Sales Engine

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

But how much of that exposure translated into leads and sales? But that’s just not enough—it has to translate into appointments with qualified prospects and sales conversations. Less is more if there are more qualified leads for salespeople to follow up on. Marketing works in tandem with sales on an ongoing basis.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads High Quality Lead Conversion Paid Search Agency 120

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 2, 2015

On October 1, the sales team began Q4 and the pressure is high as reps try to make club and hit accelerators while organizations try to hit revenue goals. If the sales team has a cycle time of 90 days from opportunity create date to close, then they'd better be getting leads from marketing TODAY to impact Q1 of 2016.

B2B Sales 120

B2B Sales Paper Fulfillment B2B Marketing 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 20, 2016

Most marketing and sales leaders in the business-to-business world know that nurturing leads is essential to maintain a digital connection with buyers who want to learn about a business pain, product, or service—but who are not yet interested in talking to a sales person. But can the sales impact of nurturing be quantified?

Lead Ranking 174

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Nurturing Lead Scoring 174

Sales Engine

MAY 11, 2016

We all know that the buyer’s journey has changed—people are avoiding initial conversations with sales people and performing their own research online. As most B2B sales people can attest to, the problem is that prospects will most likely misdiagnose their own problems and prescribe themselves the wrong solutions.

Webinar Metrics 149

Webinar Metrics Sales Qualified Leads Demand Generation Agencies Marketing Automation Services 149

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 1, 2016

Your Sales team will come into the office tomorrow morning and begin the Q4 push. If your company has a 90 day sales cycle, Marketing had better be focused on the 2017 plan October 1st 2016! That's 25 leads per quarter. But, a 90-day sales cycle means a lead generated by Marketing in Q4 '17 likely won't close until Q1 '18.

Planning 120

Planning Sales Cycle Sales Qualified Leads Paid Search Agency 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 13, 2015

Paul Rafferty, co-founder and CEO of Sales Engine Media, was a recent guest on the TechnologyAdvice Expert Interview Series. In this episode Paul went over modern marketing, lead generation, and how important storytelling is for the buyer's journey. The sales team used to go out and win the battles. The power has shifted.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Storytelling Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

MAY 19, 2016

In the context of digital marketing and demand generation, lead intelligence is the sales rep’s ability to predict high probability pain points that a prospect may have before trying to establish contact so that they may have a more fruitful consultative conversation. This can take several forms: Web pages viewed.

Sales Qualified Leads 159

Sales Qualified Leads B2B Marketing Webinar Metrics Marketing & Strategy 159

Sales Engine

JULY 29, 2016

You’ve seen the Internet decimate industries such as record labels, newspapers, and cable TV—and in case you haven’t noticed, it’s crushing the B2B sales rep’s ability to get in front of qualified prospects. (If Sales reps need leads, and it’s marketing’s job to get at least some of them—a majority would be nice.

Buyer Personas 120

Buyer Personas Sales Qualified Leads Top of Funnel Leads 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 14, 2018

In the not-so-distant past, scaling a B2B company meant hiring more sales people that were responsible for all their own business development. For example, if you had one sales rep carrying a $1 Million quota, and it cost $200K in salary and commissions for that resource, adding an additional sales rep could double the business.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Paid Search Agency Content Marketing 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 18, 2016

Specifically, are dollars best spent on sales or marketing? While we were pleased with the lead generation effort, the sales resulting from those leads were disappointingly low. So was it a quality of leads issue or a sales/opportunity conversion issue? Not bad, right? Only $22,000—ouch!)

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Cost per Lead 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 5, 2016

You’ve seen the Internet decimate industries such as record labels, newspapers, and cable TV—and in case you haven’t noticed, it’s crushing the B2B sales rep’s ability to get in front of qualified prospects. (If Sales reps need leads, and it’s marketing’s job to get at least some of them—a majority would be nice.

Buyer Personas 120

Buyer Personas Sales Qualified Leads Top of Funnel Leads 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 5, 2016

Since it’s become more difficult for sales people to get in front of prospects, many B2B companies are relying heavily on content marketing to supply top-of-the-funnel leads that can be converted into closed business. In fact, the strongest close rates occurred when marketing accompanied the sales pursuit process.

Marketing Qualified Leads 120

Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking MQL Top of Funnel 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 5, 2016

Since it’s become more difficult for sales people to get in front of prospects, many B2B companies are relying heavily on content marketing to supply top-of-the-funnel leads that can be converted into closed business. In fact, the strongest close rates occurred when marketing accompanied the sales pursuit process.

Marketing Qualified Leads 120

Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking MQL Top of Funnel 120

Sales Engine

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

If you’ve been in the sales game for a while, you’ve probably noticed some differences in both the ways that customers are buying and the ways that sales cycles have become less and less predictable. The sales rep could easily fill their calendar with appointments leveraging off of that branding. They reduce the scope.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Thought Leadership Demand Generation Agencies 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 30, 2016

One of the biggest failure points in content marketing is not actually in marketing—It’s the handoff from marketing to sales. That’s because most sales and marketing organizations are not properly aligned. Does this sound familiar? If someone has downloaded your white paper, that simply means that they are interested in that topic.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Allocation Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 7, 2016

At the top of the funnel, when you’re trying to generate interest, no one cares about you or how you do what you do. How many car dealerships have had to change their sales approach because people are more informed about what the car should cost before they ever take a test drive?

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Features B2B Thought Leadership Digital Marketing Funnels 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 25, 2016

Most of us remember a day when sales reps used to be able to generate their own leads. It's not that buyers ever wanted to talk to sales reps, but it was the only way they could learn about best practices and solutions available in the market. So how do you go beyond lead generation to domination?

Enterprise Management 120

Enterprise Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

It’s all about driving revenue , and to do that effectively, our marketing efforts much create actionable sales intelligence. They won’t help your sales people meet quota. 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 120

Content Marketing Cold Calling Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 7, 2016

By now, you have no doubt heard that content marketing is the future of demand generation. But if the function of content is to generate and nurture your leads through your sales funnel, how do you create content that is good enough to comply with the demands of your sales team?

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Content Demand Generation Agencies Barriers 120

Sales Engine

JULY 7, 2016

In the not-so-distant past, scaling a B2B company meant hiring more sales people that were responsible for all their own business development. For example, if you had one sales rep carrying a $1 Million quota, and it cost $200K in salary and commissions for that resource, adding an additional sales rep could double the business.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Paid Search Agency Content Marketing 120

Sales Engine

MARCH 28, 2016

Many companies have focused on increasing their inbound traffic for new leads to combat tighter spam regulations and more concentrated email filters. But increasing web traffic without a thorough conversion strategy is just branding and awareness— that won’t supply enough leads to salespeople to hit your revenue growth targets.

Marketing & Strategy 120

Marketing & Strategy A/B testing Broadcasting Content 120

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 27, 2015

What’s the right way to follow up on content to turn leads into sales conversations? Remember, people at the beginning of the sales process don’t want to talk to a salesperson — and they don’t have to anymore. This of course will vary in every organization depending on your overall sales process.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads Buy 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 24, 2015

Where these goals are important, they place second and third to the ultimate goal of content marketing—to generate leads and increase revenue. Sales people wanted “air cover” - just a foot in the door so they could give their presentation. Then they would invite those vendors in and the sales cycles would begin.

Demand Generation Agencies 120

Demand Generation Agencies RFP Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

Content marketing is maturing in 2016 from a social media tactic to a formalized go-to-market strategy, but that doesn’t mean that, as marketers, we must generate more content. And back then, sales people could book appointments based on that name recognition. Be in constant contact with sales.

Content 120

Content Thought Leadership Custom Publishing Segmentation 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

Content marketing is maturing in 2016 from a social media tactic to a formalized go-to-market strategy, but that doesn’t mean that, as marketers, we must generate more content. And back then, sales people could book appointments based on that name recognition. Be in constant contact with sales.

Content 120

Content Thought Leadership Custom Publishing Segmentation 120

Sales Engine

DECEMBER 21, 2015

But how much content do we actually need to generate the results we want? In the B2B space, the number-one goal of most content marketers is to generate leads for their sales team. Most companies realize that their best opportunity for growth is to commit to content marketing. Do you see it?

Budget Programs 120

Budget Programs Work Management Marketing Management Allocation 120

Sales Engine

MARCH 31, 2016

These same brands are leading with product and brand rather than experience and utility.” By taking our customers out of context we’re only focusing on what we, the marketers, need, and we must do a better job at being contextual if we expect to generate qualified leads. If you do this right, the sales will be inbound.

B2B Sales 120

B2B Sales Process B2B Marketing Automation Services 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 13, 2016

To create a productive and sustainable content operation, the sales and marketing departments must be on board. The sales process was not developed overnight; content won’t be either. You’re trying to overhaul your marketing strategy to catch up with trends, be more competitive, and make more sales.

Allocation 120

Allocation Content Demand Generation Agencies Work Management 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 25, 2016

Since the days of buying lists and blasting them sales messages are mostly gone, creating experience through content is becoming more necessary than ever before. But if you’re not in a position to be constantly talking to prospects as a marketer, your sales people are the next best thing.

Acquisitions 149

Acquisitions Webinar Metrics Marketing & Strategy Marketing Automation Services 149

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 16, 2015

B2B content marketing today is really about generating leads for sales by replacing the one-to-one conversations that salespeople used to be able to get more predictably. You can’t edit the crap out of everything they produce, shifting their tone and injecting your “sales speak.” Go back and review point number 1.

Content Marketing 120

Content Marketing Lead Ranking Content Marketing & Strategy 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 25, 2016

Since the days of buying lists and blasting them sales messages are mostly gone, creating experience through content is becoming more necessary than ever before. But if you’re not in a position to be constantly talking to prospects as a marketer, your sales people are the next best thing.

Acquisitions 120

Acquisitions Webinar Metrics Marketing & Strategy Marketing Automation Services 120

Sales Engine

DECEMBER 6, 2016

Most B2B companies are realizing that, to hit their growth goals, they need to shift the focus of their marketing from branding and awareness to lead generation. So they task marketing leadership with building a demand generation engine and run into myriad problems. But when it comes to closing the loop, it falls apart. #4

Demand Generation Agencies 168

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Paid Search Agency Demand 168

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

When the flow of wins coming out of your sales department begins to slow down, the natural thing to do is to reexamine your sales strategy—and even your sales personnel. But before you dive into more sales training, more sales hiring, or new sales leadership, stop and consider whether you're taking the right approach.

Lead Generation 120

Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads Generation Demand Generation Agencies 120

Sales Engine

JULY 21, 2016

There’s certainly nothing wrong with more people being aware of who you are, but there’s a big difference between people being aware of who you are and what you sell, and those people actually engaging with your sales team and buying products and services from you. That’s what a lead generation strategy is really all about.

Lead Generation 120

Lead Generation Top of Funnel Generation Ad Building 120

Sales Engine

JULY 21, 2016

There’s certainly nothing wrong with more people being aware of who you are, but there’s a big difference between people being aware of who you are and what you sell, and those people actually engaging with your sales team and buying products and services from you. That’s what a lead generation strategy is really all about.

Lead Generation 120

Lead Generation Top of Funnel Generation Ad Building 120

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Measuring content marketing’s return on investment in B2B companies can be a complex calculation, especially if your solution is expensive, requires committee-based decisions, and has long and unpredictable sales cycles. Sale intelligence includes information such as: Who is involved in the decision? Increased web traffic.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Sales Qualified Leads B2B Marketing Marketing Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

JULY 5, 2016

For companies struggling to reach sales goals, doing more of the same (more cold-calls, adding more salespeople) won’t break through growth plateaus. Sales representatives used to be a prospect’s only source of product and industry knowledge, but now prospects largely research things online while ignoring reps’ calls.

Work Management 149

Work Management Marketing Automation Services Marketing Management Budget Programs 149