The Point

JANUARY 17, 2019

Some years ago, our firm conducted a lead management audit for a technology client who was struggling to convert raw, inbound inquiries into sales qualified leads. During the audit, it became quickly apparent that one of the major issues was at the very front end of the lead qualification process.

Sales Qualified Leads 168

Sales Qualified Leads Tips Lead Nurturing Multi-Channel 168

The Point

OCTOBER 26, 2010

lengthening sales cycles during a down economy and the desire to support sales reps who are reluctant to dedicate their valuable time to nurturing buyers throughout that process. which leads merit sales investment and which don’t.) Marketing automation helps eliminate marketing waste. The Changing Role of Email.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Budget 100

The Point

JUNE 25, 2019

Yet, for all the interest, precious few B2B companies achieve the holy grail of knowing exactly how – and where – their marketing investment impacts revenue. How is your lead management process working? [Thanks to Anne Angele, Spear’s esteemed Director of Marketing Technology, for this month’s guest post.].

Marketing Attribution 242

Marketing Attribution Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services 242

The Point

APRIL 1, 2014

Recent studies tell us while the adoption of marketing automation technology continues to gain momentum, fewer than 20 percent of marketing executives say that they are fully integrating the technology into their current sales and marketing initiatives.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 100

The Point

MARCH 22, 2019

Lead scoring – as a fundamental part of a company’s lead management strategy – has officially fallen out of fashion. Marketing, in turn, sees no reason to fix the system because “sales doesn’t use lead scoring.”. 3 Key Reasons Not to Give Up on Lead Scoring Click To Tweet. I would argue: no.

Lead Ranking 113

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Leads Account Based Marketing 113

The Point

JANUARY 14, 2014

In my experience, most of the mental energy and strategic thinking around the practice of lead nurturing and lead management is usually applied to the goal of accelerating prospects through the sales process – from MQL to SQL, from SQL to Opportunity, and so on. Probably not.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Marketing Automation Services Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Leads 100

The Point

OCTOBER 8, 2015

Bear with me as I relate a quick story about lead nurturing: A few months back I became a sales lead. Unfortunately the budget for the campaign got cancelled, so I emailed the rep, told her the bad news, and that I would continue to keep her company and product in mind for future needs. It’s [Name] from [Company].

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring 100

The Point

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

I only recently came across the results of research published late last year by Leads360 , a leading provider of hosted (SaaS) solutions for managing sales leads. Call me a data point of one, but the company that makes those phone calls to my desk is someone with whom I’d never want to do business.

Leads360 100

Leads360 Sales Leads Telemarketing Leads 100

The Point

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Almost 5 years ago, our agency conducted a survey to determine whether B2B companies were getting maximum value from their investment in marketing automation. You’d assume, therefore, that marketing automation maturity – the level of sophistication at which companies employ the technology – has improved.

Marketing Automation Services 147

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Management Marketing Automation Automation 147

The Point

AUGUST 25, 2020

To better help our clients plan, design, operationalize, and scale their ABM strategies , the team at Spear developed a workbook designed to assist companies in assessing their ABM readiness. Industry, Company Size, Installed Technologies, Other). Sales Structure. Lead Management Definitions/Processes. If so, how?

Ideal Customer Profiles 147

Ideal Customer Profiles Account Based Marketing ABM Lead Ranking 147

The Point

MAY 19, 2020

Modern, best-in-class lead nurture programs focus less on automation, and more on leveraging intent data, AI, social engagement, Web behavior and a host of other variables in order to deliver their messages – through a variety of channels – to the right person at the right time. How does your current lead nurturing.

Lead Nurturing 299

Lead Nurturing Class Budget Programs Lead Scoring 299

The Point

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

It’s no secret that I am a fervent evangelist for marketing automation, and at our agency we see the real-life benefits every day in the form of clients generating higher conversion rates, more qualified leads, and shorter sales cycles. Sales management and executives, however, are focused on hitting monthly and quarterly targets.

Salesforce.com 100

Salesforce.com Eloqua Work Management Marketing Management 100

The Point

OCTOBER 22, 2020

My response: We typically design nurture programs for inbound leads like content syndication in 2 stages, as follows: 1) quickly determining if the person has an immediate need or otherwise merits sales follow-up; and then. An early-stage nurture series is more about identifying and flagging those leads with a genuine need.

Sales Qualified Leads 227

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Leads 227

The Point

MARCH 12, 2012

And yet, I’m finding in the course of our firm’s work that many companies don’t consider lead follow-up a priority. In a ground-breaking report back in 2007, the people at InsideSales.com reported some startling statistics about just how quickly companies should follow up on Web leads, and the repercussions of not doing so.

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel Bandwidth Sales Qualified Leads Marketing Automation 100

The Point

DECEMBER 11, 2018

Is ABM a fit for our company, our product, and our audience? In the giddy, early days when solutions like Marketo first arrived on the scene, the reigning view was that the technology was all a company needed to solve their lead management and email marketing woes. The hype around ABM has subsided.

Account Based Marketing 157

Account Based Marketing ABM Ideal Customer Profiles Enterprise Management 157

The Point

OCTOBER 15, 2019

If your organization is generating plenty of leads but those initial inquiries aren’t converting to sales qualified leads, meetings, or pipeline, a myriad of things could be at fault: 1) sales follow-up may be sub-standard in either cadence, frequency, or message. 2) lead nurturing. 2) lead nurturing.

Sales Qualified Leads 138

Sales Qualified Leads Work Management Marketing Management Account Based Marketing 138

The Point

DECEMBER 15, 2020

Consider directing non-responsive leads to a subscription management page or subscriber preference center that provides options for how often they hear from your company, or allows them to identify specific areas of interest, empowering you to deliver more relevant content (and drive higher engagement.).

Lead Scoring 162

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Leads Lead 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. the company is doing a poor job nurturing and following up with raw inquiries. the company’s definition for MQL is too stringent. #1

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads 100

The Point

OCTOBER 25, 2018

The analysts at Demand Gen Report just published their “ 2018 Lead Nurturing & Acceleration Survey Report ” and one conclusion is no surprise: many B2B companies are still really bad at lead nurturing. It’s not just that 44% of respondents said that their lead nurturing “needs improvement.” Think about that.

Lead Nurturing 178

Lead Nurturing Marketing Report Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 178

The Point

AUGUST 8, 2013

When a client says “We set up lead scoring but sales doesn’t pay any attention,” it’s a sure sign that something is amiss – and more likely the problem doesn’t rest with sales. Here’s Part 2 of our discussion of the most common B2B lead scoring mistakes.

Lead Scoring 100

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads Marketo 100

The Point

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Can a regularly scheduled calendar of batch campaigns serve to maintain brand awareness and keep your company top of mind? But as I wrote in this previous post , today’s lead nurturing has long since graduated from a simple, calendar-based system of “one size fits all” emails. What other differences did I miss? Comments welcome.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Demand Generation Agencies Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads 100

The Point

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Sungard AS runs a highly successful demand generation program, an integrated mix of both online and offline campaigns, to generate a consistent flow of leads to the company’s sales force. We were able to provide new ideas based on our pool of experience and what we knew was working for other companies in the tech space.”.

Conversion Rate 100

Conversion Rate Marketing Qualified Leads Demand Generation Agencies Lead Ranking 100

The Point

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

Using satellite technology for internet connectivity has particular appeal for companies with operations in remote, hard-to-reach locations, so it’s no surprise that iDirect’s market is heavily segmented, focused on key sectors such as oil & gas, maritime, and federal/military.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking 100

The Point

AUGUST 23, 2011

Do you feign understanding when your CEO talks about “sales and marketing alignment”? Unclear on the difference between lead management and revenue cycle management? Horrified at the responsibility of investigating marketing automation solutions for your company? You can access the Webinar here.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Marketing Management Webinar Metrics 100

The Point

MAY 14, 2012

A new report from Forrester Consulting, commissioned by marketing automation provider Silverpop , offers little in the way of groundbreaking insights, but does provide plenty of data confirming what most already know: that many companies are failing to realize the true potential from their investments in marketing automation.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Marketing Report Automation 100

The Point

AUGUST 1, 2013

A well-planned, well-designed, and optimized lead scoring schema can be a key contributor to sales productivity, sales engagement, and the rate at which inbound leads convert to Sales Qualified Leads, opportunities, and deals. No separate scores for behavioral and demographic values.

Lead Scoring 100

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads Leads 100

The Point

MAY 6, 2010

Fortunately, and to the client’s credit, they had firm metrics for each stage through which a raw inquiry ultimately converted to a sale. For other companies, the decision of whether or not to take the plunge into marketing automation is less of a slam-dunk. How efficiently do raw sales inquiries convert into qualified prospects?

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Marketing Management Automation 100

The Point

FEBRUARY 4, 2011

Improved consistency of follow-up to all new leads independent of sales bandwidth. Regardless of how good your inside sales team is, putting in place automated lead response via marketing automation ensures that every inbound lead receives a prompt, systematic, personalized response, and that none fall through the cracks.

Marketing Automation 100

Marketing Automation Automation Bandwidth Cost per Lead 100

The Point

DECEMBER 17, 2010

Most B2B companies will readily acknowledge how much the Web has transformed the way they market their product or service, most visibly in the form of vehicles like search, content marketing, social media, and lead management. Fewer companies, however, can claim to have adapted their sales process as readily.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Work Management Marketing Management B2B 100

The Point

OCTOBER 14, 2010

Earlier this week, Marketo , the marketing automation company, held its second ever user conference in San Francisco. For one, I can report that no companies are coming to our firm asking us to help them align sales and marketing. Including the recipient’s company name in subject lines increases response.

Marketo 100

Marketo Impressions Demand Generation Agencies Lead Nurturing 100

The Point

JULY 21, 2016

It’s well documented that, of the companies who invest in marketing automation, many fail to achieve maximum return from that investment, or even utilize marketing automation technology to its full capacity. Not setting up data management to empower effective reporting.

Marketing Automation Services 80

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Automation Sales Management Automation 80

The Point

OCTOBER 30, 2013

Progressive profiling is an ideal method for capturing both additional demographic data (company size, industry) to drive campaign segmentation, and behavioral data that can help identify hot leads. Landing pages help drive further engagement.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Landing Pages 100

The Point

FEBRUARY 5, 2010

A couple of months ago, in a respected marketing Webzine, there appeared a case study detailing a software company that had gone to impressive lengths to make the most of their investment in marketing automation. Yes, you can tailor emails to fit every possible unique combination of demographic and behavioral criteria. Not really.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Rules Leads Lead 100

The Point

JULY 15, 2010

Salesforce.com is a dominant player in the CRM category and an integral part of many companies’ lead management, database marketing, and demand generation programs. HS: What would you say is the biggest misconception about Salesforce and the way it’s used in most companies? DT: Let me give two answers here.

Salesforce.com 100

Salesforce.com Marketing Automation Services Budget Programs Work Management 100

The Point

OCTOBER 8, 2009

Except awareness and thought leadership represent only a fraction of the potential return from social media, and in fact (I would argue) place well behind the windfall that social media makes possible in the areas of lead generation and lead nurturing. expand company’s leads database and community of followers.

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies PR Social Media Paid Search Agency 100

The Point

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

A trade show lead is likely to be at a different stage in the selling cycle compared to someone who registers for a Webinar. If that trade show lead is simply the result of uploading a show attendee list, the reader may not even know why he or she is hearing from your company. Don’t dump all inbound leads into the same bucket.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Segmentation Sales Qualified Leads Campaigns 100

The Point

AUGUST 8, 2011

A recent industry study on Lead Management Optimization, conducted by CSO Insights and conducted in partnership with SMEI and Marketo , sheds insight on the relative budget marketing organizations are investing in areas such as lead nurturing, social media, and lead generation.

Lead Generation 100

Lead Generation Social Media Allocation Marketing Qualified Leads 100