The Point

MAY 17, 2021

Whatever demand gen channels you use to generate marketing leads, there’s value in always promoting a mix of content and other offers that span the entire buying cycle: early-stage, mid-stage, and late-stage. In fact, a failure to align offers with ad groups can be a prime culprit in poor conversion (click-to-lead) rates.

Marketing Management 207

Marketing Management Paid Search Agency Buying Cycle Demand Generation Agencies 207

The Point

OCTOBER 1, 2021

However, forcing that same individual to enter a business email address instead doesn’t change where that person is in the buying process; it simply creates more friction in the user experience. Historically, the attitude towards personal emails in B2B marketing has been that they betray a lower level of intent.

Lead Gen 297

Lead Gen Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads 297

The Point

JULY 17, 2017

Here are just some of the key findings, along with what I believe these trends mean for demand generation marketers: FINDING : 59% of respondents say they now have formal buying groups or buying committees in place to review purchases. But that’s exactly the kind of information buyers want.

Paid Search Agency 241

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

The Point

OCTOBER 15, 2019

That doesn’t mean that an inbound strategy should be abandoned entirely in favor of ABM at the first sign of leads that don’t convert. I’ve made the argument that part of the reason for the rise of ABM is that B2B marketers are really bad at lead nurturing. Photo by Yeshi Kangrang on Unsplash.

Sales Qualified Leads 138

Sales Qualified Leads Work Management Marketing Management Account Based Marketing 138

The Point

OCTOBER 8, 2020

For more companies than not, marketing success is rarely about convincing a given individual, on a given day, to buy what it is you’re selling. But even then, I would argue, marketing – and demand generation in particular – isn’t wholly about convincing the buyer that they have the need you can solve, and that they need to solve it today.

Demand Generation Agencies 173

Demand Generation Agencies Paid Search Agency Advertising Agencies Marketing Agencies 1 173

The Point

JULY 25, 2014

From a lead generation perspective, however, the campaign is a hot mess. But here, any perceived value is obliterated because I’m told that the primary reason to take the survey is to learn why I should buy Symantec’s product. And indeed, it is all those things. Here’s why: First and foremost, the offer is devoid of value.

Email Campaigns 100

Email Campaigns Design Campaigns Demand Generation 100

The Point

DECEMBER 28, 2017

Unfortunately, the trend for many firms when it comes to marketing technology seems to be: “buy now, and figure it out later.” Whether it’s predictive analytics, ABM , AI, or chatbots, the modern marketer needs to navigate an increasingly technical discipline.

Marketing Report 176

Marketing Report Marketing Automation Automation Demand Generation Agencies 176

The Point

JULY 27, 2018

It’s ironic then, that in an Age of Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and Intent Data and IP-based Advertising, when B2B marketers are looking for any short cut possible to find, meet, engage, and close the prospect who is ready to buy, that high bar offers are more and more popular. Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash.

Account Based Marketing 100

Account Based Marketing Campaigns Multi-Channel Demand Generation Agencies 100

The Point

JUNE 5, 2018

HJS: Your survey indicates that a clear majority of marketers are engaged across the lead lifecycle, including customer marketing. Is that a reflection of a larger trend, namely that marketers are no longer just responsible for front end lead generation? LDW: This was a surprising number for me – in a good way.

Lead Ranking 194

Lead Ranking Forrester Lead Scoring Paid Search Agency 194

The Point

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

They engage with sales people later in the buying process. According to Sirius Decisions, 67 percent of the buying cycle is now conducted online , regardless of sales involvement. That means almost three-fourths of the buying process could be over before anyone in your organization has “touched” the prospect in any meaningful way. .

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies Validation Demand Generation Rules 100

The Point

MAY 30, 2014

. • marketing automation and related technologies make it easier than ever for clients to produce campaigns and generate demand using in-house resources. clients increasingly work directly with publishers and ad networks directly, aided by developments in technology that allow for programmatic ad buying. •

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies Paid Search Agency Advertising Agencies Ad Agencies 100

The Point

MAY 27, 2014

” In theory, asking such questions is an effective (if aggressive) method of bypassing the awkward “do you want to buy” question by, in effect, assuming the prospect has already decided to buy, and simply asking him or her to clarify that decision. ” “Can I deliver that to you this Friday?”

Copywriting 100

Copywriting B2B Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation 100

The Point

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Dave Brock wrote an excellent post recently (“ I’ve Never Ever Sold a Computer or Piece of Software ”) on what technology buyers really buy. His point (crudely distilled) is that while most of us believe that customers are buying our products and services, in fact what they’re really buying is more immediate and personal.

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Personalization 100

The Point

JULY 23, 2012

In an ideal world, all B2B sales leads would be pre-qualified and ready to buy. One result of that pressure can be a demand for tactical, sales-driven campaigns designed specifically to seek out hot leads, campaigns that lead with so-called “late stage” offers like demos, free trials, or even price discounts.

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies Sales Qualified Leads Leads Lead 100

The Point

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Spear identified incremental changes to make in the company’s creative approach, but focused most of their recommendations on segmenting the existing nurturing effort into a program that was more tailored to where a prospect was in the buying process, and to that individual’s specific role or job function. Re-posted with permission.

Conversion Rate 100

Conversion Rate Marketing Qualified Leads Demand Generation Agencies Lead Ranking 100

The Point

APRIL 22, 2020

However, as much as it has a reputation as a way to generate “guaranteed” leads, content syndication is not a cure-all, and indeed, more than most demand generation channels, is likely to generate sales leads that gravitate towards the early stages of the buying cycle. Place leads immediately into nurture.

Lead Scoring 162

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking CPL Cost per Lead 162

The Point

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Where Daniel lost me completely, however, is in his opening paragraph: “Friction on your lead generation landing pages is bad, because it reduces conversions. How could generating fewer conversions be good? And furthermore, so what if some prospects aren’t yet ready to buy? Except that is not always a bad thing.”.

Landing Pages 100

Landing Pages Conversion Rate Lead Qualification Peer-to-peer 100

The Point

JANUARY 23, 2018

A potential customer might have precisely the problem that a particular product or service solves and are anxious to solve that problem, yet may not feel as though they’re ready to buy and so fail to respond to the campaign.

Sales Management 253

Sales Management Sales Qualified Leads Demand Generation Agencies Lead Scoring 253

The Point

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

It’s one of the oldest demand generation clichés that list matters above all else. But targeting the right audience is more than simply defining a target account list, or key industries, or buying personas. Good content is what fuels modern demand generation. Today’s buyers demand relevancy – or even personalized content.

Demand Generation Agencies 182

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Demand Generation 182

The Point

OCTOBER 14, 2009

He/she could be anywhere on the buying spectrum – from initial research and education, to final, I-want-to-buy-one-of-these-today evaluation. For more detailed information on offer strategy, download our free white paper: “How to Choose Your Carrot: Effective Lead Generation Offers for High-Technology Marketers.”.

Landing Pages 100

Landing Pages PPC Paid Search Agency Webcast 100

The Point

MAY 28, 2020

(I’ve written elsewhere in this space that one of the reasons ABM became so popular is because companies are just really bad at lead nurturing.). A strategy based on generating engagement from buying groups (and the way large corporations make purchase decisions) vs. individual leads.

Demand Generation Agencies 162

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Ideal Customer Profiles Lead Ranking 162

The Point

JANUARY 27, 2016

For example, if a company’s Lead-to-MQL rate is lower than it should be, that could mean several things: 1. the company is generating the wrong type of leads. 1 is a top-of-the-funnel, lead generation problem. #2 2 is something that can easily be addressed via more systematic, structured nurturing of new leads.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads 100

The Point

MARCH 13, 2013

In most cases, the goal of an effective autoresponder program isn’t to convince the prospect to buy your product, or even to persuade him or her to request contact from sales. A good autoresponder simply generates response, any response, and gives the prospect another opportunity to request additional information.

Autoresponders 100

Autoresponders Effectiveness Trade Show Bandwidth 100

The Point

MAY 16, 2018

Not information on why he/she should choose your product, or why another company chose your product, but information that dangles the promise of a better, faster, cheaper, safer alternative without suggesting that the customer buy it. That’s too high a bar.

Campaigns 191

Campaigns Tips Demand Generation Agencies Lead Scoring 191

The Point

JANUARY 8, 2013

Unless your offer and product are one and the same and the call to action is “buy now,” no-one cares about your product. If the goal is to impress me with Qtrac’s functionality – fine; but as a lead generation campaign, this misses the boat by a mile. But so what? in intelligent queuing technology allow you to:”.

Product 100

Product Email Marketing Cross-Selling Paper 100

The Point

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

Yet the last line of the email is “Sign up now to start saving” which sounds to my ear like an invitation to buy the product. If you want me to buy the product, tell me why I should buy the product. If you want me to buy the product, tell me why I should buy the product. This email does neither.

Email Campaigns 100

Email Campaigns Demand Generation Agencies Campaigns Demand Generation 100

The Point

OCTOBER 25, 2017

Find the people ready to buy and go after them! And though there’s merit in a more proactive, targeted approach to demand generation, especially in light of the technologies (e.g. So, is inbound marketing dead? No, it’s not. Even the best, most creative, most tightly orchestrated outbound campaign succeeds on an accident of timing.

Account Based Marketing 127

Account Based Marketing Demand Generation Agencies ABM Paid Social Agency 127

The Point

MARCH 3, 2010

So does all this mean you should dump your white papers, research reports and educational webinars, in favor of product brochures and buying guides? For a more detailed discussion of offer strategy, download a copy of our free white paper: “ How to Choose Your Carrot: Effective Lead Generation Offers for High-Technology Marketers.”.

Lead Scoring 100

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Lead Nurturing Webcast 100

The Point

JANUARY 13, 2017

In an era when the average business buyer only contacts a brand when he/she is 67 percent through the buying process , there’s every reason to make sure that you’re reaching prospective customers at every stage of their research, not just when they’re ready to buy. Actually, I know why it is.

SEM 100

SEM Paid Search Agency Marketing & Strategy Sales Qualified Leads 100

The Point

MARCH 11, 2010

You don’t need to disguise your brand necessarily, but if the goal of the email is to get the reader to register for the event, the less that event appears to be a litany of reasons to buy your product, the better. Lead with compelling benefits, not just facts. “In See #1 above. There’s simply no reason to mention the product here.

Webinar Metrics 100

Webinar Metrics Demand Generation Copywriting Display 100

The Point

MAY 6, 2010

How much education is needed before a lead becomes a viable prospect? At what rate do existing customers renew maintenance agreements, buy add-on products, refer their colleagues in different departments? Does most of your business come from leads generated in the last 30 days? What is your current customer churn rate?

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Marketing Management Automation 100

The Point

APRIL 4, 2024

The lead generation experts at NetLine just released their “ 2024 State of B2B Content Consumption & Demand Report ,” a meaty 38-page guide based on data from more than 6 million content registrations. YOY, up 77% since 2019, a contradiction for those who would have us believe that forms are a thing of the past.

Trends 299

Trends B2B Thought Leadership B2B Content 299

The Point

DECEMBER 17, 2010

She has a lot to say about how B2B companies need to adapt better to the reality of how their customers buy products and services. (HS) They engage with sales people later in the buying process. You don’t need a sales person at all to buy some consumer products – music, stocks, and airline tickets, for example.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Work Management Marketing Management B2B 100

The Point

AUGUST 11, 2015

Yes, we can segment our message and our offer content based on what we assume to be that prospect’s buying role and level of interest. Yes, we can look and watch for certain behaviors, and trigger automated communication based on those behaviors. But it’s still an educated guess.

Sales Cycle 100

Sales Cycle Demand Generation Lead Nurturing Aggregators 100

The Point

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

Prospects may simply not be ready to buy a solution because either 1) they don’t know such a solution exists, or 2) they may not even be aware they have the relevant problem in the first place; • focusing on only the most qualified prospects leaves many potential (albeit, more long term) deals on the table.

Sales Qualified Leads 100

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Leads 100

The Point

NOVEMBER 24, 2015

One of my favorite lead generation mantras is this (repeat after me): Sell the Offer, Not the Product. In the Symantec campaign, the value of the white paper is (apparently) learning why you need to buy their product, Norton Shopping Guarantee. If your offer is a Webinar, sell the value of that event.

Email Campaigns 100

Email Campaigns Campaigns Paper Merchandising 100

The Point

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

The following is an excerpt from an interview I conducted recently with the folks at TechnologyAdvice , a leading online provider of information resources to help IT professionals make informed buying decisions. TA) There are so many different varieties of lead generation providers on the market.

Paid Search Agency 0

Paid Search Agency Demand Generation Agencies Advertising Agencies B2B Marketing 0