Sales Engine

AUGUST 2, 2017

The Fallacy of the Linear Buying Process Most marketing and sales leaders in the business-to-business world know that customers now direct the buying process. Previously, sales representatives controlled what prospects could learn, when, and from whom.

Lead Ranking 168

Lead Ranking Case Studies Case Study Marketing Qualified Leads 168

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 2, 2015

Content Marketing is defined in the report as “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.” Content marketing is a process and not a series of projects.

B2B Sales 120

B2B Sales Paper Fulfillment B2B Marketing 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 22, 2016

Because we are now in a position to generate consistent, value-added content for our prospects and customers, driving people to our new website is a much easier proposition,” said Traxler. Another big change First Rate made was to their sales follow up process. What’s next for First Rate’s Marketing Efforts?

Demand Generation Agencies 120

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Demand Generation 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 22, 2016

Because we are now in a position to generate consistent, value-added content for our prospects and customers, driving people to our new website is a much easier proposition,” said Traxler. Another big change First Rate made was to their sales follow up process. What’s next for First Rate’s Marketing Efforts?

Demand Generation Agencies 120

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Demand Generation 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 13, 2016

Resources must be allocated to build the processes, teams, and strategies that will be the foundation of the content department. The sales process was not developed overnight; content won’t be either. Outsiders have a unique perspective that can be better aligned with that of the prospect/customer.

Allocation 120

Allocation Content Demand Generation Agencies Work Management 120

Sales Engine

JULY 13, 2016

Marketing automation software allows you to map out exactly who your potential buyers are and what their purchasing process looks like. By feeding them content tailored to where they are in that process, you can nurture them through it to the next step. When a potential customer downloads webinar X, you know he is interested in X.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Conversion Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

JULY 13, 2016

Marketing automation software allows you to map out exactly who your potential buyers are and what their purchasing process looks like. By feeding them content tailored to where they are in that process, you can nurture them through it to the next step. When a potential customer downloads webinar X, you know he is interested in X.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Conversion Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 20, 2016

The Fallacy of the Linear Buying Process Until the mid 2000’s, sales representatives controlled what prospects could learn, when, and from whom. But as most marketing and sales leaders in modern B2B companies know (or have figured out really fast), customers have taken a lot more ownership over their own buying process.

Lead Ranking 174

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Nurturing Lead Scoring 174

Sales Engine

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

They won’t help you track where your prospects entered into the sales cycle and became customers. Sales can’t control this whole process anymore. Content marketing done correctly will fundamentally affect the revenue process of the entire company. They won’t attract top performing salespeople to your organization.

Content Marketing 120

Content Marketing Cold Calling Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 7, 2016

So how do you create content that makes your own customers and prospects feel that way? What is their buying process? You should have resources at the ready to help them at each stage of this process. The old sales axiom still applies today—we all do business with those we know, like and trust. Know who your audience is.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Content Demand Generation Agencies Barriers 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 25, 2016

But before you go out and invest in these tools, it’s important to really understand your customers’ issues so you can develop a strategy. Understanding Your Buyer You’d probably be surprised at what you don’t know about your customer. It also compiles data on customer interactions across all channels. Stay with me here!

Acquisitions 120

Acquisitions Webinar Metrics Marketing & Strategy Marketing Automation Services 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 14, 2018

Ultimately, switching to this model should dramatically decrease the overall cost of customer acquisition over time. This model does, however, assume that you’ve also shifted resources into demand generation on the front end.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Paid Search Agency Content Marketing 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 20, 2015

When we’re providing information in a business environment such as spreadsheets, a series of bullet points in a presentation or a list of facts, the two parts of our brain that are activated are for language processing, but that’s about it. Alternatively, something fascinating happens when we listen to a story.

Storytelling 120

Storytelling Work Management Acquisitions Marketing Management 120

Sales Engine

DECEMBER 21, 2015

It’s a continuous process of finding, engaging, and building an audience that you can then monetize with calls to action that convert that audience into leads for your sales team. all playing discrete functions in the process. So How Much Does All This Cost? Start with a content strategist. The reality is, nearly all of it.

Budget Programs 120

Budget Programs Work Management Marketing Management Allocation 120

Sales Engine

JULY 7, 2016

Ultimately, switching to this model should dramatically decrease the overall cost of customer acquisition over time. This model does, however, assume that you’ve also shifted resources into demand generation on the front end.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Paid Search Agency Content Marketing 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 25, 2015

In most companies, the expertise comes from an executive, such as the CEO or President, senior level sales and product managers, and customer service. It then must be communicated in a meaningful, educational, and entertaining way (assuming that you actually want people to read it). A junior person can’t get it done.

Video Marketing 120

Video Marketing Marketing Management Copywriting PR 120

Sales Engine

NOVEMBER 12, 2015

Build loyal relationships with existing customers and earn referrals. You may make a sale cold calling, but your BEST most profitable sales will come from relationships - and whether that’s done in person or digitally through social selling is irrelevant - it’s the same process with the same effect. In short, anything BUT cold calling.

Cold Calling 120

Cold Calling Allocation Youtube Internet Marketing 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 25, 2016

For most companies, it likely started with marketing automation software, a website makeover, Search Engine Optimization, Pay-per-click advertising, and Customer Relationship Management software. It’s a continuous process of finding, engaging, and building an audience that you can later monetize. But, it hasn’t happened overnight.

Enterprise Management 120

Enterprise Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

MARCH 10, 2016

It was during that process that I realized somewhere along the way that I had unlocked the door to organic traffic in that space,” said Lemas. Lemas: Writing and competing in competitive spaces all comes down to providing some form or differentiation or some sort of unique perspective, whether it’s in your product offering, customer service.

SEO 120

SEO Organization Content Marketing Agencies 1 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 23, 2016

Ultimately, the only metric that matters is total cost of customer acquisition. Calculating Total Cost of Customer Acquisition Because buyers are engaged with both sales and marketing as they move through the sales funnel, it no longer makes sense to draw a hard line between sales and marketing expenditures.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads Top of Funnel 120

Sales Engine

JULY 5, 2016

These aggressive approaches to traditional lead-generation tactics are not as effective anymore because buyer behavior has changed, and therefore, breaking through plateaus requires changing your overall customer acquisition strategy. High Customer-Acquisition Costs. The company will need to redefine roles and introduce new processes.

Work Management 149

Work Management Marketing Automation Services Marketing Management Budget Programs 149

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 11, 2016

These facts cited above speak to the fundamental changes in the customer and prospect buying process—prospects are avoiding the interaction with your professional selling team until the very end of their buying process. Today’s B2B company must adjust their selling process to coincide with this new buying paradigm.

B2B Thought Leadership 120

B2B Thought Leadership Lead Ranking Thought Leadership Marketing Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 11, 2016

These facts cited above speak to the fundamental changes in the customer and prospect buying process—prospects are avoiding the interaction with your professional selling team until the very end of their buying process. Today’s B2B company must adjust their selling process to coincide with this new buying paradigm.

B2B Thought Leadership 120

B2B Thought Leadership Lead Ranking Thought Leadership Marketing Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 16, 2016

What does a perfect world B2B sales process look like? But the reality is that some of this process can be automated, and some can't, and one of the biggest reasons for this is that when we do find something that works predictably, others jump on the bandwagon and muddy the waters—much like what we’re seeing now with content marketing.

Sales Management 120

Sales Management Top of Funnel Cold Calling Content 120

Sales Engine

APRIL 27, 2016

Your content should mirror this same process , so if that prospect downloaded a white paper on Topic X that you know to be a consistent problem in the marketplace, then viola! A lot of our customers also experience that exact same business problem. There’s your foundation for a consultative sales conversation.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Webinar Metrics Paid Search Agency Companies 120

Sales Engine

NOVEMBER 16, 2015

Businesses love repeatable processes. We must continuously evaluate whether or not these processes are worth the time and money spent, and if you agree that the ultimate goal of any sales and marketing program is to generate one-to-one sales conversations with prospects, then we must get smart about where to invest our energy and dollars.

Sales Management 120

Sales Management Top of Funnel Cold Calling Content 120

Sales Engine

APRIL 13, 2016

B2B Sales cannot live on inbound alone , and without a thorough conversion strategy and process for lead nurturing, it’s all just branding and awareness. Your content production isn’t integrated with your sales process. Therefore, content must be developed for each stage of the sales process to plug holes in the sales cycle.

Top of Funnel 136

Top of Funnel Content Marketing Lead Ranking Digital Marketing Funnels 136

Sales Engine

AUGUST 17, 2016

Because content marketing done properly is a process and not a series of projects , here’s a 5-step process that will more easily help you develop multi-media content at once that can be plugged into your editorial calendar: 1. Moz has an excellent, step-by-step content audit process outlined here. Start with a content audit.

Thought Leadership 120

Thought Leadership Top of Funnel Ad Building Buyer Personas 120

Sales Engine

DECEMBER 11, 2015

Because content marketing done properly is a process and not a series of projects , here’s a 5-step process that will more easily help you develop multi-media content at once that can be plugged into your editorial calendar: 1. Moz has an excellent, step-by-step content audit process outlined here. Start with a content audit.

Thought Leadership 120

Thought Leadership Top of Funnel Ad Building Buyer Personas 120

Sales Engine

JULY 21, 2016

A demand generation strategy must map directly to the sales funnel to be effective, which is why most B2B content marketing initiatives miss the mark—they don’t understand sales process. If you don’t have a sales process (because you rely solely on referrals), start there. The next step is nurturing. How do I evaluate vendors?

Lead Generation 120

Lead Generation Top of Funnel Generation Ad Building 120

Sales Engine

JULY 21, 2016

A demand generation strategy must map directly to the sales funnel to be effective, which is why most B2B content marketing initiatives miss the mark—they don’t understand sales process. If you don’t have a sales process (because you rely solely on referrals), start there. The next step is nurturing. How do I evaluate vendors?

Lead Generation 120

Lead Generation Top of Funnel Generation Ad Building 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 19, 2015

Using total revenue versus what you spend to acquire a customer is definitely the metric you should be using. But as marketers we must use this standard definition of MQL to make adjustments to our process. Absolutely true. Click below for an infographic to help you figure it out. Are salespeople going to follow up on it?

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads MQL Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

MAY 12, 2016

The main goal is qualified leads for sales people , which means that if you’re not converting anonymous traffic to your website, blogs and social media, you’re not generating leads—you’re just branding, and that turns your overall customer acquisition costs into a much more expensive proposition.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Brand Identity Branding Budget Programs 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 14, 2016

I’m an old-school news guy in a new media content marketing world , but as a web editor, my work processes are largely the same: I work with freelance writers to produce stories, I work with designers to add graphic value to the posts, and much of my job centers around distribution of our content through social media to build audience.

Planning 120

Planning Content Marketing Best Practices Content 120

Sales Engine

NOVEMBER 24, 2015

Perhaps that’s a specific customer segment that has similar issues that you solve. A good place to start may be with your best (and most profitable) customers. Figure out what their issues are and how you’re solving their problems and turn that around in your content to attract similar prospects.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Marketing & Strategy Marketing Strategy Content Marketing 120