Entries Tagged as 'B2B Lead Generation'
B2B Marketing Automation: Here’s My Definition
How’s this for a definition of B2B marketing automation?
The use of technology to generate, nurture, score and qualify leads, and drive sales, using customized, multi-touch marketing communications tailored for each contact’s profile, level of interest, behavior or place in the buying process.
Unfortunately it’s a mouthful, isn’t it?
In my view, the primary benefits of B2B marketing automation are:
- It allows marketers to accomplish more, usually at a lower cost, than they can get done manually;
- It facilitates continuous improvement by allowing marketers to track and measure the results of their campaigns, then make necessary adjustments, in near real-time.
What do you think?
Do you have a better definition of marketing automation? Do you see other benefits that marketing automation delivers?
Please join the discussion by clicking on the word “Comments” in the line below the Share button.
If you are reading this as an e-mail or via an RSS feed, please use this link to add your comments:
http://www.sales-lead-insights.com/2010/b2b-marketing-automation-definition/
Are Inbound Leads Really Leads? I Believe the Majority Are Not.
I think some of the information being touted by companies that have a stake in inbound marketing can be misleading. What I am talking about is the categorizing of all inbound inquiries as “leads.”
Ask any salesperson if all inbound inquires are leads, and when he or she stops laughing, you will probably get an earful about how inquiries, unless they have been prequalified, are a waste of salespeople’s time.
I blame the mailing list and database compilers for starting the problem by calling the contacts in their databases or mailing lists “leads.” In my experience, contacts from compiled databases aren’t leads until they have been qualified. Until then I believe they are really just “suspects.”
Not-yet-qualified contacts, such as inquiries (responses) generated by inbound and outbound marketing, are a bit better than suspects, as they indicate that someone actually took some kind of action (e.g., inquired, downloaded, visited, registered, or attended). But I wouldn’t classify these inquiries as “leads” either; I’d classify them as “prospects.”
Now back to my earlier comment: that some of the information being touted by companies with a stake in inbound marketing can be misleading. I believe that if studies like HubSpot’s The State of Inbound Marketing 2010, instead of categorizing all inbound inquiries or responses as “leads,” rather talked about a lower cost per “prospect” from inbound than from outbound marketing, the results would be a more accurate reflection of reality.
Which leads me to another observation (no pun intended) . . .
The majority of inbound inquiries need to be nurtured and qualified with outbound marketing in order to be “qualified” as leads. Don’t believe that? Look beyond the hype and you’ll see that even inbound marketing companies like HubSpot use outbound marketing tactics such as e-mail and telemarketing to proactively follow up on, nurture and qualify their inbound inquiries.
The bottom line?
The most effective lead generation programs involve both inbound and outbound marketing.
What do you think?
Please join the discussion by clicking on the word “Comments” in the line below the Share button.
If you are reading this as an e-mail or via an RSS feed, please use this link to add your comments:
http://www.sales-lead-insights.com/2010/are-inbound-leads-really-leads/
B2B Marketing University: 3/3 in DC and 4/7 in Palo Alto
Join us for a complimentary afternoon seminar and take your business-to-business marketing and lead generation to the next level.
If you are a B2B marketer or are responsible for B2B lead generation, do not miss this free, half-day seminar on March 3, 2010 at the Westin Grand Hotel in Washington, DC or April 3, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza Cabaña Hotel in Palo Alto, CA,
This all-new-for-2010 B2B Marketing University is focused on helping you stay ahead of the curve and excel in the changing B2B marketing environment.
As one of the presenters, I can promise you that you and your fellow attendees will get expert insights into the latest strategies and innovation you can deploy today to get better results and a higher ROI from your marketing.
Your attendance is free, compliments of B2B Marketing University’s sponsor, Silverpop.
The best part is that B2B Marketing University is 100% pure education for serious B2B marketers. No product pitches. Just learning.
Register today for March 3 in DC.
Register today for April 7 in Palo Alto.
Why attend B2B Marketing University?
Today is a challenging time—and an exciting time—to be a B2B marketer. The impetus for B2B marketers to generate leads, drive sales and support customer lifetime value has never been stronger. Yet change is everywhere. Major forces are provoking evolution in how B2B marketers operate. Meanwhile, significant innovation has brought new tools and capabilities to B2B marketers’ arsenals.
Ask yourself:
- Are you on top of the latest strategies and tactics for lead management, marketing automation and inbound marketing?
- Are you leveraging dynamic campaigns, lead scoring and social media to improve engagement with buyers?
- Do you have what it takes to excel in the new B2B marketing environment?
If you are not sure—or you are looking for additional ideas you can put to work driving more leads and sales with your marketing—B2B Marketing University is where you can get answers and take your game to the next level.
Attendees will learn more about what is working best today from top B2B marketing experts including: Carlos and Jay Hidalgo with The Annuitas Group, Adam Needles with Silverpop, (yours truly) Mac McIntosh, and the end-of-day roundtable of additional B2B marketing experts.
Your attendance is free, so why not join us at B2B Marketing University?
Register today for March 3 in DC.
Register today for April 7 in Palo Alto.
Advanced B2B Sales Lead Management Strategies: A Webinar for CMOs on What is Really Working Best Today
Mark your calendar to attend this webinar about advanced sales lead management strategies for B2B CMOs.
Direct from the front lines, hear the latest trends, and learn about successful programs, strategies and tactics from three of the top experts in B2B marketing.
Cost: Free
Date/Time: Thursday, March 11, 2010 11:00 AM Pacific Standard Time
If you are reading this as an RSS feed, use this link to learn more:
http://tinyurl.com/yfc65vj
Increasing B2B Lead Management ROI: 4 Key Performance Indicators
Although the findings are not news to me or my clients, a recent research study about increasing B2B sales lead management ROI is worth mentioning.
Why? Because it validates some of what I’ve been recommending to my clients for years.
The Forrester research study and white paper about sales lead management, commissioned by Silverpop, reports that when it comes to increasing the ROI from B2B sales lead management, there are four key performance indicators (KPIs) that pay off in more qualified leads and sales.
The numbered items below are the four KPIs from the white paper, but the comments about each are mine:
- Profiling and targeting. By understanding your customers and using them as a model for the right prospects to target with your lead generation activities, and by targeting those right prospects, you will get a better ROI.
- Lead scoring. This is the latest name for the process of determining which leads are qualified leads that meet the minimum definition of a “sales-ready lead.” Lead scoring provides us with the criteria for determining which leads need further development and which are ready for sales follow-up.
- Content. Developing and offering information that meets the needs of your prospects, particularly as they move from awareness to inquiry to consideration and on to purchase, is essential both for getting prospects to identify themselves to you and for helping move your prospects forward in their buying process.
- Nurture early-stage buyers. B2B research about sales leads repeatedly shows that the B2B buyers who are still in the early stages of their buying process represent three out of four of the total sales opportunities you will net from your leads. Only one in four sales opportunities comes from those prospects who are already at the later stages of their buying process.
Want a quick summary of how to take advantage of these four KPIs? Read my short post titled B2B Sales Lead Generation Is Easy: Four Rights Will Get You There.
What are your thoughts about the four KPIs that increase the ROI from B2B sales lead management?
Please add your comments by clicking on the word “Comments” in the line below the Share button.
If you are reading this as an RSS feed, please use this link to add your comments:
http://www.sales-lead-insights.com/2010/b2b-lead-management-kpis/
B2B Marketing University 2010 Kicks Off March 3 in Washington, DC
If you are a B2B marketer or are responsible for B2B lead generation, do not miss this half-day seminar on March 3, 2010 at the Westin Grand Hotel in Washington, DC.
This all-new-for-2010 session of B2B Marketing University is focused on helping you stay ahead of the curve and excel in the changing B2B marketing environment.
Join us and take your marketing and lead generation to the next level.
As one of the presenters, I can promise you that you and your fellow attendees will get expert insights into the latest strategies and innovation you can deploy today to get better results and a higher ROI from your marketing.
Your attendance is free, compliments of B2B Marketing University’s sponsor, Silverpop.
The best part is that B2B Marketing University is 100% pure education for serious B2B marketers. No product pitches. Just learning. Register today.
Why attend B2B Marketing University?
Today is a challenging time—and an exciting time—to be a B2B marketer. The impetus for B2B marketers to generate leads, drive sales and support customer lifetime value has never been stronger. Yet change is everywhere. Major forces are provoking evolution in how B2B marketers operate. Meanwhile, significant innovation has brought new tools and capabilities to B2B marketers’ arsenals.
Ask yourself:
- Are you on top of the latest strategies and tactics for lead management, marketing automation and inbound marketing?
- Are you leveraging dynamic campaigns, lead scoring and social media to improve engagement with buyers?
- Do you have what it takes to excel in the new B2B marketing environment?
If you are not sure—or you are looking for additional ideas you can put to work driving more leads and sales with your marketing—B2B Marketing University is where you can get answers and take your game to the next level.
Attendees will learn more about what is working best today from top B2B marketing experts including: Carlos and Jay Hidalgo with The Annuitas Group, Adam Needles with Silverpop, (yours truly) Mac McIntosh, and the end-of-day roundtable of additional B2B marketing experts.
Your attendance is free, so why not join us at B2B Marketing University in Washington, DC, on March 3?
Use this link to learn more or reserve your seat for B2B Marketing University: http://tinyurl.com/ybwscmv
