AcquireB2B – Driving leads & sales with marketing automation™

Three Ways to Learn More

Mac McIntosh Inc has provided consulting and speaking/training related to helping companies like yours generate more qualified leads and drive more sales using the latest B2B marketing strategies, tactics, media and technology since 1990.

However, many of our clients have also been having us help implement their marketing-driven lead generation programs for them. So we decided to create a new division focused on those implementation services and named it AcquireB2B.

Our team of experts at AcquireB2B provide a full menu of services related to either generating more leads and sales with B2B marketing, or powering-up those programs by leveraging B2B marketing automation systems.

These services range from bite-size projects, to being a virtual extension of your marketing team, to running turn-key lead generation programs for you. Or anything in between.

As always, Mac McIntosh Inc can provide the unbiased consulting and training you need to design or improve your marketing driven business development programs.

But now we also have this new division and its expert team to help you with any aspect of implementing your B2B lead generation programs.

How can AcquireB2B assist you and your company in driving more leads and sales with B2B marketing or marketing automation?

Here are three ways to learn more: 

1. Visit AcquireB2B at http://www.acquireb2b.com 
2. Request your complimentary phone consultation with an expert on driving leads and sales with B2B marketing (a $350 value): Call me at (800) 366-1877 Ext 1622 or use this link or visit
   www.pages05.net/acquireb2b/Offers/LearnMore/
3. Sign up to be kept up to date on the latest in B2B marketing, lead generation and marketing technology with a complimentary subscription to B2B Marketing Technology Insights at: Use this link or visit
   http://www.pages05.net/acquireb2b/Preferences/Subscribe_AB2B_Newsletter/ 

Please consider Mac McIntosh Inc or AcquireB2B when you need help designing, implementing or improving your B2B marketing to drive more leads and sales.

Thanks,

If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.

Lead Gen in 2010: Learn What is Working Best Right Now

January 27, 2010 at 11:00 am PST (2:00 pm EST)

This one-hour webinar will cover:

• The latest trends in B-to-B lead generation, and how you can leverage them;
• Which lead gen strategies and tactics are working best, and which no longer work for enterprise companies like yours;
• The pros and cons of various marketing media for generating, nurturing, and qualifying leads.

Why not register right now?

The webcast will be moderated by Mike Wallen, CEO of the Lead Dogs and presented by Albert Springall, Senior Marketing Manager at Microsoft and B-to-B lead generation expert (yours truly) M. H. (Mac) McIntosh.

The good news is that as the economy recovers and the new year begins, business spending is starting to increase. However, as a result of the recent downturn, business buyers are being cautious. So to generate more business your lead generation strategies must clearly communicate value while differentiating your products and services from the competition and resonating personally with your prospective customers. We will show you how best to accomplish this, and more.

So be sure to join us online on January 27th at 2:00 EST (11:00 am PST), as we share proven ways for enterprise companies like yours to uncover qualified sales leads, highlight real life success stories, discuss best practices, and show you how to maximize your B-to-B lead gen ROI in 2010.

To register to attend the webcast, or to learn more about it, please use this link: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/db51uw0s9ooo

If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.

Are you responsible for B2B lead generation at a large company?

If your answer is yes, I recommend that you sign up for this live, one-hour webcast on January 27, 2010 at 2:00 pm EST.

Lead Gen in 2010: Learn What is Working Best Right Now is an information-packed, one-hour webcast which will highlight:

• The latest trends in B2B lead generation, and how you can leverage them;
• Which lead generation strategies and tactics are working best, and which no longer work for enterprise companies like yours;
• The pros and cons of various marketing media, and which will help you get better lead generation results.

The webcast will be moderated by Mike Wallen, CEO of the Lead Dogs and presented by Albert Springall, Senior Marketing Manager at Microsoft and B2B lead generation expert (yours truly) Mac McIntosh.

The good news is that as the economy recovers and the new year begins, business spending is starting to increase. However, as a result of the recent downturn, business buyers are being cautious. So to generate more business your lead generation strategies must clearly communicate value while differentiating your products and services from the competition and resonating personally with your prospective customers. We will show you how best to accomplish this, and more.

Be sure to join us on January 27th, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm EST, as we share proven ways for enterprise companies like yours to uncover qualified sales leads, highlight real life success stories, discuss best practices, and show you how to maximize your lead gen ROI in 2010.

To register for the webinar, or to learn more about it, please use this link or point your browser to: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/db51uw0s9ooo

If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.

Why? Because the Sales Lead Management Association (SLMA) is closing the polls at Midnight Pacific Time (UTC-8) on Friday, November 13th.

Both members and non-members can vote. So why don’t you click this link to cast your votes right now: www.salesleadmgmtassn.com/top50_vote.htm 

Then be sure to watch for the results on November 16, 2009. I promise to publish the list of winners right here, whether I make the cut or not.

Okay, I can’t resist: I’m proud to be included among the nominees, and I sure would appreciate your vote.

Thanks much!

- Mac

If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.

To accomplish these objectives, consider leveraging your prospect’s five senses.

Sight: Many of your prospects process information best visually. To get your messages through to these visual people, use photos, illustrations or icons to help them "see" the benefits of your products or services.

I use Fotolia as a low-cost source of royalty-free photos, illustration and icons. When Garth Johnson, EVP North America for Fotolia, heard that I recommended his company, he offered to give my customers, readers, seminar attendees and business friends 5 free credits to give Fotolia a try, and 30 percent extra credits whenever you buy more.

So if you have a few minutes now, or next time you are looking for just the right image for an ad, brochure, email, website or presentation, visit www.fotolia.com/macmc to get your free credits. Then use the promo code "macmcintosh" to get your 30 percent bonus when buying additional credits.

Hearing: Other prospects are more receptive to words; both written and spoken.

My wife, Andrea, is one of these auditory people. It seems I’m always trying to show her something, as I process information best visually. Yet Andrea is always asking me to tell her instead. Why? Because she processes words better than pictures.

To communicate best with these auditory people, have a conversation with them; either out loud with spoken words or in their heads with written words.

A skilled writer can also use written or spoken words to paint mental pictures for those who are more receptive to visual information.

Touch: Does it make sense (no pun intended) to give your prospects a sample of your product that they can touch or play with? A client of mine, a manufacturer of drawer slides for the furniture industry, sends samples to qualified prospects so they can feel the quality and assess the durability of the company’s products firsthand.

Other products, software is a good example, lend themselves to "test drives" via Web demos, evaluations copies or free trials.

You can use also touch to communicate in more subtle ways too, like using the quality feel of your printed literature to reflect the quality of your products or services.

Smell and taste:

Have you ever had a pleasant smell trigger a pleasant memory? Or felt great after eating something tasty or sweet?

If your product can be associated with a pleasing fragrance, consider adding that fragrance to your lead generation materials. For example, a business catering company could add the smell of fresh baked apple pies to their postcards. Search on an industrial sourcing Website like GlobalSpec and you’ll find suppliers of fragrances (and flavors) like Carmi Flavors.

Or the catering company could leverage prospects’ taste buds by including a delicious cookie in its mailing, or giving them away at its trade show booth.

If you have additional tips about using the five senses to generate more leads, or have some related success stories you can share, please do!

If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.

Are you looking for advice you can use to make your B2B lead generation programs as productive as they can be?

Get the 2009 B2B Lead Generation Benchmark Study Report.

It provides metrics and best practices for B2B lead generation.

Please ask yourself these questions:

• Would it be useful to show senior management the big impact that lead generation has on the sales pipelines of other companies that sell their products and services to businesses, institutions or the government?
• Are you interested in knowing how your lead generation budget, tactics and results compare to those of other companies that sell products and servcicesto businesses, institutions or the government?
• Are you wondering what results your B2B lead generation peers are getting from telemarketing, email, their websites, online marketing, social media and other tactics?
• Do you know which lead generation activities your peers are now finding to be the most productive?
• Do you know how your B2B lead generation, follow up, nurturing and qualification processes compare to those of your peers?
• Would you pay only $159, with a money-back satisfaction guarantee, to get these answers and more?

If your answer to the last question was "Yes", click here to buy and immediately download the information-packed 2009 B2B Lead Generation Benchmark Study Report.

If you’re still not convinced, consider this…

The 2009 B2B Lead Generation Benchmark Study Report gives you the information you need to justify and improve your lead generation programs:

• It shares the lead generation best practices that are now getting the best results for your peers at other companies that sell products or services to businesses, institutions or the government.
• It also includes a detailed recommendations section written by two B2B lead generation experts. (Yes, I’m one of them!)

Please take a look at the Table of Contents.

2010 is just around the corner…

There are only a few months left to generate leads and close sales before the end of 2009. This report will help you figure out what you can do to boost your short term leads and sales results before the year is over.

And if you are starting to plan and budget for next year’s B2B lead generation programs and campaigns, the report will help guide your decisions on how to get the best results in 2010.

Also consider that you might pay thousands in consulting fees for the same advice. Or think about the wasted time, money and the risks you face trying to figure it all out using trial-and error approaches.

Instead you pay only $159 to get this essential information.

And don’t forget your money-back satisfaction guarantee!

If you are not fully satisfied with the B2B Lead Generation Benchmark Report all you have to do is return it within 30 days and we’ll give you full refund!

Click here to buy and download your copy of the 2009 B2B Lead Generation Benchmark Study Report today.

If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.

Who? B2B marketers responsible for lead generation.

What? A live webinar, B2B Marketing Tests: How to Improve Results & Fight for Your Budget, presented by Anne Holland with her special guest, B2B lead generation expert Mac McIntosh. (Yes, I’m honored to say that’s me!)

• Discover the top 7 web page and registration form tests to increase your site’s leads by 40%;
• Get invaluable office politics tips for testing success;
• Ask questions and get expert answers during the Q&A portion of the webinar;
• And, if you’re quick, you may get the opportunity to have your lead generation page evaluated live on air during the webinar!

When? On Thursday, Sept 24, 2009 at 2pm Eastern (1 hour)

Where? From any handy computer with broadband Internet access.

Why? Because getting better results from your B2B marketing and lead generation is your key to bigger budgets, more staff and maybe even a promotion and a raise!

How? Register for free here or visit www.whichtestwon.com

NOTE: Attendance is limited to 100 people.

I look forward to having you join us on Thursday, Sept 24, 2009 at 2pm Eastern!

If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.

Capterra: The Conference
Empowering Software Marketing Leaders

September 13-15 in Washington DC

Make the absolute most out of your marketing efforts across the board. That’s the goal of this first-ever business software marketing conference.

You’ll learn cutting-edge strategies for improving everything from your online marketing to your lead generation efforts from top industry experts (including yours truly).

Confirmed speakers include Ramon Ray, Bryan Eisenberg, Wil Reynolds, Robert Wright, David Meerman Scott, Ruth Stevens, Ashish Vij, Stephanie Miller, and Gord Hotchkiss. Learn more about them here.

Each presentation will be tailored specifically for the business software industry, and will deliver highly practical ideas designed for immediate results. Topics will include:

• Always Be Testing: Marketing Optimization in Challenging Times
• SEO Tools You Can Use Today To Improve Your Rankings
• Winning Positioning Strategies For Software Category Leadership
• Visitors Come and Visitors Go: Why Aren’t They Becoming Customers?
• How To Motivate Action Online
• Using The New Rules of Marketing and PR to Reach Software Buyers Directly
• The latest tools and features in Google Analytics to help optimize your website lead pipeline
• Successfully Measuring Email Marketing Success
• The BuyerSphere — A Different Perspective on B2B Buying

The agenda shows my session, A Lead-Driven Approach to Increasing Business Software Sales, is scheduled for Monday, September 14th at 10:00 am.

My presentation will address proven ways to use sales leads to find more short-term sales opportunities that your sales team and channel partners can close before the end of the year.

I’ll also be facilitating a breakout session on Monday afternoon entitled, Lead Generation: A Group Idea Exchange. It will be your opportunity to swap ideas about lead generation with some of the best in the business: your business software marketing peers. This idea exchange will be an open forum where you’ll have a chance to share both your successes, and your challenges, with generating, nurturing and qualifying sales leads.

Will I see you at Capterra: The Conference?

If you are planning to attend, please be sure to take advantage of my special presenter’s discount code capcon09mm when registering. It will save you $100!

Learn more and register here.

If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.

What I like best about being a B2B lead generation consultant is I get to work with some of the best people at the best companies in the business.

The rewarding part is I get to see first-hand what works best (and what doesn’t) when it comes to generating, nurturing and identifying the qualified, sales-ready leads that salespeople, reps, resellers and distributors need.

Speaking of what works best, here are 22 tips for getting better results from your B2B lead generation programs:

1. Aim where your prospects are
2. Be there when they are thinking about the problem (right media, right frequency)
3. Make it easy to find (in the search engine results, on your website, in their email inbox, etc.)
4. Focus on generating response
5. Get right to the point
6. Be relevant (to their job, industry, application, problem, pain, etc.)
7. Communicate with words and pictures (or word pictures)
8. Choose your words carefully (use powerful words and avoid clichés)
9. Talk second-person (lead with you and your instead of we and our)
10. Invoke a positive emotional response (pride, happiness, etc.)
11. Talk about pain-relief or solving problems
12. Show them the before and after
13. Make it easy to skim (subheads, bullets, bold fonts, links, captions, etc.)
14. Back up your claim (prove it)
15. Use testimonials (real people at real companies)
16. Offer ways to learn more
17. Make multiple offers (calls-to-action)
18. Make offers that appeal at different stages of their buying cycle
19. Merchandise your offers (borders, color, bold, buttons, links, etc.)
20. Ask for the order (tell them what to do next)
21. Give a compelling reason to respond right now
22. Make it easy to respond (by phone, e-mail, website, coupon, reply card, etc.)

What are some of the secrets to your B2B lead generation success?

Hopefully you’ll share some of them with us.

If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.

It will take you less than 10 minutes to complete, and you will automatically qualify to receive a free executive summary of the study results.

If your answer is yes to any of the following questions, you will want to participate in this important B2B Lead Generation Benchmark Study.

• Are you interested in knowing how your company’s programs and results compare to other companies’ B2B lead generation efforts?
• Do you want to know if your company is investing enough in its B2B lead generation?
• Do you need to know how your lead generation, follow up, nurturing and qualification processes compare to those of other B2B companies?
• Do you want to know if your B2B lead generation results are better or worse than average?
• Are you wondering about the B2B lead generation media and tactics that will get you the best results?

Please take the online survey here.

Need more information first? Please visit www.lead-generation-benchmarks.com

Do you know others who are responsible for B2B lead generation?

Thanks in advance for encouraging your peers at other companies to take the online survey too. The more people who participate in the study, the better the results will be. With this in mind, please consider:

• Tweeting "B2B Lead Generation Benchmark Survey: Takes 10-minutes or less & you get a free exec summary – http://bit.ly/1Gpme" 
• Mentioning this B2B Lead Generation Study, and providing the link to the survey at http://bit.ly/1Gpme, in your own blog or e-newsletter
• Using the "Share This" link below

If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.

The Sales Lead Calculator will help you determine how many new inquiries you need to generate enough qualified sales leads to meet your sales revenue goals. (See Step 5.)

Research conducted on B2B sales lead conversion across industries shows that, of those who buy:

• One in four buys within six months.
• Another one in four buys within the next six months.
• Another one in four buys within the third six months.
• The final one in four buys after eighteen months.

Simply said, three out of four sales opportunities are from the longer-term leads. So even though it may be tempting to create an occasional, dramatic marketing program that drums up a large number of new leads—so you can skim the ones that are ready to buy now—you are actually better off investing in an ongoing series of marketing-for-leads programs.

To get those additional three out of four sales opportunities, use direct marketing to nurture your longer-term sales opportunities until they are sales-ready. Consider creating a series of marketing messages that rotate through, say, the three biggest benefits of your products or services and related offers or calls-to-action. Send them to prospects monthly—one, two, three, repeat—effectively staying in-sight and top-of-mind as prospects move from awareness to inquiry, then from inquiry to consideration and purchase.

If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.

1. The right prospects to target.
   The companies and people at those companies, who appear most likely to buy your products or services.
2. The right offers.
   Compelling calls-to-action designed to generate inquiries that, when qualified, become sales leads. A suite of offers designed to appeal to prospects at all stages of their buying process, from awareness to inquiry to consideration to purchase.
3. The right media.
   Lead generating media like direct mail, email and telemarketing. (letting brand and awareness come along for the ride.) And websites optimized both for the search engines (so yours gets found when prospects are searching) and for engaging the people who visit (generating leads, not just fly by visitors).
4. The right timing.
   Using ongoing, multi-touch campaigns designed to make sure your products and services are in-sight and in-mind when your prospects are thinking about the pains their problems are causing, or are already searching for pain-relief.

I think B2B lead generation is easy.

The hard part is generating more qualified, sales-ready leads, faster and at the lowest possible cost. That’s where real expertise is required.

What do you think?

If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.