How to Generate B2B Leads in 2026 – 12 Proven Ways

At SalesBread, we have a saying when it comes to B2B lead generation:

“The harder the list is to build, the easier it is to get a reply.”

What does that mean?

It means that if you spend time thinking about who truly needs your offer the most, those with a “bleeding neck problem”, and find uncommon ways to build your prospecting list, you don’t need to be a master copywriter to get a response.

You just need to find what Gary Halbert called a starving crowd.

Here’s the story:

As marketers, our job is simple: find the starving crowd.

That’s exactly what this guide is about. We’re sharing 12 proven ways to generate B2B leads.

(Want help skipping the hard part? We offer free 15-minute strategy sessions. Our LinkedIn lead generation agency gets clients 1 qualified sales lead per day.)

1. Before You Find B2B Leads, Do This First

Before you open LinkedIn Sales Navigator, before you pull a list from ZoomInfo, before you send a single cold email, you need a crystal-clear picture of who you’re actually looking for and selling to.

You need to know your ideal customer profile (ICP).

Your ICP isn’t just “companies that could use our product.” It’s a specific description of the type of company and person most likely to buy from you, get results, and stick around.

To define your ICP, answer these questions:

• What industry or niche are they in?

• How large is the company (headcount or revenue)?

• What’s the job title of the decision-maker?

• What geography are you targeting?

• What pain point are they actively trying to solve right now?

• What does their tech stack look like?

• Are there any trigger events that make them a better fit? (e.g., recent funding, new hire, rapid growth)

We suggest looking at who your buying customers are. Analyze data over 6 months. This will help you look for patterns between your buying customers, and this, in turn, will help you build look-alike lists of prospects.

The video below will give you an idea of how to do this.

Here’s an example of a vague ICP vs. a refined one:

2. Use Intent Data to Find B2B Leads Who Are Already Looking

Here’s the problem with most B2B prospecting: you’re reaching out to people who aren’t ready to buy yet.

Intent data changes this.

Intent data tracks the digital behavior of companies across the web. This means that it will show you what topics they’re searching, what content they’re reading, and what competitor pages they’re visiting.

Think about it this way: if a VP of Sales at a 100-person SaaS company has spent the last two weeks reading articles about “cold email tools,” visiting three competitor pricing pages, and downloading a guide on outbound strategy, that’s a warm lead.

They’re in-market right now to buy a cold email tool.

Intent data tells you who that person is, so you can reach out at exactly the right moment.

Types of intent data:

• First-party intent: This will show you behavior on your own website (pages visited, content downloaded, pricing page views). Tools like Clearbit Reveal or Dealfront can identify which companies are visiting your site anonymously.

• Second-party intent: This is data from review sites like G2 or Capterra. If a company is browsing your category on G2, they’re actively looking for solutions.

• Third-party intent: This is behavioral data collected across thousands of B2B websites. This is where tools like Bombora come in.

Top intent data tools to know:

Bombora

We like to use Bombora at SalesBread; it tracks over 6 trillion keywords across thousands of B2B publisher sites.

Their “Company Surge” feature alerts you when a company shows interest in a topic relevant to your product.

6Sense

Uses AI to predict which accounts are actively buying. This is a pretty good tool for ABM strategies.

ZoomInfo Intent

ZoomInfo SalesOS Intent gathers intent data by tracking millions of content interactions across publishers, websites, and research platforms.

It then uses AI to analyze these signals, finding companies that are interested in specific topics, and this, in turn, helps you focus on the accounts most likely to turn into customers.

3. Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Some B2B lead generation agencies and marketing teams only stop at LinkedIn Sales Nav and don’t think outside the box when finding hot B2B leads. 

BUT  If you aren’t using  LinkedIn  Sales Navigator yet to find qualified leads, then you are making a mistake. 

Why do we say that?

Well, LinkedIn is a treasure trove of information. Not only can you use various filters to find prospects in your target audience, but you can also use it to create personalized messages or emails. 

Have a look below at some of the filters you can use: 

You can  filter prospects  via:

• Title

• Years of experience

• Groups

• Posted content keywords

• Company

• Location

• Industry

• First and Last name 

You can even see if a prospect has posted something on LinkedIn within the past 30 days; this is an important filter feature because it tells you if they are active on LinkedIn or not.

However, in order to turn these individuals into B2B leads, we recommend connecting with them and following up with ultra- personalized messages on LinkedIn.

If you have a list of prospects, check out every single person on LinkedIn. 

Usually, their profiles share a myriad of info that you can use to write prospecting messages. 

See the example below:

If you have a look at our content marketers’ personal LinkedIn profiles, for example, there are various things that you could use to write a personalized message.

At SalesBread, we use the CCQ method. 

It stands for: 

• Commonality

• Compliment

• Question

If you look at the profile example, you could use the following personalization in your outreach message:

“Hi Michaela, I enjoyed reading about the fastest-growing fintech companies. Let’s connect here. I would like to hear more.”

Or 

“ Hi Michaela, I liked that quote about toxic work cultures too. It’s interesting how many people are leaving their current jobs (the great resignation).

They say it’s from a toxic culture at work. Would love to hear your opinion. Can we connect here?”

Just by digging in a little deeper, you can write interesting, personalized messages that are bound to capture the attention of potential clients.

Why?

Because it’s not just a “copy-paste” message that’s been sent to thousands of people, it’s a message specifically for the prospect. 

4. Use various B2B lead generation databases

There are tons of different databases on the web.

Some of these providers will let you download the data instantly, but the quality of the data might be an issue depending on your service provider. Below are some of the databases we use to help us in our lead generation efforts.

Zoominfo – If you’re looking for the best database

We love using  Zoominfo.  

It’s the best source of B2B data available today, including advanced firmographics, corporate hierarchy, org charts, and intent signals.

ZoomInfo is pretty costly. They do offer a free trial, which can help you decide whether it’s the right tool for your company.

Clutch – If you’re looking for businesses in specific industries

Another database that we have found quite useful is  Clutch. Especially if you are looking for certain businesses in specific industries. 

(LinkedIn’s filters for “industries” are notoriously infamous for being inaccurate; using other database providers is better when it comes to the industry filter.)

 Have a look at the example below for Clutch:

For example, if you are selling a SaaS product to SEO companies, then you can easily filter out companies that offer SEO services.

Take a look at the various filters that can be used:

Once you have extracted all the data, you will then have to take this list of prospects and convert them into warm leads.

Crunchbase – If you’re looking for startups, Fortune 500 companies & investor funding data

If you are looking for  B2B leads in the startup space,  Crunchbase is also a great place to look. 

Crunchbase allows you to do an unlimited number of exports. Crunchbase is the best place to go for finding B2B leads, and I recommend using it if you’re going after startups.

You will notice that this tool also has great filtering options. 

Capterra & G2 – If you’re looking for B2B leads in the SaaS and Software space

If your sales team is looking for SaaS and software companies, you can make use of platforms such as  Capterra and  G2.

Capterra, for example, offers 996 software categories to browse, as well as 108 000 products. From CRM tools to Yoga Studio management software companies, Capterra has a massive database. 

Here’s a quick example:

We once had a client who helped mobile apps speed up their loading times. So we used an app pairing G2 to search reviews of software users who complained about slow-loading apps.

And we extracted over 300 apps with negative reviews mentioning their slow loading speeds.

You can imagine that it was really easy to start a conversation with these companies because their customers were complaining about a pain point that we could help them solve. 

You can either use Capterra to look for the b2b leads that match your ICP, based on their product categorization, or you can discover people who use products compatible with your own (which may make them ideal prospects as well).

GrowthHackers – If you’re looking for marketing leads

Check out  GrowthHackers. It is known for people who publish their content on the site. So if you are looking for prospects or experts in a given field, you can find some posts that they have written. 

With this, you can then add them to an email list and write a personalized email, instead of using a boring old template.

Use their article as a reference to start a conversation. This will allow you to get your foot in the door and start a conversation. 

5. Use email outreach in your lead generation strategies

In a similar way to LinkedIn outreach, you could also make use of cold email. Once you have the perfect list, reach out to your prospects with a short, personalized cold email.

Remember not to send too many emails all at once. You might end up with a bad sender’s reputation, which means most of your emails will end up in the spam folder.

The videos below will help you write a great  cold email  that will actually get replies

6. Try social media marketing

Social media platforms have sprouted all over the place; the best part is that millions of users make use of these platforms daily, and besides this, often personal information is shared, meaning that you can research prospects in-depth to find out if they would be a great fit for your lead generation campaign. 

(One of our clients builds their B2B lead lists by scraping companies that follow their clients. And because they know their clients, the case studies are highly relevant, and they are enjoying high response rates, both with cold email and LinkedIn.)

Here are some of the main social media platforms that you can use to generate b2b leads:

• Twitter

• Instagram

• Facebook

• Reddit

• Quora

• Tik Tok

• LinkedIn

• Blue Sky

• Medium

Remember, when you come up with lead generation strategies for social media, you will need to treat each platform differently. 

For example, with  Instagram,  you can’t post links, but in your bio, you can add a LinkTree account that can direct your followers to your website, blog, or shop.

Many people have promoted their courses, books, or e-commerce stores on LinkedIn, and this has generated leads for them. 

One example of a B2B company making use of Instagram is  Shopify. 

They have turned their Instagram account into a blog.

“They’ve taken a blog post and broken it up using the ‘multiple image’ feature on Instagram.

It gives their followers the chance to read a quick snippet of a blog post without clicking a link in their bio or leaving the Instagram experience at all.” 

If engagement is high and consistent, leads come to you. Inbound marketing is a great way to generate leads without an aggressive approach.

Dan Martel, whom we have also interviewed in the past, makes use of Instagram to sell his SaaS coaching services.

He posts videos, as well as quick educational coaching reels, that engage followers to take action by buying his services. 

LinkedIn content marketing is also an excellent platform for generating B2B leads. According to a global survey, 53% of B2B professionals said that LinkedIn is one of the most important social media platforms.

There are many B2B founders who are getting excellent results from sharing their professional thoughts.

When your followers see you comment and share helpful information, it makes you look like the expert in your field. This, in turn, makes people want to reach out to you.

7. Try web scraping in your B2B lead generation strategies

Even if you aren’t tech-savvy, making use of web scraping can be a great way to find potential customers. It might sound complicated, but the good news is that it’s not as bad as it sounds. 

If you’re able to use web scraping, you will have an almost unlimited source of prospects and leads. Web scraping allows you to target leads in a way that is more advanced than Sales Navigator or even ZoomInfo. 

We once used web scraping to find lawyers who were interested in podcasting for a client of ours. 

You can read the case study here:  Outbound Lead Generation Case Study: Booking Meetings with Consultants and Law Firm Owners

What is web scraping & how does it work?

Web scraping basically turns websites into spreadsheet rows. It takes all the data from a site and puts it in a format that is easy for you to read. Many people use VAs for this, but it should be done by a robot.

Why?

Because it saves time and money. 

You want to use scraping for 2 things:

• List building

• Personalization

How to use web scraping for list building, AKA finding B2B sales leads

The first step is to go to a directory online of people that you would like to target.

Go directly to the source where people are updating their info. By doing this, you are guaranteed to get the freshest data. 

(Buying data doesn’t guarantee the freshest leads, because often companies share data with each other, and sometimes these lists are over a year old. This is why it’s better to scrape websites yourself.)

If you want to build a list of high-quality leads, you can scrape websites by adding your own filters. This will ensure that your potential leads are super targeted. 

How do you do this?

You can use sites such as  Yelp and  Crunchbase. 

Here’s an example: 

Say you want to sell “Reputation management services” to hairdressers so that you can help them improve their Yelp scores, so that they can get more customers. You could use scrapers to generate a list of companies.

How do you do this?

Go through Yelp in every city in your country and use it to find hair salons that have a 3-star rating.

From there, tell your scraper to extract the company names, phone numbers (contact information), names of stylists, and company websites to find the correct email addresses of people to whom you should reach out to.

There are very few places that you can go to find this information.

Web scraping takes time, but if you do this to understand how web scraping works, then you can get very specific about who is on your list. 

You could do the same with  Crunchbase to find companies that use a specific technology.

Crunchbase uses web scrapers to filter out websites that happen to use a given tool. 

Why is this important? 

Well, imagine you spam hundreds of potential customers with your product or service, and they have no need for you. 

With the example above, imagine if you tried to sell your “reputation management services to hair salons that have 5-star reviews.

What are the chances of them using your services? Not much… Why pay for a reputation-building service if you already have great ratings?

This is why specific targeting during the list-building process is imperative. You don’t want to come across as a spammer during your marketing campaigns. 

By using filters during web scraping, you can build an ultra-targeted list and also add personalization when it comes to your cold email outreach. Play with filters to narrow down your audience. 

Which web scraping tools should you use for building targeted lists?

At SalesBread, we like to use Phantom Buster and Dataminor.io.

Phantom Buster can be used to extract data from LinkedIn, as well as many other platforms: 

There are various pricing packages available, so you can choose which will suit you best:

Once you have scraped all the information you need from either individuals or businesses, you can enrich that list with email addresses so that you can find them on LinkedIn for outreach.

(You could even use Uplead to find mobile numbers in case you wanted to try cold calling.)

8. Try Content Marketing & SEO

Stats show that content marketing produces 3x as many leads as traditional marketing methods, but it’s also important to note that content marketing takes time.

Thanks to the Google Algorithm, getting your website on the first page of Google isn’t as easy as it seems.

Consistency is key when it comes to generating informative, educational, and helpful content that is SEO optimized.

If you have a digital marketing strategy that is filled with intent keywords, you can attract the right leads to your website. Clients who are looking to work with a company just like yours.

Think about it…

What’s the first thing you do if you are looking for a company to work with or a service?

You Google it… Or now ask AI. Whether it’s ChatGTP, Perplexity, Claude or Gemini.

And very few companies out there appear on the first page of Google, and even fewer customers search beyond that first page.

This is why content marketing is important because, with time, you can get that coveted spot on Google’s first page…

So instead of searching for leads, leads come to you. SEO is still important even in the age of AI.

Why? Because AI is drawing its information from a number of sources, and Google is one of these sources. If your SEO is top-notch, you can be sure that you will most likely get listed in AI search queries, too.

Niel Patel, the Godfather of content marketing, puts it simply:

“93% of B2B marketers use content marketing. (Source:  CMI ) The vast majority of B2B marketers have embraced content marketing over traditional advertising.

That might be because it’s much easier to communicate with a new audience by creating and giving away quality content, rather than just asking them to buy your product.

It may also be caused by the typically longer sales cycles in B2B. Great content builds trust over time and keeps prospects close to you. And trust comes before the sale. Without trust, consumers won’t buy from you.”

So if you want B2B leads to come to you, a content marketing strategy is important to have in place.

SalesBread can be used as an example. We started our aggressive content marketing in 2021, and within 9 months, we went from a few views a day to thousands of views a day.

And becasue our SEO and content are of good quality, we are getting many leads that are coming from Chat GPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.

Remember, though, that content marketing isn’t limited to blogging.

Try a variety of different methods, such as:

• Google Ads

• Video marketing (On YouTube, for example)

• SEO

• Social media advertising

• Influencer marketing

• LinkedIn ads

• Social media outreach on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram

9. Start up conversations

If prospects ask you questions about your product or service, don’t just send them a link to your website. Start a conversation, and answer their questions. See how you can genuinely help your potential customers.

This is why engaging with a human and not just automation tools is important.

I once received a great sales email that got my attention. I replied, asking for more information about the product, only to have an automated response sent back with none of my questions answered.

Did I buy the product?

No…

Why?

Because I didn’t get to speak to a real-life human who could answer my questions. Having real-life conversations can make a huge difference in turning leads into paying customers.

10. Make warm sales calls

Cold calling works IF you warm up your prospects beforehand, and we have also noticed that cold calling works well for specific industries, such as construction.

Why?

Becasue people who work in construction are always on their phones. They are always taking calls.

This is why we like to use LinkedIn outreach and then hop on a sales call with them. But if you want this tactic to work, it’s important to use personalization.

If you reach out to new leads through LinkedIn or email, they already know who you are and what your business does.

This makes it easier to book a sales call and chat about how your product/service can help them.

11. List your company on online directories

Boosting your company’s presence through online directories can really amp up your chances of snagging some new B2B leads.

Online directories offer more exposure.

Getting your company listed on sites like:

• G2Crowd

• Capterra

• Software Advice

• Crunchbase

• SaaS Genius

Can really boost your visibility to potential clients who are on the hunt for services or products like yours. These platforms are magnets for users looking for solutions, making them great spots for finding qualified leads.

A well-crafted company listing can also help you climb search engine rankings, making it easier for potential customers to find you. This works even better when you use targeted keywords that relate to what you offer.

Besides this, being featured on trusted directories and platforms adds a layer of credibility to your business. Many B2B decision-makers look at reviews and ratings before making a purchase. Positive feedback on these listings can build trust and encourage prospects to get in touch.

12. Use E-books to increase sales leads

Creating an e-book can be a great way to generate B2B leads.

Here’s why:

It will help you establish yourself as an authority in your field and as a thought leader. Crafting a well-researched e-book allows businesses to highlight their industry knowledge and expertise.

This helps you become recognized as thought leaders, boosting your credibility and attracting potential clients who are on the lookout for trustworthy information and solutions.

A great e-book should zero in on the specific challenges that the target audience faces. By offering practical insights and solutions, businesses can engage readers who are actively seeking answers, which increases the chances of capturing leads.

Your e-books should work well as a lead magnet, especially if you exchange valuable content for contact details.

This involves gating the e-book and then asking users to enter their name and email to access the content. Once leads are captured through e-book downloads, businesses can keep nurturing these relationships with follow-ups and additional content.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between SQLs & MQLs?

A B2B lead is a qualified prospect that has shown interest in your offer.

They may have booked a sales call. That makes them a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL), someone who has shown enough buying intent to be handed off to a sales rep.

Maybe they signed up for your newsletter or downloaded an ebook instead. That makes them a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL). This means that they’re interested, but not quite ready to buy yet.

The important difference is that a lead has taken the first step toward finding out more about your offer.

A prospect, on the other hand, is simply a qualified individual who fits your target market, but hasn’t engaged yet. They’re a potential buyer.

Let’s face it: prospects don’t put money in the bank. It’s leads that eventually pay the bills.

Quick caveat: If you want to generate B2B leads, you have to find prospects first and then convert them into leads.

What’s the difference between a prospect and a lead?

A prospect is someone who matches your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). This means that they are in the right industry, they are the right company size, they have the right job title, and have pain points that you fix; BUT they haven’t shown any interest in your product yet.

A lead is a prospect who has taken some action that shows interest. That could be replying to a cold email, booking a call, visiting your pricing page, or downloading a piece of content.

The job of outbound lead generation is to turn prospects into leads. The job of your sales team is to turn leads into customers.

What’s the difference between inbound and outbound B2B lead generation?

Inbound means leads come to you. This can be through blog content, SEO, social media, or paid ads. It takes longer to build but generates compounding results and can attract higher-intent buyers.

Outbound means you go to them. So you will reach out to prospects through cold email, LinkedIn outreach, cold calling, or direct mail. It produces results faster but needs consistent effort to get results.

The most effective B2B companies don’t choose one over the other. They use outbound to generate leads now while building inbound to generate leads later.

Is cold email still effective for B2B lead generation?

Yes, but only when done right. Generic, copy-paste emails get deleted. Personalized emails sent to a tightly defined list still generate strong results.

The biggest mistake people make is sending too many emails to a list that’s too broad. Send fewer emails to better-fit prospects, and your reply rate will increase.

Should I buy a B2B lead list?

No, we don’t suggest buying B2B lead lists.

Purchased lists are often outdated, full of bad data, and can damage your sender reputation if you email them in bulk. You also have no idea how many other companies have already used that same list.

You’re far better off building your own list using tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Apollo.io, ZoomInfo, or by scraping directories yourself.

The leads you build are fresher, more targeted, and far more likely to convert.

Want more qualified leads?

Finding B2B leads doesn’t have to be boring. You don’t have to stick to the same old platforms.

If cold calling isn’t your thing, try email marketing or content marketing. Make use of search engines or e-books and different avenues to find B2B leads.

Why?

Because we all want unlimited growth and more leads in our sales funnel…  And you can do this by getting out of your comfort zone and using different ways to find leads.

(And if the lead generation strategies above aren’t hitting the spot, hop on a free 15-minute strategy session with us. Our clients know that they can expect 1 lead per day with our LinkedIn outreach and appointment setting agency.)