The Point

JULY 1, 2019

For the last decade or more, it’s been an accepted principle – almost a key tenet – of B2B demand generation that business buyers don’t want to talk to a sales rep until the last possible moment. It’s why, for example, we marketers have assumed control for more and more of the lead funnel. For example: * Lead Scoring.

B2B Sales 124

B2B Sales Demand Generation Agencies Top of Funnel Lead Scoring 124

The Point

MARCH 22, 2017

To be successful in driving engagement from business buyers, it’s not enough that marketing content simply be relevant to the individual reader. As a busy IT leader you know …”) that does nothing but try the reader’s patience. Don’t lecture me on a business trend or challenge or problem that you think I should care about.

Account Based Marketing 210

Account Based Marketing SIC ABM Demand Generation Agencies 210

The Point

FEBRUARY 27, 2018

Following on the heels of CAN-SPAM (US) and CASL (Canada), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the latest in a series of government regulations that promises to have a major impact on the way B2B marketers conduct business. The penalties for non-compliance with GDPR can be severe.

Privacy Policies 231

Privacy Policies Marketing Automation Services B2B Marketing Marketing Management 231

The Point

NOVEMBER 15, 2022

For example, import the Tier 1 list into LinkedIn and Facebook, and run content-driven ads focused on awareness and generating initial engagement. For Tier 1 accounts, conduct targeted, personalized sales outreach, but (critically) support those efforts with marketing air cover to the same companies. Photo by Timon Studler on Unsplash.

Purchase 162

Purchase Paid Search Agency Paid Social Agency Outreach 162

The Point

JANUARY 27, 2022

Unfortunately, the pilot approach to ABM is inherently risky, and, as a result, many companies may fail to achieve anywhere close to the desired results and/or end up dismissing ABM as a viable strategy for their business. Here’s why: ABM is not a campaign. ABM pilots often jump ahead.

Account Based Marketing 204

Account Based Marketing ABM Campaigns Demand Generation Agencies 204

The Point

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Given the business case on which most Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategies are founded – namely, that ABM increases opportunities and revenue from high-value accounts – the temptation for marketers is to measure the success of those programs on similar, high-value criteria: namely, opportunities, revenue, and average deal size.

Account Based Marketing 290

Account Based Marketing ABM Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads 290

The Point

APRIL 16, 2019

For example: Using descriptive terms (ex: “Enterprise”) in ad copy that define the intended audience Strategic and aggressive use of negative keywords (ex: “Free”) Use of offers (white papers, for example) that immediately and intuitively identify the intended audience and dissuade unqualified prospects from clicking on the ad.

Cost per Acquisition 235

Cost per Acquisition Paid Search Agency Campaigns Cost Per Click 235

The Point

JUNE 30, 2017

In the agency business, such as ours , this has led in turn to a notable uptick of interest in what are often called (by the client): “ABM Campaigns.” Target account campaigns are possible leveraging only the most basic in marketing automation and ad technology (for example, programmatic display advertising.)

Account Based Marketing 235

Account Based Marketing ABM Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation 235

The Point

JUNE 24, 2022

All this and more is documented and analyzed in an informative new report from TrustRadius: “ 2022 B2B Buying Disconnect: The Age of the Self-Serve Buyer ”, the latest version of an annual survey that reviews changes in business technology buying and selling. ( Visit the TrustRadius blog to read a detailed summary and to access a free download.).

Top of Funnel 130

Top of Funnel Cold Calling B2B Demand Generation 130

The Point

JULY 17, 2017

FINDING : 89% of respondents stated that winning vendors provided content that made it easier to show ROI and/or build a business case for the purchase. IMPACT : It may feel self-serving or even disingenuous to create content that explicitly provides a business case for buying your product.

Paid Search Agency 241

Paid Search Agency Demand Marketing Automation Services Peer-to-peer 241

The Point

DECEMBER 12, 2017

For example, TV advertising alone may be diminishing in significance, but it still makes up more than one-third of all media outlays. The main driver is almost certainly mobile advertising, which experts have estimated at accounting for more than 70% of digital media spend overall.

CMO 218

CMO Customer Surveys Analytics Planning 218

The Point

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

The conclusion: most B2B companies were failing to follow even the most basic lead management best practices, even in areas that one would assume were a primary business case for purchasing marketing automation in the first place. And then have to justify the business value 12 months later when the license renewal comes due.

Marketing Automation Services 147

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Management Marketing Automation Automation 147

The Point

MAY 9, 2017

With ABM, it’s no longer good enough to deliver segment-based messaging (for example, healthcare) – marketers need to be able to deliver messaging that is relevant and timely for individual accounts (e.g. McKesson versus United Healthcare). We need to step back for a moment and ask ourselves: what is ABM in the first place?

Account Based Marketing 206

Account Based Marketing ABM Marketing Automation Services Lead Scoring 206

The Point

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

This functionality not only generates additional insights for marketers as to just how much of their content prospects are actually reading, but also enables more sophisticated lead qualification methods, for example: granting higher lead scores when an individual prospect reads more than say, 80 percent of a white paper.

Paper 193

Paper Demand Generation Agencies Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 193

The Point

OCTOBER 25, 2018

The true business value of lead nurturing is how effectively it moves leads through the demand funnel, and therefore more appropriate measurements are lead velocity, reduction in sales cycle, lead-to-close rates, pipeline acceleration, and an increase in opportunities. News flash: email clicks are not a valid success metric.

Lead Nurturing 178

Lead Nurturing Marketing Report Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 178

The Point

JUNE 7, 2017

from those reps that I haven’t already “blocked”) are bereft of anything approaching relevance or value to our business. The email below (I’ve purposely omitted both the company and the rep’s name) is one such example. The third paragraph references two competitors with whom the vendor already does business. Click To Tweet.

Best Practices 145

Best Practices Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads Account Based Marketing 145

The Point

MAY 16, 2019

Too often, B2B emails open with a long lecture about the state of business and industry trends (classic example: “As a busy marketer, you know …”) * The email offers clear, specific, and concrete learning benefits (the 4 bullet points) – what the reader will learn, gain, discover by attending the Webinar.

Webinar Metrics 100

Webinar Metrics Creativity Paid Search Agency B2B Sales 100

The Point

JUNE 5, 2018

However, when you consider that, in our model, a 5 represents the most advanced state of practice from a business theory perspective, and a 1 represents basic control and management of a process, you recognize how difficult the transition from 1 to 5 really is. for lead management to 3.35 for organization. I was shocked, at first.

Lead Ranking 194

Lead Ranking Forrester Lead Scoring Paid Search Agency 194

The Point

JANUARY 17, 2019

But I would argue that both points are also a business case for the integration of automated lead nurturing and sales enablement campaigns into the SDR process. Indeed, in the client example I related earlier, when we implemented a series of automated emails as a complement to SDR outreach, lead conversions jumped more than 33 percent.

Sales Qualified Leads 168

Sales Qualified Leads Tips Lead Nurturing Multi-Channel 168

The Point

JUNE 20, 2018

For example, many publishers and networks in the content syndication space will now accept target account lists as lead filters, albeit at a premium CPL. Thanks to Tom Meriam, Spear’s VP Business Development (and resident ABM guru) for his contributions to this article. Can you create ABM-like campaigns and still generate results?

Account Based Marketing 168

Account Based Marketing ABM Multi-Channel CPL 168

The Point

MAY 30, 2013

Today, modern marketing channels have become so fragmented that B2B marketers are much more likely to work with a stable of agencies – a demand generation agency , for example, plus a branding firm, a PR shop, perhaps even an SEO consultant. The more your agency knows, the more they can contribute fresh thinking. Comments welcome.

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies Paid Search Agency Advertising Agencies Ad Agencies 100

The Point

AUGUST 11, 2015

Lead nurturing , for example, must now coddle the buyer through every step of his/her journey to customer nirvana. For example, per SiriusDecisions, that 67 percent of that buyer’s journey now takes place online. The ugly reality is that, in all but the most extreme examples, activity is just that: activity. Well, not so fast.

Sales Cycle 100

Sales Cycle Demand Generation Lead Nurturing Aggregators 100

The Point

MAY 27, 2014

I was reminded of this technique recently upon receiving an email from a software company that read as follows (names and other details changed to protect the misguided): “To get a complete picture of your company, you need an integrated business application. AcmePro 1.0 is the one.

Copywriting 100

Copywriting B2B Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation 100

The Point

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Like so many things in today’s B2B marketing world, the question of what does or doesn’t cause business emails to be classified as spam constitutes a moving target. The aforementioned word “free” is one example – it may (or may not) result in fewer people seeing your email, but those who see it are more likely to respond.

Deliverability 100

Deliverability CAN-SPAM Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 100

The Point

JANUARY 29, 2015

In our business, demand generation and content marketing are nearly synonymous. HS) One of the great things about being a demand generation marketer is that our business is constantly changing. This interview originally appeared in the RingLead blog , and is posted here with permission. (AN) AN) Hello, Howard. 2015 is no exception.

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Demand Generation 100

The Point

JULY 1, 2013

Seems pretty easy to find technology ones, but a little less clear on the business side.” Look at broader PPL networks that include a significant number of non-tech business sites – two examples would be Madison Logic and NetLine. However, it can be done. Re-title existing content if needed.

Demand Generation 100

Demand Generation Paper Sales Qualified Leads Content 100

The Point

OCTOBER 22, 2013

For example, your company may want to target a competitor’s installed base because support for their flagship product is coming to an end. Include both personal and business motivators. One, because they think it can benefit their business. Occasionally, however, other factors demand a more targeted, aggressive approach.

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Tips Copywriting 100

The Point

JULY 27, 2018

In the demand generation business, we often talk about “low bar” and “high bar” offers. So, for example, on a spectrum from low to high: * a white paper is a low bar offer (very little asked of the prospect). * a Webinar is a low bar offer (though not as low as a white paper because of the additional time commitment). *

Account Based Marketing 100

Account Based Marketing Campaigns Multi-Channel Demand Generation Agencies 100

The Point

JULY 18, 2014

For example, in answer to the question “During the past 12 months, how effectively have your content marketing efforts delivered business value?”. • That means just shy of two-thirds of survey respondents felt that content marketing is delivering business value. 51% responded “somewhat effectively”. •

Forrester 100

Forrester Work Management Content Marketing Demand Generation Agencies 100

The Point

APRIL 1, 2014

One of the reasons for this under-utilization, and the inability of some marketers to deploy, for example, automated lead nurturing at every stage of the selling process, is resistance from the sales organization, and in particular, Inside Sales.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 100

The Point

MARCH 18, 2014

Because salespeople, by nature, will always aim for the highest level of purchase authority to which they have access, those lists often include C-level executives who – take Mr. Fernandez as an example – will never respond. And that’s all how it should be. However, as I wrote in a recent post , inbound marketing isn’t always an option.

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies Advertising Agencies Marketo Demand Generation 100

The Point

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

What you don’t see in this email are many of the things that commonly bog down B2B campaigns, to their detriment, notably a tedious introductory paragraph designed to grab the reader and “set up” the business case for why he/she wants the offer. So, for example, BounceX could have led their email with something along the lines of: “At 1.4

Email Campaigns 100

Email Campaigns Campaigns B2B Advertising Agencies 100

The Point

JANUARY 13, 2012

There’s a lot to like about the email campaign I received (image below) recently from Infusionsoft , a maker of sales and marketing automation software for small businesses. Here, “7 Proven Strategies to Transform Your Business” is clear, concise, and promises immediate value. What would I change? Well, the copy needs work.

Email Campaigns 100

Email Campaigns Campaigns Practices Fulfillment 100

The Point

DECEMBER 28, 2010

If you’re in the, say: Widget Alignment business, you can be forgiven for thinking that your lead generation programs should be laser-focused on finding people that need their widgets aligned. For example, take the email below from payment processing company Cybersource. The subject line: “Taking Your Business Global?” (not

Email Marketing 100

Email Marketing Lead Generation Paid Search Agency Lead Scoring 100

The Point

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

How easy is it to customize the system to our specific business model and/or sales process? For example, look for integration with other systems beyond CRM (e.g. Have a strategy in place and orient your use of the technology (and the programs you design) towards specific sales, marketing, and business goals. Finance, ERP).

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Marketing Management Automation 100

The Point

JANUARY 24, 2013

By asking the right questions, you’ll not only uncover additional opportunities for improvement, but the information will play a key role in defining critical issues of workflow – for example: segmentation, frequency, and offer strategy. What is the range of products in which a prospective customer could express interest?

Lead Management 100

Lead Management Process Work Management Sales Qualified Leads 100

The Point

JANUARY 9, 2015

So, for example: “Click to download our free white paper”. Hey Dan, I know you’re busy. One of the basic rules of good, direct marketing copywriting is that a call to action should always be specific. In other words, it’s always better to present the reader with a very precise, preferably tangible reason to respond.

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies Copywriting Cold Calling Telemarketing 100