Sales Engine

JULY 29, 2016

Sales reps need leads, and it’s marketing’s job to get at least some of them—a majority would be nice. As much as I hate the term “lead generation,” I don’t know a better one, so let’s start by defining what it is not. What roles do they play in the buying process? To do that effectively, you must think like a publisher.

Buyer Personas 120

Buyer Personas Sales Qualified Leads Top of Funnel Leads 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 5, 2016

Sales reps need leads, and it’s marketing’s job to get at least some of them—a majority would be nice. As much as I hate the term “ lead generation ,” I don’t know a better one, so let’s start by defining what it is not. What roles do they play in the buying process? Who are they? Easier said than done, I know.

Buyer Personas 120

Buyer Personas Sales Qualified Leads Top of Funnel Leads 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. Nurture, nurture, nurture.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads Buy 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 11, 2017

As a marketing leader, have you been tasked with building a demand generation program designed to funnel leads to salespeople? For most B2B companies with a complex, relationship based selling process, a demand generation program that provides actionable sales intelligence is one of the best options at their disposal.

Demand Generation Agencies 136

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Budget Programs Demand 136

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 2, 2015

But what about the B2B marketer? 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. Do you know how marketing is going to accomplish that mission? Marketing’s new role is to generate leads for salespeople.

B2B Sales 120

B2B Sales Paper Fulfillment B2B Marketing 120

Sales Engine

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Several years ago, we made some significant investments in marketing after we’d purchased a marketing automation system, and the idea was to gain as much market traction as possible. But how much of that exposure translated into leads and sales? 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

JUNE 28, 2016

Marketing, on the other hand, often has a different definition of a qualified lead. In fact, according to Gleanster , 30 to 50 percent of leads in a pipeline are not ready to buy. What is a marketing-qualified lead (MQL)? What is a sales-accepted lead (SAL)? What is a sales-qualified lead (SQL)?

Marketing Qualified Leads 136

Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads MQL 136

Sales Engine

JULY 13, 2016

As a marketer, you’re no doubt familiar with this ubiquitous image: contacts fall into the top and by some kind of magic become leads, then qualified leads, then sales-ready leads, and eventually, (you hope) closed sales. Prospects expect you to be a publisher , not a marketer. Ah, the sales funnel.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Conversion Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

JULY 13, 2016

As a marketer, you’re no doubt familiar with this ubiquitous image: contacts fall into the top and by some kind of magic become leads, then qualified leads, then sales-ready leads, and eventually, (you hope) closed sales. Prospects expect you to be a publisher , not a marketer. Ah, the sales funnel.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Conversion Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

MAY 11, 2016

Mike Vannoy, co-founder and COO of Sales Engine talks about how this has happened in the marketing automation industry. For over ten years now, there’s been a gold rush in marketing automation technology with some fantastic features that make it a must-have for any B2B company engaged in content marketing.

Webinar Metrics 149

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

Sales Engine

JUNE 14, 2018

But there are two major problems with that model today: Quota-carrying, outside sales reps are an expensive resource to be putting on the phones to follow up on marketing qualified leads. A middle reliever is needed to connect the marketing produced lead and the sales closer. (If When it works that way, it’s great!

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Paid Search Agency Content Marketing 120

Sales Engine

MAY 24, 2016

With directives from above to grow revenue through sales, groups as varied as marketing, products, human resources, and even sales itself will rally to find ways to support the sales team. 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.

Conversion 136

Conversion Forrester Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 136

Sales Engine

JANUARY 18, 2016

Specifically, are dollars best spent on sales or marketing? And when taking a deep look at marketing results, we were a bit surprised that the data actually helped to diagnose asales problem. While we were pleased with the lead generation effort, the sales resulting from those leads were disappointingly low.

Top of Funnel 120

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

Sales Engine

AUGUST 22, 2016

We’re uniquely positioned because of our diversity in product offerings, but we compete with large firms that have more resources available to their marketing and sales team. Quick Results Validate the Strategy Strong content engagement and increased website traffic is a welcomed result from First Rate’s new marketing initiative. “In

Demand Generation Agencies 120

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Demand Generation 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 22, 2016

We’re uniquely positioned because of our diversity in product offerings, but we compete with large firms that have more resources available to their marketing and sales team. Quick Results Validate the Strategy Strong content engagement and increased website traffic is a welcomed result from First Rate’s new marketing initiative. “In

Demand Generation Agencies 120

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Demand Generation 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

JUNE 7, 2016

By now, you have no doubt heard that content marketing is the future of demand generation. All the cool kids are doing it, and all those other marketing methods are useless and old-fashioned in comparison. The creator gains increased brand awareness and (ideally) action on behalf of the consumer that will lead to a sales conversation.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Content Demand Generation Agencies Barriers 120

Sales Engine

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

Even as a CEO of a content marketing agency , I still get this pressure from my board and colleagues—and they all know how buyers have more control these days, buying on their own time frames, not ours. But now, the internet is crushing a sales reps ability to generate their own leads. They reduce the scope.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Thought Leadership Demand Generation Agencies 120

Sales Engine

JULY 7, 2016

But there are two major problems with that model today: Quota-carrying, outside sales reps are an expensive resource to be putting on the phones to follow up on marketing qualified leads. A middle reliever is needed to connect the marketing produced lead and the sales closer. (If When it works that way, it’s great!

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Paid Search Agency Content Marketing 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 13, 2016

If you plan to join your competitors and the leaders of your industry in the move toward content marketing , there is something you should know. You’re not Coca-Cola; no one expects you to hire the world’s best creative minds or to spend billions on marketing. The sales process was not developed overnight; content won’t be either.

Allocation 120

Allocation Content Demand Generation Agencies Work Management 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 25, 2016

How to Dominate Your Market With Content from SalesEngine 1. Most of us understand that the world of marketing has changed—B2B has gone digital. As marketers tried to get the most out of this new digital world they re-discovered the importance of content. So what does this have to do with content marketing?

Enterprise Management 120

Enterprise Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

DECEMBER 21, 2015

Most companies realize that their best opportunity for growth is to commit to content marketing. Although this is a great place to start if you’re just getting your feet wet with content marketing, looking at how much content you need to produce is putting the focus in the wrong place. Do you see it? So How Much Does All This Cost?

Budget Programs 120

Budget Programs Work Management Marketing Management Allocation 120

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 23, 2015

They based their findings on overall number of page views, leads generated through form conversions, and new subscribers to their blog. When a post that’s scheduled to be published on our blog just isn’t quite where we think it ought to be, we’ll no longer rush it through the editing process simply because of an artificial deadline.”.

Social Media 120

Social Media Media Long Tail Marketing Hubspot 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 7, 2016

If you thought that coffee was for closers, I can tell you with absolute certainty that it’s for content marketers too. So how can you use content to generate more leads at the top of the funnel? Tell them that you need leads and what they should be talking about to get your prospect’s attention.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Features B2B Thought Leadership Digital Marketing Funnels 120

Sales Engine

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

Many companies that have embraced content marketing are still using it as a branding and positioning function of their marketing department. It’s not that this approach is wrong, but it’s not the main reason that most successful companies have embraced content marketing. Sales can’t control this whole process anymore.

Content Marketing 120

Content Marketing Cold Calling Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 2, 2016

Content marketing is the way to go, right? Write some blogs and drive traffic to your site—then just convert them into leads. But most successful content marketers know that there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes—which is why less than 30 percent of companies that execute content marketing strategies are happy with the results.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Marketing & Strategy Paper Content 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 24, 2015

Everyone’s talking about content marketing , and companies are investing big dollars to jump on the bandwagon—but most are still thinking about it from yesterday’s marketing perspective where marketing’s primary role is branding and positioning. Consider for a moment what that means—people are talking about your market 24/7.

Demand Generation Agencies 120

Demand Generation Agencies RFP Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 25, 2016

Content marketing gurus all seem to be talking about the need to create experiences for marketing to engage with buyers, but what does that mean to the average B2B company? So Before You Purchase Marketing Automation… Marketing automation systems have reached some maturity in the marketing landscape.

Acquisitions 149

Acquisitions Webinar Metrics Marketing & Strategy Marketing Automation Services 149

Sales Engine

AUGUST 23, 2016

For decades, the B2B marketer has been a manager of projects. Project-based marketing always has a beginning, middle, and an end. When it’s all over, you ship the booth and collateral boxes home and collect the leads for sales. The buyer has WAY more control than they used to.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Process B2B Thought Leadership Work Management 120

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 16, 2015

The answer is critical for anyone in B2B marketing today. Content marketing uses the same skills and tactics as publishing a magazine—only the distribution methods, audience-building techniques, and analysis tools are different. So what can we learn from magazine publishers about content marketing? #1 Of course there are!

Content Marketing 120

Content Marketing Lead Ranking Content Marketing & Strategy 120

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 8, 2015

For decades, the B2B marketer has been a manager of projects. Project-based marketing always has a beginning, middle, and an end. When it’s all over, you ship the booth and collateral boxes home and collect the leads for sales. The buyer has WAY more control than they used to.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Process B2B Thought Leadership Work Management 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 25, 2016

Content marketing gurus all seem to be talking about the need to create experiences for marketing to engage with buyers, but what does that mean to the average B2B company? So Before You Purchase Marketing Automation… Marketing automation systems have reached some maturity in the marketing landscape.

Acquisitions 120

Acquisitions Webinar Metrics Marketing & Strategy Marketing Automation Services 120

Sales Engine

APRIL 20, 2016

The B2B sales process has changed. They need marketing. If marketing does not step in to fill this void digitally and engage these anonymous buyers, sales reps are going to miss out on deals that they never knew existed in the marketplace. Digital marketing depends upon content. They need help getting in the door.

Lead Ranking 218

Lead Ranking Lead Gen Lead Scoring Leads 218

Sales Engine

AUGUST 15, 2016

Therefore, sales prospecting with content requires a more complex process than it did even five years ago, largely because the buyer has a lot more control and salespeople are no longer the sole gatekeepers to the information they need. Enter the lead nurturer. Buying lead lists won’t cut it anymore, either.

Lead Nurturing 120

Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Leads Lead 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 22, 2016

Because of the complexities of today’s buyer’s journey, and the ever-changing role of sales in this process, marketing must be involved more than ever before: More than branding and awareness More than demand generation More than just lead conversion Because each sales process has become unique. Enter the lead nurturer.

Lead Nurturing 120

Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Leads Lead 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

Today, however, demand generation begins online, and the buying process is directed by the buyer. 1 This "Don't call us; we'll call you" sentiment is reflected in the rise of content marketing. 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

JULY 21, 2016

Where most B2B companies are investing in content marketing , less than a quarter are satisfied with their return. Marketing has traditionally been focused on branding to create awareness. 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