The Point

MAY 17, 2021

Marketers are often under pressure to evaluate lead gen programs very quickly, often within weeks, and to declare success (or failure) based on the rate at which those contacts convert to sales-ready leads and pipeline, even if the average sales cycle for their product is weeks or months longer than the window of measurement.

Marketing Management 207

Marketing Management Paid Search Agency Buying Cycle Demand Generation Agencies 207

The Point

DECEMBER 6, 2022

Your number will depend on your business model and sales cycle, amongst other factors. 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.

Budget Programs 162

Budget Programs Lead Ranking Demand Marketing Qualified Leads 162

The Point

JUNE 23, 2020

For those demand marketers promoting complex solutions, with long sales cycles, into large organizations, this is a must read. Even cynics like me will find the argument convincing.

Lead Ranking 264

Lead Ranking Enterprise Management Marketing Qualified Leads Account Based Marketing 264

The Point

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

However, relying exclusively, or even primarily, on late-stage KPIs can be problematic, particularly because ABM is most typically employed by companies marketing complex, enterprise solutions with long sales cycles. That means late stage KPIs won’t register until potentially weeks or months into the campaign.

Account Based Marketing 290

Account Based Marketing ABM Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads 290

The Point

DECEMBER 11, 2018

In later stages, the measuring stick is more likely to be Sales Qualified Accounts, Meetings, or Pipeline. ABM can be a highly effective way to navigate a long, complex sales cycle, but the marketer who thinks that an ABM program is going to convert cold names to pipeline opportunities in a few short weeks is destined for disappointment.

Account Based Marketing 157

Account Based Marketing ABM Ideal Customer Profiles Enterprise Management 157

The Point

OCTOBER 8, 2020

It can be tempting, as marketers working in a world of intent data and ABM and AI, to buy into the hype that any short cuts are possible, that sales cycles are made to be compressed, and that sales-ready leads can be created on demand.

Demand Generation Agencies 173

Demand Generation Agencies Paid Search Agency Advertising Agencies Marketing Agencies 1 173

The Point

MARCH 22, 2019

I say this based, anecdotally, on the number of B2B marketers I talk to who either 1) don’t use lead scoring at all, or 2) have a lead scoring system that clearly doesn’t work (or is completely ignored by the sales team) and have no apparent motivation to fix it. Faster lead velocity means shorter sales cycles.

Lead Ranking 113

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Leads Account Based Marketing 113

The Point

DECEMBER 15, 2020

The precise amount of time before suspending or removing non-responsive leads can vary based on a company’s sales cycle, brand awareness, list source, or frequency of contact. By their nature, third-party lists offer a greater risk for spam complaints, so it pays to keep those names on a shorter leash, so to speak. *

Lead Scoring 162

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Leads Lead 162

The Point

OCTOBER 25, 2018

The brighter news is that the other two-thirds reported that nurture programs resulted in at least a 10% increase in sales opportunities, so there’s hope yet.). A lead “returned for nurturing” implies that the lead went to sales first for qualification, was deemed unqualified, and then dumped into the nurture stream.

Lead Nurturing 178

Lead Nurturing Marketing Report Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 178

The Point

APRIL 22, 2020

However, as much as it has a reputation as a way to generate “guaranteed” leads, content syndication is not a cure-all, and indeed, more than most demand generation channels, is likely to generate sales leads that gravitate towards the early stages of the buying cycle. Set appropriate thresholds for sales follow-up.

Lead Scoring 162

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking CPL Cost per Lead 162

The Point

JUNE 18, 2013

Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with Daniel Chalef, CEO of KnowledgeTree , developers of an intriguing new solution, built for both Salesforce.com and mobile (iOS), that enables sales teams to instantly find, surface, and present the ideal content in any selling situation. We call that approach Content Selling. (HS)

Salesforce.com 100

Salesforce.com Work Management Marketing Management Content 100

The Point

MAY 30, 2012

If end users want your product, but their IT department makes the purchase decision, can you leverage that demand to drive IT sales leads? Our sales cycle can be months long, so we won’t know true ROI from the campaign for a while,” says Adam Stein, MobileIron’s Marketing Director.

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies Work Management Demand Sales Leads 100

The Point

MARCH 12, 2012

Here are some highlights from the original report: “The chances of reaching a new sales lead drop over 10x if you wait longer than the first hour of shown interest, and the odds of qualifying that lead decrease 6x after the first 60 minutes”. It’s a win-win for both sales AND marketing. Big mistake. What’s the solution?

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel Bandwidth Sales Qualified Leads Marketing Automation 100

The Point

JANUARY 7, 2020

If, say, you’re marketing enterprise software and your typical sales cycle is 6-9 months, are there marketing tactics that will enable you to make your sales numbers if only executed in Q4? The cold hard reality is that successful B2B demand generation. takes time. Chances are: not likely.

Account Based Marketing 130

Account Based Marketing Top of Funnel Demand Generation Agencies Paid Search Agency 130

The Point

DECEMBER 16, 2013

By way of context, I happen to work for a B2B marketing agency that helps clients generate, nurture, and convert sales leads. But effective to the point that they generate 71% of all sales leads? Want to guess how many of those leads arrive via our clients’ Websites? Virtually none. I doubt it. What do you think?

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies B2B Sales Sales Leads Microsite 100

The Point

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Because the software companies, not unnaturally, are focused on sales and deployments, and because they may not have the type or number of experienced consultants to advise all but the largest clients, most customers deploy marketing automation in only the most tactical fashion. Reduced sales cycle? Pipeline acceleration?

Marketing Automation Services 147

Marketing Automation Services Marketing Management Marketing Automation Automation 147

The Point

MAY 16, 2015

Demand Generation Marketers Need to Think Sales Enablement. More and more B2B marketers are now accountable for revenue targets, not just leads or even sales-ready prospects. There’s no sign that email won’t continue to be the workhorse that it is in helping to filter, qualify, cultivate and progress leads through the sales cycle.

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies DemandBase Top of Funnel Demand Generation 100

The Point

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

It’s no secret that I am a fervent evangelist for marketing automation, and at our agency we see the real-life benefits every day in the form of clients generating higher conversion rates, more qualified leads, and shorter sales cycles. Sales management and executives, however, are focused on hitting monthly and quarterly targets. (HS)

Salesforce.com 100

Salesforce.com Eloqua Work Management Marketing Management 100

The Point

MAY 9, 2017

Earlier this year, he launched The B2B Content Agency to provide clients with buyer research, message strategy and insight-lead sales narratives. There are three core message elements that they need to align before they can expect to engage individual accounts: brand strategy, value propositions, and sales talking points.

Account Based Marketing 206

Account Based Marketing ABM Marketing Automation Services Lead Scoring 206

The Point

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

If a buyer is shown to be engaging (clicking, liking, sharing) mid-funnel (MOFU) content such as case studies or product tutorials, for example, those actions can contribute to an overall lead score that determines sales-readiness. HS) Thanks Daniel! Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash.

Top of Funnel 203

Top of Funnel Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Lead Scoring 203

The Point

APRIL 19, 2017

In contrast, lead nurturing content – content designed to nudge a prospect along the sales cycle – is often tailored to answer questions for those further along in the purchase process. Let’s be clear here – we’re not saying you should convert your white paper into sales collateral.

Top of Funnel 214

Top of Funnel Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Paper 214

The Point

AUGUST 11, 2015

If Joe Prospect downloads a case study, is Joe further along in the sales cycle? And so we hear comments like the following: “We want our nurturing program to reach the right person, at the right time, with content that reflects that person’s stage in the sales cycle.”. If he visits 5 Web pages? If he attends a Webinar?

Sales Cycle 100

Sales Cycle Demand Generation Lead Nurturing Aggregators 100

The Point

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

If you want nurturing to mean more than just simply “staying in touch,” and if shorter sales cycles, better qualified leads, and higher sales productivity could all make a tangible difference to your bottom line, then marketing automation is worth the plunge.”

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Demand Generation Agencies Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads 100

The Point

JANUARY 13, 2017

Smart technology marketers look to capture buyers early on in the sales cycle, then engage them in a consistent nurture campaign to build credibility, trust, and to position their solution favorably for when the buyers are ready to engage with sales.

SEM 100

SEM Paid Search Agency Marketing & Strategy Sales Qualified Leads 100

The Point

JULY 18, 2014

And more still, I would guess, probably feel that their content campaigns are “working” (generating response, engagement, sales leads) but perhaps aren’t yet convinced of bottom line value. This type of “let us convince you how great our product is” content is a legacy of old-school, sales-driven marketing.

Forrester 100

Forrester Work Management Content Marketing Demand Generation Agencies 100

The Point

OCTOBER 25, 2016

Moreover, in most cases those BDRs are often chartered with only identifying sales-ready leads (those ready to engage with the account team immediately) and then discard the rest. It builds credibility and moves prospects along the sales cycle. The result is gross inefficiency and a waste of demand generation dollars.

Buy 100

Buy Telemarketing Top of Funnel Demand Generation 100

The Point

AUGUST 27, 2013

It’s important to recognize that the simple act of investing in marketing automation doesn’t create an effective lead nurturing strategy any more than buying CRM software accelerates the sales cycle.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Tips Marketing Automation Services Advertising Agencies 100

The Point

JUNE 8, 2016

Email may still be the workhorse in how B2B companies build relationships, maintain awareness, qualify leads and nudge prospects along the sales cycle, but these days, it pays to think about “lead nurturing” as more just an email campaign. That’s not because email is going away any time soon.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Account Based Marketing Leads 100

The Point

FEBRUARY 4, 2011

Improved consistency of follow-up to all new leads independent of sales bandwidth. Regardless of how good your inside sales team is, putting in place automated lead response via marketing automation ensures that every inbound lead receives a prompt, systematic, personalized response, and that none fall through the cracks.

Marketing Automation 100

Marketing Automation Automation Bandwidth Cost per Lead 100

The Point

AUGUST 25, 2022

There’s the long-held perception that Webinars generate better leads than other types of content, and that Webinar leads are more qualified, based on the theory, one supposes, that Webinar attendees are more motivated and thus further along in the sales cycle, or at least more likely to engage with sales.

Webinar Metrics 52

Webinar Metrics Demand Generation Agencies Top of Funnel Paid Social Agency 52

The Point

MARCH 3, 2015

It’s always been obvious that agencies were a sensible channel for marketing automation vendors to pursue, but I’m beginning to wonder whether agencies might turn out to be the primary channel for such systems, excepting only direct sales to large enterprises. Perhaps having agencies run them is the real solution instead.”. But, actually: no.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Enterprise Management Paid Search Agency Advertising Agencies 100

The Point

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

At the very least, an effective lead nurturing program enforces prompt and systematic lead follow-up (even on those days when sales is “too busy”), and will help ensure that you get maximum value from demand generation by nurturing leads along the sales cycle.

Paid Search Agency 0

Paid Search Agency Demand Generation Agencies Advertising Agencies B2B Marketing 0

The Point

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Sungard AS runs a highly successful demand generation program, an integrated mix of both online and offline campaigns, to generate a consistent flow of leads to the company’s sales force. Improve deliverability and overall email performance as measured by open and click rates. “A This article originally appeared in Demand Gen Report.

Conversion Rate 100

Conversion Rate Marketing Qualified Leads Demand Generation Agencies Lead Ranking 100

The Point

JUNE 10, 2013

One, they don’t require the resources and development cycles of a new white paper or Webinar or infographic. Secondly, what sales rep doesn’t like demo leads? A demo request is almost always a Sales Accepted Lead (SAL). It’s that latter variable, I fear, that is a prime driver in the rush to demo.

Demand Generation 100

Demand Generation Demand Sales Qualified Leads Generation 100

The Point

OCTOBER 22, 2013

Perhaps you want to leverage a recent sales win by targeting other executives within that same vertical. In these scenarios, one way to accelerate the sales cycle is to present a meeting as the call to action. Or some other time-sensitive factor requires that you “get in front of” prospects as soon as possible.

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Tips Copywriting 100

The Point

JANUARY 13, 2015

A marketing automation system runs campaigns, passes leads to sales, and will associate email metrics (and leads) to pipeline and revenue data; or, as a further step: • a combination of marketing automation and a full-function “marketing performance management” solution such as Full Circle CRM , an application that lives within Salesforce.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads ROI Sales Qualified Leads 100

The Point

JANUARY 24, 2013

Note: it’s critically important that representatives from your sales organization have a seat at the table for this initial discovery process – not just management, but the people “in the trenches” who qualify, respond to, and follow up with sales leads. How often does a sales lead hear from your company over time?

Lead Management 100

Lead Management Process Work Management Sales Qualified Leads 100