The Point

JANUARY 11, 2024

Like many B2B marketing agencies, even though we’re a professional services business and don’t sell or re-sell technology, our firm gets marketed to regularly by companies looking to recruit us as a channel partner.

Advertising Agencies 173

Advertising Agencies Demand Generation Agencies Campaigns Paid Search Agency 173

The Point

OCTOBER 26, 2010

As part of a team that works regularly with companies who are either actively considering marketing automation, or have just invested in the technology, we get a first-hand view into what drives people to take the leap. Here are a couple of other factors that often figure prominently: Desire for Marketing Efficiency. The email blast is dead.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Budget 100

The Point

JANUARY 31, 2011

What does a software company do when their paid search program is working well but just not generating enough leads? That was the issue faced by Navicure , a leading Internet-based (SaaS) medical claims clearinghouse that helps physician practices increase profitability through improved claims reimbursement and staff productivity.

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Demand Generation Agencies Sales Qualified Leads PPC 100

The Point

APRIL 19, 2023

If you’re aiming at the wrong companies, not even the best content or creative will save you. Most marketers accept this axiom implicitly, and yet B2B companies routinely define their target audience with more attention to logos and aspiration than actual fit. Exegraphic data helps you understand how a company executes its mission.

Ideal Customer Profiles 130

Ideal Customer Profiles Marketing AI Marketing Analytics Tools B2B Marketing 130

The Point

OCTOBER 11, 2022

Few companies have 100% clean data or anywhere close to it, so any attempt at personalization is likely to be rife with errors. Having a customer or user or prospect follow you or your company on LinkedIn, for example, and the ongoing communication and brand awareness that permits, can be just as effective as opt-in email.

Marketing Report 246

Marketing Report Email Marketing Co-Registration Privacy 246

The Point

JANUARY 19, 2011

inbound or outbound – what makes sense for your product? In part 2 of my podcast with Steve Farnsworth of Jolt Social Media, we discuss the shift from outbound to inbound marketing: what works and why. In under 10 minutes, you’ll learn: • the most effective demand generation vehicles in today’s digital environment.

Inbound Marketing 100

Inbound Marketing Paid Search Agency Demand Generation Companies 100

The Point

NOVEMBER 15, 2022

Very few organizations can rely exclusively on inbound channels, particularly those companies with solutions that buyers aren’t necessarily searching for. There’s no one approach to cold lists that works for every company and every audience. My response is a definitive: yes. Integrate social selling techniques (e.g.

Purchase 162

Purchase Paid Search Agency Paid Social Agency Outreach 162

The Point

DECEMBER 5, 2023

Yahoo has yet to define their rules in detail, but Google’s are published here and summarized as follows: The new Google rules affect companies sending 5,000+ emails per day to any Google users, including Gmail accounts but also (crucially) Google Workspace domains. That may be a challenge, however, for all but the smallest companies.

Deliverability 162

Deliverability Rules Purchase Marketing Automation Services 162

The Point

OCTOBER 29, 2021

Successfully converting free trials and (self-serve) demos requires that the user engage with the product early, frequently, and in a manner that drives home perceived value. It might be counter-intuitive to place chatbots on the “contact us” page, where – in theory – a visitor is already highly motivated to engage with the company.

Account Based Marketing 350

Account Based Marketing B2B Marketing Automation Services Demand Generation Agencies 350

The Point

MARCH 8, 2018

Sure, they’re expensive to license, but they’re instant fodder for all sorts of content marketing, they bring credibility and name recognition to a campaign, and – bonus – they say nice things about your product. However, in my experience, most tech companies don’t know how to market them. Guess what: I don’t care. See what I mean?

Marketing Report 216

Marketing Report Planning Gartner Demand Generation Agencies 216

The Point

MARCH 18, 2020

Here’s a summary of what we’re telling them: * If you’re putting any kind of marketing messages in market, it’s critical to avoid – at any cost – the appearance of promoting your service or product as a quick solution to current problems. Provide (as many are) free versions of your product, or premium features, or extended licenses.

Demand 243

Demand Demand Generation Agencies Top of Funnel Account Based Marketing 243

The Point

OCTOBER 22, 2020

If the individual meets basic demographic criteria (right title, right type/size of company), you should continue to nurture him or her for as long as you have content to send, or until the email address reaches some kind of defined threshold for non-responders (e.g. no opens for 12 months.). That could be months, or even years down the road.

Sales Qualified Leads 227

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Leads 227

The Point

JUNE 24, 2022

How should companies adapt their demand generation playbook to better serve the needs of the self-serve buyer? However, companies planning their content strategy would be wise to consider every opportunity to identify and leverage third-party sources. Key Finding 1: Buyers have all but replaced vendor-provided content.

Top of Funnel 130

Top of Funnel Cold Calling B2B Demand Generation 130

The Point

MAY 19, 2020

stack up against those companies who push the envelope in both nurture strategy and their use of complementary technologies? How does your current lead nurturing. To help answer that question, we compiled the following checklist based on our work with B2B marketers setting the standard for lead nurture sophistication.

Lead Nurturing 299

Lead Nurturing Class Budget Programs Lead Scoring 299

The Point

JANUARY 23, 2018

Tech companies have short-term horizons for a number of reasons: * Many are private and depend on short term results to prove viability and therefore ensure their ongoing funding. Technology changes rapidly, and tech companies often have windows of opportunity to realize revenue from products or services before they become obsolete. .

Sales Management 253

Sales Management Sales Qualified Leads Demand Generation Agencies Lead Scoring 253

The Point

MAY 17, 2021

And this much is true: late-stage offers are more likely to attract prospects who are genuinely in the market for a particular product or solution. Many B2B companies have a tendency to over-rely on late-stage offers (demos, in particular) in their search campaigns, on the assumption that search lead automatically wants to evaluate a product.

Marketing Management 207

Marketing Management Paid Search Agency Buying Cycle Demand Generation Agencies 207

The Point

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

Just to be clear – to the extent that customers and prospective customers DO actually read your content, gain valuable information from that content, and think more highly of you and your company because of it, all the better. However, in the context of demand generation , it matters very little whether they read it or not. via @spearmktg.

Paper 193

Paper Demand Generation Agencies Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 193

The Point

MAY 16, 2018

Their flagship product is being end-of-lifed. The company suffered a data breach. No matter how much someone might hate their current product/solution/vendor, bringing in a replacement can be a painful process, particularly for anything involving technology. People don’t want to be told they made a mistake. Big mistake.

Campaigns 191

Campaigns Tips Demand Generation Agencies Lead Scoring 191

The Point

JUNE 23, 2020

Indeed, those who announce that anything is “dead,” marketing-wise, typically have an agenda in mind, most often selling you a product or solution to facilitate whatever replaces the (allegedly) departed. But there are still 5+ billion email accounts worldwide. Email is very much alive.

Lead Ranking 264

Lead Ranking Enterprise Management Marketing Qualified Leads Account Based Marketing 264

The Point

APRIL 16, 2019

Because costs per click in B2B search campaigns can often be extremely high when companies compete the for same keywords, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) for B2B advertisers offers its own very unique challenges. Yet, many B2B companies don’t take the time to compute these numbers, or even basic funnel metrics.

Cost per Acquisition 235

Cost per Acquisition Paid Search Agency Campaigns Cost Per Click 235

The Point

SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

Work for a big company. It’s a large corporation where you’ll learn the difference between product marketing, field marketing, and corporate marketing, between branding and demand generation. But you’ll get to take risks that you wouldn’t in a larger company. Take a sales training class if your company offers one.

Demand Generation Agencies 165

Demand Generation Agencies Paid Search Agency Advertising Agencies Work Management 165

The Point

APRIL 22, 2020

Indeed, much of the success that companies see with content syndication has more to do with what happens with leads AFTER they’re generated – i.e. how those leads are responded to, nurtured, and ultimately converted. Set appropriate thresholds for sales follow-up.

Lead Scoring 162

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking CPL Cost per Lead 162

The Point

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Sometimes great people, a great product, or pure market demand can cover up all sorts of marketing sins, but more often the clients who succeed consistently at demand generation are those who have their act together. After more than two decades in the agency business, I’ve seen dozens of clients and hundreds of campaigns succeed and fail.

Demand Generation Agencies 182

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Demand Generation 182

The Point

DECEMBER 21, 2018

Apparently (and this was all news to me), when a product is heavily advertised or advertised in an innately expensive way, consumers believe either 1) the quality of the product must be high, or 2) the company advertising has already persuaded lots of people to buy its product, presumably to justify the investment.

Advertising Agencies 113

Advertising Agencies Advertisements Advertising Paid Search Agency 113

The Point

JANUARY 17, 2019

At this particular company, all leads flowed first to a team of Sales Development Reps (SDRs), and were required to be contacted and qualified by that team before proceeding further along the funnel. 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

SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

Now, not only was I not ready, I barely remember what his company does. That’s because I haven’t had any communication from him or his company in the last 6 months that wasn’t a direct solicitation to do business with the firm. His message today was, in summary: “Are you ready to engage with us yet?”. Click To Tweet.

Lead Nurturing 224

Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 224

The Point

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

Just listen to marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk, perhaps the biggest champion for advertising on Facebook and other channels, who says that social media advertising is “grossly underpriced” and that companies have a window of opportunity to take advantage before big brands drive up the cost. All of which begs the question: what about organic?

Top of Funnel 203

Top of Funnel Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Lead Scoring 203

The Point

AUGUST 27, 2019

The relatively high cost of LinkedIn advertising can lead some marketers to want to generate only highly-qualified leads or those further along in the buyer journey, but attempting to have the offer itself qualify those leads can be counter-productive. Poor Company Page. Stale Creative. Only testing will tell.

Paid Content 241

Paid Content Advertising Agencies Linkedin Advertisements 241

The Point

DECEMBER 6, 2022

It goes without saying that these formulas and the underlying assumptions are subject to your specific sales model, tech stack, staffing model, product category, target audience, and marketing preferences. How to Calculate Demand Gen Budget: A Rough Guide Click To Tweet. It’s worth also taking a hard look at MQL definition.

Budget Programs 162

Budget Programs Lead Ranking Demand Marketing Qualified Leads 162

The Point

FEBRUARY 28, 2023

Weaving that story into content, ads, and other campaign assets will help your company stand out. Depending on your audience, product category, and level of brand awareness, maybe what you really need is a search campaign. But “easy” doesn’t always equate to the best choice. Or an ad on LinkedIn.

Demand Generation Agencies 147

Demand Generation Agencies Advertising Agencies CMS Development Work Management 147

The Point

JULY 17, 2017

IMPACT : It may feel self-serving or even disingenuous to create content that explicitly provides a business case for buying your product. 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.

Paid Search Agency 241

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

The Point

OCTOBER 8, 2015

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. I meet the demographic criteria, I’m aware of the company, but I don’t have immediate needs (though I may in the future.)

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring 100

The Point

AUGUST 21, 2018

I haven’t asked Joe directly, but I believe he means that, in the absence of a genuine need for a product or solution, marketing rarely creates that need. Even if your product is trailblazing a new category, or solving a problem that few companies know they have, you can still orient your marketing to capture demand.

Demand Generation Agencies 113

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Demand Generation 113

The Point

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018

Now, Steve happens to work in product marketing for Oracle Marketing Cloud , home of Eloqua, typically regarded as the most feature-rich (some would say: complex) marketing automation solution on the market. So, it may just be that Steve’s data is biased in favor of those companies who need a more full-featured solution.

Marketing Automation Services 179

Marketing Automation Services Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management 179

The Point

APRIL 19, 2017

Does the topic help to qualify the prospect as someone suffering from a problem or pain point your product/service can solve? Does that same issue translate inherently into someone who could ultimately use your product, whether or not he/she realizes it yet? What’s the problem or challenge that your content purports to help address?

Top of Funnel 214

Top of Funnel Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Paper 214

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

MARCH 22, 2019

Companies generate a mix of qualified and unqualified leads, the argument goes, and lead scoring is one tool for helping to sort the good from the bad. The second reason has to do with the trend towards Account-Based Marketing (ABM). 3 Key Reasons Not to Give Up on Lead Scoring Click To Tweet. So, is lead scoring a dying art?

Lead Ranking 113

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Leads Account Based Marketing 113