Sales Engine

AUGUST 20, 2015

Whatever the specific change initiative may be, I’m able to help leaders communicate more effectively by showing them how to use one of our four business story structures as effective communications tools. The third way I work with clients is through our strategic partnerships.

Storytelling 120

Storytelling Work Management Acquisitions Marketing Management 120

Sales Engine

NOVEMBER 30, 2015

The right question to ask is how can we effectively communicate our solution to prospects to demonstrate that we understand their pain? Content marketing is more like producing a magazine and less like producing an advertising campaign.

B2B Thought Leadership 120

B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Content B2B Sales 120

Sales Engine

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

The first key to making this work is hiring a marketing leader that has his/her effectiveness ratings tied to lead generation and revenue growth— similar to a commissioned sales person. But that’s just not enough—it has to translate into appointments with qualified prospects and sales conversations. What happens when you make this shift?

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads High Quality Lead Conversion Paid Search Agency 120

Sales Engine

MAY 24, 2016

But how can a sales rep communicate effectively with a buyer about whom she has very little information? The obvious takeaway here is that sellers need to understand their buyers better, and they need to tailor their marketing approach to the individual buyer. The answer is: She can’t.

Conversion 136

Conversion Forrester Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 136

Sales Engine

JULY 29, 2016

To do that effectively, you must think like a publisher. I guess this still works, but I’d much rather be given a list of prospects to call that have some indication of interest, wouldn’t you? Lead generation through content marketing means attracting people with a problem you can solve (that they can afford to pay for!).

Buyer Personas 120

Buyer Personas Sales Qualified Leads Top of Funnel Leads 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 22, 2016

How First Rate Uses Thought Leadership Content to Grow the Business Having the same brand since their start in 1991, First Rate knew they had to make some major changes if they were going to compete effectively and grow in today’s digital era.

Demand Generation Agencies 120

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Demand Generation 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 22, 2016

How First Rate Uses Thought Leadership Content to Grow the Business Having the same brand since their start in 1991, First Rate knew they had to make some major changes if they were going to compete effectively and grow in today’s digital era.

Demand Generation Agencies 120

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Demand Generation 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 5, 2016

To do that effectively, you must think like a publisher. I guess this still works, but I’d much rather be given a list of prospects to call that have some indication of interest, wouldn’t you? Lead generation through content marketing means attracting people with a problem you can solve (that they can afford to pay for!).

Buyer Personas 120

Buyer Personas Sales Qualified Leads Top of Funnel Leads 120

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 2, 2015

38% of B2B companies said that their content marketing was effective. Just look at the stats from the Content Marketing Institute’s 2015 B2B Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report : 70% of B2B marketers are creating more content than they did one year ago 86% of B2B companies say that they are using content marketing.

B2B Sales 120

B2B Sales Paper Fulfillment B2B Marketing 120

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 27, 2015

It’s just not going to work effectively. If your rep proceeds to make a phone call after someone clicks a link and they say, I noticed you clicked on an article, do you want to buy from me? The appropriate cliche is: You’re cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads Buy 120

Sales Engine

NOVEMBER 12, 2015

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.

Cold Calling 120

Cold Calling Allocation Youtube Internet Marketing 120

Sales Engine

MARCH 10, 2016

I was in effect stealing their traffic, so they came to me and asked me to start writing for them. The blog that started out as a rant between three or four people caught on to where he was later approached by the Orange County Register for help with their Angels blog. “I

SEO 120

SEO Organization Content Marketing Agencies 1 120

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. How can companies adapt to this change in buyer behavior? The answer: automation.

Work Management 149

Work Management Marketing Automation Services Marketing Management Budget Programs 149

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 4, 2017

Conventional tactics like phone calls and trade shows were effective because prospects had no other means to engage with salespeople. Content Gets You Invited to the Dance The old-world tactics of both the sales and marketing realms are no longer effective for most companies. This put the salesperson in control. You need to be invited.T

Paid Search Agency 120

Paid Search Agency Trade Show Content Urgency Marketing 120

Sales Engine

JULY 20, 2016

Conventional tactics like phone calls and trade shows were effective because prospects had no other means to engage with salespeople. Content Gets You Invited to the Dance The old-world tactics of both the sales and marketing realms are no longer effective for most companies. This put the salesperson in control.

Paid Search Agency 120

Paid Search Agency Trade Show Content Urgency Marketing 120

Sales Engine

JULY 20, 2016

Conventional tactics like phone calls and trade shows were effective because prospects had no other means to engage with salespeople. Content Gets You Invited to the Dance The old-world tactics of both the sales and marketing realms are no longer effective for most companies. This put the salesperson in control.

Paid Search Agency 120

Paid Search Agency Trade Show Content Urgency Marketing 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 23, 2016

But none of these metrics actually communicates the overall effectiveness of your marketing when it comes to bottom line revenue increase. CAC = Sales & Marketing Expense in a Given Period / Number of Customers Acquired in that Period But that’s just a starting point when it comes to measuring marketing’s effectiveness.

Lead Ranking 120

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

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

While it may be tempting to point the finger at sales for low close rates, it would be more effective to examine demand generation activities that are occurring (or should be occurring) farther up the funnel. 2 The majority of B2B marketers have caught onto their leads' hunger for content.

Lead Generation 120

Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads Generation Demand Generation Agencies 120

Sales Engine

APRIL 24, 2018

It was a fast, simple, effective way to connect with prospects and get your story in front of a large audience. Purchased lists can land you in hot water. Not long ago, you could purchase a list of THOUSANDS of prospects and immediately email them your content. NOT ANY MORE!

Paper 159

Paper Planning Marketing Plans Marketing Automation Services 159

Sales Engine

APRIL 20, 2016

That’s why white papers, infographics, testimonials, and webinars are effective at driving this initial interaction. When making a large purchase decision, companies usually focus on a few vendors that they prefer to inform them of what's going on in the marketplace.

Lead Ranking 218

Lead Ranking Lead Gen Lead Scoring Leads 218

Sales Engine

MARCH 24, 2016

They are checking on their phone, they are checking on the weekends and even if you are being effectively filtered as low priority content you still can create content that keeps them subscribed, even if they’re not responding to any one particular email.” Relying solely on inbound marketing is a bad idea.

B2B Sales 149

B2B Sales B2B Inbound Marketing Cold Calling 149

Sales Engine

DECEMBER 16, 2015

Do you have measurement platforms in place (such as marketing automation linked with a CRM) to effectively close the loop? With the prevalence of marketing automation systems like Marketo, Hubspot, Infusionsoft, and more, many companies have bought the cart before the horse.

Advertising Agencies 120

Advertising Agencies Budget Programs High Quality Lead Content 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. That’s what a lead generation strategy is really all about. So what are the building blocks of a lead generation strategy?

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. That’s what a lead generation strategy is really all about. So what are the building blocks of a lead generation strategy?

Lead Generation 120

Lead Generation Top of Funnel Generation Ad Building 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 14, 2016

Choose the one that will be most effective at reaching the largest audience and consider presenting the content in different ways to reach different audiences. Live with your eyes and ears open to the stories around you. Plan your story: Are you going to write a blog post, white paper or news feature article?

Planning 120

Planning Content Marketing Best Practices Content 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 28, 2016

This used to work more effectively when there was less noise, but because it still works, we’ll keep doing it. Is Quality Versus Quantity the Wrong Question to Be Asking? Here’s what I know for sure: every time I put out the basic how-to articles and listicle articles, I generate some leads for our sales team.

Webinar Metrics 120

Webinar Metrics Marketing & Strategy Content Paper 120

Sales Engine

APRIL 13, 2016

In fact, the Content Marketing Institute’s 2016 Benchmarks Report estimates that only 30% of the companies surveyed consider their content marketing efforts to be effective. Just because B2B companies are investing heavily in content marketing doesn’t mean that they’re successful at generating the leads they need for business growth.

Top of Funnel 136

Top of Funnel Content Marketing Lead Ranking Digital Marketing Funnels 136

Sales Engine

AUGUST 22, 2016

Publishing a piece of content like a white paper or info-graphic and gating it behind a form to create the lead for the rep may be an effective way to catch name, rank, and serial number of the prospect, but it doesn’t produce leads that are ready to talk to sales.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Digital Marketing Funnels 120

Sales Engine

NOVEMBER 6, 2015

Publishing a piece of content like a white paper or info-graphic and gating it behind a form to create the lead for the rep may be an effective way to catch name, rank, and serial number of the prospect, but it doesn’t produce leads that are ready to talk to sales.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Digital Marketing Funnels 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 14, 2015

The problem is that management sees only the end results of other companies’ efforts and grossly underestimates the work involved in the strategy, development, and acquisition of skills to pull it off effectively. Effectively is defined as over 50 percent of your total sales pipeline coming from this process.).

Demand Generation Agencies 120

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Demand Generation Marketing Automation Services 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 4, 2016

It used to be that darkening the skies with sales reps, albeit expensive, was the best way to grow a B2B company—more feet on the street equaled more opportunities. But in a world where prospects hide behind caller ID and email, it’s the organization who has the most valuable content for prospects shopping online for solutions that wins.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 4, 2016

It used to be that darkening the skies with sales reps, albeit expensive, was the best way to grow a B2B company—more feet on the street equaled more opportunities. But in a world where prospects hide behind caller ID and email, it’s the organization who has the most valuable content for prospects shopping online for solutions that wins.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring 120

Sales Engine

NOVEMBER 24, 2015

In fact, the Content Marketing Institute found that 86% of B2B companies with a "content marketing owner" were the most effective in their execution of a content strategy. You need a dedicated content officer or strategist whose sole responsibility to to ensure efficiency and accountability.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Marketing & Strategy Marketing Strategy Content Marketing 120