Lead Generation and Conversion In B2B Markets

One of 3 Basic Marketing Strategies

Generation/Conversion Many Purchases = Multiple Steps Over Time. Why is Lead Generation/Conversion Important? Many Purchases = Multiple Steps Over Time.

What Is Conversion? Depends On: Stage in Customer Cycle Marketing Activity e.g. Social Media or Marketing Dept.

Key strategy in b2b markets

Some B2C High ticket, protracted sales cycle

Demand vs lead generation Demand Generation = Generating Overall Demand for Product Awareness + Lead Generation + Lead Nurturing + Customer Development Lead Generation/Nurturing Create a Particular Sale Part of the Overall Process

Marketing Automation software Expensive, mission critical, many decision participants This slide introduces the importance of campaign-specific landing pages. The grande guides and other marketing materials including videos are on the site (Interactive Exercise 10.1) The introductory blog post with video http://blog.eloqua.com/introducing-juan-eloqua-the-grande-guides/ The library http://www.eloqua.com/grande/ Each time I’ve looked over the past year or two, they have introduced more guides. A consistent and coherent content strategy.

Program metrics Activated Over 1,000 Inactive Contacts Generated Over 250 Qualified Leads 4 Sales Opportunities “In the Pipeline”

B2B Buy Cycle Can Take Months or Even Years to Complete a Transaction Often Many Participants in Decision-Making Process

Lead Generation, conversion process

Many Channels to Generate Leads

Which Channels to Use? Which Channels Does the TARGET AUDIENCE Use?

How Does Inbound Marketing Differ? Disseminate Content as Widely as Possible Across the Web Use Search and Other Tools To “Get It Found” The hammer vs. the magnet is a nice visual touch to point out.

Relevant, High Quality Content Search and Social to “Get it Found”

There’s no way to make this big enough to read easily. The original post is http://blog.eloqua.com/the-content-grid-i-all-so-meta/ It’s worth going to live for Joe Chernov’s description of his own job as “director of irritation” Also note that the post has gotten 52 comments and 2287 Retweets as of now. Those are impressive metrics. More important, posting them in this way on the blog makes it clear that Eloqua is a thought leader in this space. Plus, the copy of the grid at the bottom of the post is actually large enough to read.

Cost of Lead Generation Generally Agreed That Inbound Generates Leads More Cheaply According to HubSpot Study of B2B Leads: Outbound Averaged $332 Inbound Averaged $134 B2C Lower: One Study 88¢ to $1.47 Different Markets: $1.16 to $200 Students may be surprised at the B2B cost. Slide 21 is intended to help them understand why the whole process is so expensive. There are continuing studies available on this subject, at least for B2B markets . Good B2C costs are hard to find. Here are charts from the 2010 Hubspot annual study http://www.marketingcharts.com/direct/inbound-marketing-costs-less-12762/

QR Code to Create Facebook Likes

Qualifying sales leads Desire for the Product/Service Authority to Make the Purchase Decision Money Budgeted for the Purchase Need for Product Benefits

A form requesting Qualification Data Content Marketing Creates Inbound Requests For More Info. Additional Content Promoted on Form Page

Generating Better Leads Lowers qualification cost

Must Score, Distribute Qualified Leads Scoring Commercial Tools are Available Algorithm Must Capture True Value of Lead as a Potential Customer Distribution Depends Partly on Score, Partly on Readiness

All Leads Are Not Created Equal Distribution Depends on Quality of Lead and Proximity to Purchase

Sales Force Wants Better Leads EDGAROnline was able to: Generate 400% More Leads with Better Communication Use Lead Scoring System to Increase Quality of Leads Distributed (to Internal and External Sales Teams) Rate of Conversion of Leads More Than Double Industry Norms

Optimized Conversion Process Identify Conversion Goals, KPIs Profile Target Audience Optimize Site Structure for Conversion Use Compelling Message Use Effective Calls to Action If Visitors Do Not Purchase, Capture as Lead TEST, MEASURE and REFINE

Definition of a lead, a Conversion? No Single Definition. Depends on Which Departments Involved, What their Roles Are Social Media may Define as Lead as a Like on a Facebook page, for example A Conversion as a Facebook Fan Who Registers on the Site Measurable Objectives, Each Department, Each Stage are Key.

Different Channels, Different Stages

Have Difficulties with Their Hint: It’s Not Technology or Tools. Why Do So Many Firms Have Difficulties with Their Lead Programs? Hint: It’s Not Technology or Tools. We Have Plenty of Those.

Organization Issues Hinder Process Takes Time, Effort Requires Disciplined Attention Various Departments May Be in Conflict Top Management Has to Accept Difficulties and Require Process

Personas a useful tool Humanize a Customer Data Profile The Yellow Tail Wine customer persona is just 2 slides and is worth showing in class http://www.slideshare.net/Paris_d/yellow-tail-wine-consumer-persona

Develop Purchase Scenarios “Stories” of How Customers Make Purchases Valuable to Understand What Works Where the Site or Process Fails the Customer

Identify Appropriate Landing Page Could Be a Product Page on the Site Assumes Immediate Purchase May Require a Campaign-Specific Page To Provide Content that Corresponds with Campaign Message To Acquire Contact Information for Lead Management Process

Above All, Test and Refine Is worth asking students if or why they would predict that the optimized page works better.

Optimizing a Campaign Previous Step Test and Improve Landing Page Test and Improve PPC Ad Click-Through Rate 21% Test and Improve Landing Page Improve Structure, Chunk Content, Add Customer Testimonials Click-Through to Registration Page 54%

Understanding, Improving Conversion Paths Once a scenario helps understand how a particular segment is likely to navigate the site, a conversion path can be charted to see if the site needs the customer needs.

Summary Conversion 1 of 3 Basic Marketing Strategies Process Necessary in Multiple Step Purchases, B2B or B2C B2B Purchases Often Protracted, Many Participants Generate, Quality, Distribute, Follow Up Inbound Marketing, Content Marketing Useful Optimize the Process, Elements Like Ads, Landing Pages Organizational Issues Key; Not Technology, Tools Personas, Scenarios, Conversion Paths Useful Tools Above All, TEST, MEASURE, and REFINE.