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Growth Engagement Guide for B2B Tech CEOs

How to Move Beyond Referrals to Develop a Lead Generation Strategy that Scales.

Referrals are valuable—but they’re not enough to scale. This guide explores how CEOs at B2B tech companies can move beyond unpredictable word-of-mouth growth by turning their websites into strategic lead generation hubs. Learn how to build a scalable digital marketing strategy that delivers consistent ROI and positions your company for long-term success.

Why Referrals Alone Aren't Enough

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Referrals are a powerful way to build brand awareness and generate leads. However, they’re unpredictable, often slow, and unscalable. Your company can’t rely on current customers to build your pipeline using word of mouth.  

The limitations of referral-based growth mean CEOs at B2B tech companies need to diversify their customer-acquisition strategy. You may be missing opportunities if buyers are searching for your solutions and services but you’re invisible because you’re waiting for loyal customers to get the word out. Advocacy only goes so far. 

While your company may have seen some success building your customer list through referrals, you can do better by working with a growth agency to develop a digital marketing strategy. Digital channels provide control and consistency while compounding Return on Investment (ROI).  

Your Website is Your Growth Hub

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To grow, B2B tech firms need to take advantage of their websites. B2B Tech CEOs need to think of their company websites as a strategic asset. Unfortunately, many websites have outdated designs, unclear messaging, and poor Search Engine Optimization (SEO). 

Your website is more than a brochure. Modern B2B websites serve as digital storefronts, credibility engines, and conversion machines. Optimized websites have the power to educate, qualify, and convert leads through engaging, informative content and attractive offers. 

B2B Tech Website Checklist: What's the State of Your Company Website?

How many new customers have you generated from website conversions in the past 12 months?
How do your web pages rank in search? Do you have top keyword rankings? 
How are you tracking Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) for your website? 

What is your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)? 

What is your close rate for leads gathered using your website? 

How does your website help generate marketing and sales qualified leads? 

What is your bounce rate for website offers? 

Search: Be Found When It Matters

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Search is where intent lives. This phrase captures a fundamental principle of SEO: search queries reflect a potential customer’s goal or motivation. By understanding customer intent, B2B tech companies can create content that is more likely to be found in search results because it satisfies the needs of their target audience. 

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AI SEO

Increasingly, prospects are using AI search to find information about products and services. AI SEO or Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) enables tech companies to take advantage of traffic generated by the Large Language Models (LLMs) used in generative AI search. 

Today’s tech and IT service companies need to track and understand how their brand is performing in AI search. Building your company’s authority across social platforms and online publications will increase your chances of being found in AI search. 

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The Value of Search

SEO and paid search help CEOs capture the attention of buyers who are actively looking for solutions and services, driving the generation of qualified leads. Search is a long-term investment that brings compounding returns. The business value of search grows exponentially over time as each effort, such as creating optimized content, builds on previous work to strengthen your brand authority and improve rankings.

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Organic vs. Paid Search: What CEOs Need to Know

While organic search through SEO is cost-efficient, paid search is a good investment.  

💰 Paid search or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) uses advertising, often on social media channels, to get your website to the top of search rankings by bidding on keywords. Paid search delivers fast, targeted results to reach time-sensitive goals. 

🔍 Organic search uses SEO to earn high rankings through relevant, high-quality content without direct ad spend. With organic search, your company builds long-term credibility and traffic streams.

    Social Media: Build Trust at Scale

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    Social media isn’t just for promoting brand awareness; it’s a trust-building tool. 

    CEOs at tech companies can use LinkedIn and other social platforms to amplify their message and activate sales and marketing teams. LinkedIn is the ideal forum for promoting your company as a trustworthy advisor because the platform addresses a professional audience. Posts on LinkedIn convey thought leadership and credibility.  

    Companies can post testimonials and links to case studies as social proof. Employee posts create advocacy and encourage collaboration and conversation that builds a social presence without burning out your marketing team. 

    Read Our Blog on LinkedIn Strategies for IT Firms

    AI: The Growth Multiplier

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    AI isn’t a buzzword; it’s a force multiplier.  

    AI strengthens the effectiveness of your sales and marketing teams by providing automation and deep insights into performance so your company can adapt and optimize lead generation efforts. 

    AI is an important tool in your marketing tech stack. With AI-powered marketing, your company can enhance personalization, automate sales and marketing workflows, and promote intelligent decision making. 

    AI Use Cases 

    Opportunities for AI include: 

    • Content generation through GenAI
    • Lead scoring to prioritize leads based on quality
    • Predictive analytics to track technology and market trends  

    What to Expect from an AI-Focused Growth Agency

    When adopting AI for sales and marketing, ask your growth agency about its capabilities: 

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    What AI tools are they using?

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    How do they integrate AI into lead generation?

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    How do they govern that data that fuels AI?

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    How do they measure the success of AI-driven campaigns?

    Proactive Lead Generation: Beyond Waiting for Referrals

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    Instead of waiting for referrals to fill the pipeline, B2B tech companies need to adopt a proactive approach to lead generation. Building the pipeline should be predictable. 

    Referrals are reactive; lead generation is proactive.  

    Lead generation uses outreach to actively pursue customers. Targeted campaigns attract and engage audiences. Gated content encourages conversions. SEO attracts qualified leads by addressing the topics customers care about and look for in search. 

    By participating in pilot programs, your company can validate the ROI of your proactive lead generation efforts before scaling them. 

    Read Our 2025 Guide to Lead Gen for Tech Companies

    Building Market Awareness: Be Seen, Be Trusted

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    Market awareness is the foundation of trust. B2B tech companies need to increase their brand visibility through content strategies, social proof, and thought leadership. 

    The buyer’s journey begins with awareness. Before prospects purchase products and services, they research their pain points and how to solve them. If potential customers don’t know your brand, they won’t buy from you. 

    How to Build Credibility 

    Customers want to know that your tech company is trustworthy, reliable, and knowledgeable. LinkedIn is an ideal platform for building trust and visibility because it is geared toward a professional audience.  

    Publishing blogs on your website and promoting them through LinkedIn ads is a great way to boost credibility as a thought leader. Hosting case studies on your website and promoting them on LinkedIn verifies your successful track record of working with clients. 

    Marketing and Sales Automation for Efficiency

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    Lead generation strategies have a lot of moving parts. Automation empowers your company to grow and boost revenue without overwhelming your marketing and sales teams. The HubSpot Platform enables B2B tech companies to generate more pipelines with less manual effort.  

    By using tools like HubSpot, companies can streamline outreach, nurture leads, and align marketing efforts with sales. 

    HubSpot Marketing Automation 

    The HubSpot Marketing Hub includes automation tools for lead generation. HubSpot’s landing pages and chatbots use AI-powered automation to capture contact information and convert visitors into leads. 

    HubSpot Sequences 

    HubSpot Sequences help your company carry out multi-touch outreach campaigns that use a blend of automation and personalization to generate, nurture, and convert leads. You can customize emails based on user behavior to ensure leads receive relevant content that moves them closer to a purchase. Engagement levels can trigger follow up emails and targeted drip campaigns that re-engage cold leads. 

    Read Our Blog on Marketing Plays

    Marketing Plays & Sales Sequences

    Marketing Plays are pre-built campaigns that support sales efforts using relevant content. With Marketing Plays, tech companies can see growth in: 
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    Lead Gen

    Marketing plays and sequences can help to standardize lead generation best practices. 
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    Sales Team

    Quickly onboard sales team members by utilizing Marketing plays.
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    Collaboration

    Improve sales and marketing collaboration by using Marketing plays to create consistency and scalable content.
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    Evolution

    Track, monitor, and analyze results generated by Sales plays for continuous improvement.
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    Marketing

    Take a proactive approach to marketing by using Sales plays and sequences.

    The Retainer Model: Strategic Partnership for Growth

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    CEOs that want consistent, strategic support without hiring an in-house team for lead generation need to retain a growth agency. A marketing agency offers managed marketing services for a comprehensive and integrated approach to lead generation that outperforms piecemeal tactics.  

    Marketing agencies may include different services in a retainer based on a tiering system. 

    • Bronze Tier: Consulting and support as part of your marketing team 
    • Silver Tier: A combination of specialized strategy, training, and support to drive growth 
    • Gold Tier: True partnership with the growth agency in which you work together to align business objectives with growth strategies and marketing solution optimization 

    Why Retain a Marketing Agency?

    Outsourcing your lead generation efforts to an agency using a retainer maximizes your marketing ROI by giving you access to an entire team of marketing experts for one price. Putting an agency on retainer is more cost effective and scalable than hiring a Director of Marketing. With a retainer, your company can adapt your marketing strategy as your needs evolve. 

    An agency will have expertise in B2B marketing and can handle every part of lead generation from content creation to social media management to performance tracking.

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    Read Our Blog on Managed Marketing Services
    With Managed Marketing as a Service from TSL Marketing, you get a team of specialists that includes: 

    Dedicated Marketing Manager 

    Web Developer 

    SEO Expert 

    UX / UO Design Expert

    B2B Tech Copywriter 

    Social Media Specialist 

    Content Strategist

    Getting Started: From Pilot to Partnership

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    CEOs that are interested in working with a growth agency can test the waters with a pilot program. Once the agency proves their value, the company can transition to a full retainer.   

    At TSL Marketing, we have a 3-month pilot structure that includes: 

    • SEO for raising brand awareness 
    • Blogs for promoting credibility
    • Website Optimization to attract and engage visitors 
    Learn How We Work
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    What Success Looks Like

    TSL has a successful track record of driving growth for tech companies by helping them generate quality leads, increase revenue, and strengthen their market position. We have rebuilt many company websites, turning them into lead generation engines and increasing visibility through SEO. 

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    How to Scale to a Full Retainer

    A pilot program is just the start of a long-term relationship with TSL through a full retainer. We will track pilot performance to show your company measurable ROI. Once you’ve seen the results, you can work with a TSL growth expert to decide which tier best meets your lead generation needs. 

      Ready to Talk Strategy With Someone Who’s Been in Your Seat?

      Meet with David English, President and Founder of TSL, to discuss the growth challenges and opportunities unique to CEOs. As a fellow leader, David brings firsthand insight and actionable perspective to help you move forward with confidence.

      Meet with David