelming them with irrelevant content. For example, sending numerous webinar invitations over a short period can be highly counterproductive. Each ignored or unwanted invitation risks damaging your relationship, eventually positioning your brand as one that sends out "nonsense" webinar invitations, not a source of tangible value.

To avoid this, ensure each email helps your leads ease a concrete pain point, drawing on the zero-party data collected through your interactive tools. By embedding these insights into your nurturing sequence, you can boost engagement, build stronger relationships, and facilitate the sales process.

Better Lead Magnets Are a Click Away

Looking for a content marketing team that can enrich your entire marketing pipeline with high-quality, differentiated content? We produce amazing content, distribute it to the right audience at the right time, and fill your pipeline with more leads than you've ever gotten from PPC.

You're a click away from proving that content marketing can have a great ROI. Book a free consulting call today!

Frequently Asked Questions

What's "lead generation"?

Lead generation is the process of identifying and attracting potential customers for a business's products or services.

What's the difference between marketing qualified leads and sales qualified leads?

Marketing qualified leads (MQLs) are potential customers who have shown interest through marketing efforts but aren’t ready to buy yet. Sales qualified leads (SQLs) are prospects deemed ready for direct sales follow-up due to their likelihood to purchase.

What's best for lead generation, SEO or paid ads?

It depends on your goals; SEO is better for long-term organic growth, while paid ads offer quick, targeted traffic. Want an overview of some pros and cons? Check out our SEO vs. PPC comparison!

What are the tell-tale signs of a high quality lead?

This is a tricky question - and the answer will vary from company to company. But, in short: High-quality leads show strong interest, fit the target customer profile, have decision-making authority, and a clear need for your product or service.