5 great B2B growth hacks from Icebreaker.vc portfolio companies

If you run a B2B company, you may struggle to find creative growth ideas. After all, most of the growth hacks out there are based on a B2C company, and you have to do things very differently.

Some of the differences work in your favor — for instance, you may have a longer customer relationship term than a B2C business that sells to a consumer one time. Other things make it harder, like the longer sales cycle and the fact that multiple decision-makers are involved.

The good news is that there are growth hacks you can use to boost your customer base and your bottom line. Here are five of our favorite techniques.

1. Be a thought leader on Quora

What does it take to be a thought leader in your industry? You might think that you have to establish an authoritative blog, found an industry conference, or turn your leader into an in-demand public speaker. While all of those are significant steps, they’re long-term strategies.

What can you do in the short term? Is there anywhere you can showcase your expertise today?

Yes there is! Quora is a well-known question and answer website where you can establish authority by giving well thought out answers to questions posted by other users. Of course, you can use these answers to point to your resources as well, which bring in web traffic.

Quora is easy to use. You simply create an account for your business, follow topics that are of interest to your industry, and answer questions thoughtfully. For example, Lumoa was able to answer a question and include their company in the answer in a way that makes sense.

2. Participate in industry expos and contests

An expo is where everyone in the industry comes to see what’s new, what’s next, and what innovations might shape the market. If you’re ready to grow, introduce your newest product or offer at the next industry expo!

Representatives from businesses that could become customers will be present, and it’s an excellent opportunity to present your new offering in a low-stress environment. People are the expo to discover and learn new things, so take advantage of their openness and curiosity to share what’s best about your products and services.

You can also participate in contests to build your reputation and profile. For instance, when Logmore won the logistics contest at a leading trade fair in their industry, they were excited to share the news on their website. They also got coverage from the trade fair and in other media.

3. Win organic PR to boost your brand

From winning a contest to winning a funding round, there are always new things going on in your company that you want others to know. Use organic PR to get there!

Getting coverage for your recent advances online can seem challenging, but all it takes is a solid pitch and a good relationship with industry resources. For instance, Klaus was covered on TechCrunch for their $1.9M seed round.

This type of coverage doesn’t appear to be advertising, but you can bet that it builds your brand and increases name recognition. Not to mention that customers in your niche will be excited to work with a company that has a lot of great things happening — it makes the customers look good too!

If you want to boost your growth, work to spread the word on your company’s accomplishments. The more PR you can get from reputable sources, the better your business looks and the more clients you attract.

4. Use LinkedIn InMail ads

Looking to generate new leads? When it comes to B2B, you need to start with getting in front of your key prospects. Then you need a quick, catchy message that will get their attention and encourage them to contact you.

You can do all of this with LinkedIn InMail ads. Your prospect will receive a notification that they have a new message, and when they go to look they will see your ad.

InMail can help you cut through the clutter of traditional email marketing and connect with prospects more uniquely. The LinkedIn platform is perfect for B2B companies because you’re able to reach out directly to the business decision makers who buy your product or service.

To succeed with LinkedIn InMail ads, focus on your specific target audience. Use a trusted name as the sender of the message, and choose a short, engaging subject line. Personalize your message and have a clear call-to-action (CTA) so the prospect knows what to do next.

The only thing that could make InMail ads better is to include a free offer.

5. Include a freemium version of the product with LinkedIn InMail

This is one of the best growth hacks that companies in our portfolio use. All you do is combine Linked InMail ads with a freebie or freemium version of the product. You can also make it more urgent by adding a time limit to receive the offer.

This is a great way to share the news about upgrades, improvements, new features, or entirely new offerings. Make it even more special by letting them know that this is an exclusive VIP offer for only a select few people. (You aren’t lying — you handpick the recipients of InMail).

An excellent example of a free trial is IPRally, which allows you to do a free search on prior art using a publication number. This allows potential customers to see how powerful the service is and get an example of what the results will look like.

Another idea is to include a free e-book offer to allow prospects to learn more about what you do without committing to a purchase right away. The free e-book from Dashbird is a great example of this.

Grow your B2B company quickly today

If you think a B2B company has to grow slowly, think again. With these five growth hacks, companies in our portfolio have seen a tremendous boost in their bottom lines.

Are you ready to grow? Get started with one of these hacks today, and let me know how it goes!