You Got the Lead, Now What?
This month is focused on what you do after you get the lead; after the user volunteers their information to you, because those actions will determine whether
- you optimize your cost-per-lead, and
- how you know which of those leads are the best to focus on.
When someone hands you a business card, or completes a form at your landing page or site, do you just pass the leads over to sales, and that's it? Studies show that 79% of leads are not followed up on by sales. So if that is all you are doing, then your cost per lead, which is already increasing given costs of PPC, are even higher - because you are losing a large percentage of them by just passing them directly to Sales.
Having the ability to manage your leads comprehensively, so that when you capture a lead initially, you can send them a series of emails (Email Marketing was covered earlier this year), and based on their response to those emails, you can tailor ever more relevant information to those leads, until their interest identifies them as "more sales ready". Then pass those to Sales. So the folks who don't respond at all, you don't need to worry about, and waste anyone's time. And Sales doesn't have to guess which leads might be the best to follow up with.
According to Aberdeen Research, implementing a lead nurturing practice can yield a 50+% increase in sales-ready leads, making a large impact in a company's revenue and growth goals. According to that same report, 51% of companies who don't have a lead nurturing strategy (dubbed "laggards") will be adding one in 2009. Based off the experience we've seen with implementing lead nurturing practices, it's not just about the technology you employ, which is essential, it must be coupled with a lead nurturing strategy and practice that recognizes that it's the ongoing nature of the content strategy that will separate the winners from the losers in nurturing effectiveness and results.
Enjoy!
Forrester's Laura Ramos talks with DemandGen Reports re: slow adoption of lead management automation
10/13/09 Despite the clear benefits the tools have realized for early adopters, lead management automation solutions are still being utilized by a relatively small segment of the population. estimates that market penetration to date is low, with between 2% and 5% of BtoB firms having invested in full-featured Lead Management Automation (LMA).ClickZ: Create a Media Plan and an Engagement Plan
8/4/09 Article by Harry Gold goes into detail on the types of follow-up and calls to action that are possible to create ongoing engagement with the leads you generate.Strategy Beyond the Send
8/3/09 Article in CRM Developer's Journal takes a thoughtful look at B2B Lead Nurturing, showing how to engage leads by building a story rather than sending one-off content. Good guidance on how to think about your nurturing sequences.Marketers Improving Response, Recall Rates By Integrating Video Into Lead Gen Programs
Apr 14, 2009 article at DemandGen Report explores how using video into your lead gen and lead nurturing campaigns can improve response and increase brand awareness.What it takes to implement Lead Nurturing
Apr 8, 2009 - The Customer Experience Matrix blog post, entitled, "Pedowitz Group Offers Free Support for New Eloqua Clients" -- is really an exploration of what it takes to implement an effective lead nurturing program -- the comments are also great. It's a good read for people interested in the things to think about when setting up this sort of program.Marketing Automation Now Blog
Written by Jason Kort, this blog has some great articles about implementing lead nurturing and using marketing automation. Definitely worth tracking!Nurturing Key Competitive Differentiator, According to Newly Released Aberdeen Report
DemandGenReport's new article takes a look at the new Aberdeen Report that identifies lead nurturing as the difference between a successful company and a mediocre company.New Research on Lead Generation through Web 2.0 Media
MarketingProfs post by Robert Lesser reviews highlights presented at the MarketingProfs BtoB Forum 2008, from recent research they conducted on how B2B marketers are using online media, and some follow up research that has been done.Lead Nurturing Belongs In Your Recession Strategy
Blog post by Ardath Albee, explores why lead nurturing is a recession buster.How lead nurturing improves lead generation ROI
Brian Carroll's blog post takes a look at how you can improve your lead generation ROI. Brian's company, intouch offers the telemarketing expertise that ties in with lead nurturing to deliver more sales ready leads.Are you dropping out of the lead nurturing race too soon?
Blog post by M. H. "Mac" McIntosh, takes a look at the value of longer-term B2B sales leads, with strategies and tactics for marketing and sales. It's not about the quick hit -- but about the value of those leads that might take awhile -- and are well worth it, if you take a longer term approach to your lead generation efforts.Do You Have an Automated Response and Lead Nurturing Program in Place?
Omniture's blog post taking a look at the value lead nurturing provides, and the components that make up a lead nurturing program. It focuses on the five elements of lead nurturing communications: 1) Personalized, 2)Relevant, 3) Well-Timed, 4) Thorough, and 5) Automated.Creating a Successful Lead Nurturing Strategy, Part III: When Should I Call?
A continuation from Omniture's blog exploring a critical aspect of lead nurturing, which is how to integrate the telemarketing component into your efforts. When is the right time to call?Creating a Successful Lead Nurturing Strategy, Part IV: Your Long-Term Strategy
Omniture's blog post about ensuring your lead nurturing approach includes a longer term strategy -- after the first round of touches -- then what do you do?Demandbase: A New Twist In The Lead Management Automation Market
Forrester's blog for Interactive Marketing Professionals took a look at a new product available through DemandBase that shows sales and marketing the names of companies visiting the Web site in near real-time. If Lead Generation and Lead Nurturing are all about intelligence, this widget may be worth a look.Marketing Can Help Sales Performance
Marketing Interactions blog post by Ardath Albee explores how the intelligence gathered by your lead nurturing efforts can help sales close more deals.Is Drip Marketing for You?
Marketing Interactions blog post takes a look at "drip marketing", and how you can leverage it. This sort of automated, yet personal email is essential to any lead nurturing strategy.Lead nurturing 101
Marketo's Modern B2B Marketing blog post takes a look at lead nurturing -- it was posted a couple of years ago, but still relevant today.Online Marketing Tools
at your fingertips!
Lead Nurturing: The Secret to Successful Lead Generation
Aberdeen's complimentary copy only available through 1/30/09! Top performing organizations demonstrated a 355% higher year over year growth in revenue over all other organizations. Best-in-class companies that nurture leads delivered 57% higher average order values over industry average companies that nurture leads. And, best-in-class companies are 8x more likely than laggards to experience year over year improvement in lead to sales revenue.Get your copy of the report!eBook: Amplify Buyer Attention
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