by gabriel_sales | Apr 23, 2012
Your blog can be used for multiple purposes. As a marketing sales company we have found that if you focus on the “sales” in marketing sales then (at least part of) the “marketing” will take care of itself. So we suggest that you start by looking at what content your B2B sales team needs to move deals through the pipe because we believe the sales conversation, the digital marketing sales conversation and the social media conversation are all the same conversation.
As a second strategy we recommend that you don’t think about this from your “sales” cycle perspective but instead from your customer’s “buying cycle” perspective.
So if you have not looked at your blog strategy as a marketing sales company we recommend you look through a sales marketing lens. Here are some things for you to consider:
Thought Leadership. Although some old school marketers would disagree we feel like the voices of your top sales reps are a great place to look for thought leadership. It may not always feel like it but your sales reps are talking to customers all day long helping them to solve problems and if they are doing their job they are solving a lot of problems. You already possess a great deal of industry expertise in high volume. Your customers and prospects will be grateful if that information is shared so they can access it 24/7.
SEO. The more relevant your content is for your customers the more relevant your content will be for Google. And the more content you create in your industry space, the more relevant your company will seem to search engines. As a marketing sales company we also recommend you align the input of your sales reps contribution with your keyword research to ensure you are getting the full benefit from inbound leads.
Calls to Action. Make sure you have calls to action in your blog. After all your customers and your sales leads are already engaged with your content, so when inbound leads hit your site because you are optimizing for SEO you need to make it easy for them to reach out to you. Your blog is the perfect place to turn the one to many conversation into a one to one conversation with your sale rep. Always offer some additional content within your blog and also make it easy to reach out to your sales team. Just make sure your blog does not become a billboard for your company. Focus on adding value for your readers first. Readers will reach out when they are ready.
Email sign-up. The easiest way to generate leads from your blog is the simple and oft forgotten email sign up. If your content is provides enough value, readers will exchange their email address for keeping up to date with your posts. It’s a great way to start building a relationship.
Reuse old content. Content has a long shelf-life, but getting full use out of a well-crafted piece of content can be hard. Your blog provides a great way to link back to this older content where applicable, squeezing value out of your content for years to come. Ask your sales reps for the one off content they may have created without marketing’s input and turn that into content as well.
If you would like to learn more about how a sales marketing company can help you align your inbound and outbound efforts for a fatter pipe and more closed revenue please feel free to CONTACT US for a free initial strategy conversation.
If you are having cultural issues between sales and marketing we suggest you check out B to B Demand Generation Requires Sales and Marketing Alignment. You can also checkout our Free White Paper on 10 Tips and What to Avoid to Sell Smarter and Faster.
by gabriel_sales | Mar 27, 2012
Most people in sales are constantly looking for new ways to generate B2B leads. B2B Demand Generation can be quite difficult at times, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. This blog gives you seven simple methods to reach new B2B sales prospects. If this blog is too basic for your needs we invite you to check out our B2B Demand Generation Blog Topic area or our B2B Demand Generation Knowledge Center.
Cold Calling
True, it is one of the oldest and most hated methods. However, when it is done properly, cold calling can be a highly effective means of reaching new prospects. As a B2B lead generation and demand generation company we still believe that there is no better way to target specific decision makers. It has been proven that making consistent calls produces consistent leads. However it is now one of the most expensive investments. For detailed ROI analysis and recent cold call benchmarking check out our Cold Calling is Not Dead but You Need To Be Smarter! blog.
Email Publications
With email publications and email newsletters, you can easily reach thousands of people at each publication time. You can collect names and emails through your website, or a variety of other means. Business owners and sales representatives can (and should) create their own newsletters, which can include tips of the trade or news from your industry. It is likely that you will eventually gain a few customers using this method simply by staying top of mind.
Mass Mailings
While most field reps do not fully grasp the benefits of this method, there is whole industry of people who sell like this, which is called direct marketing. The success of using sales letters comes from sending a well-written letter to a number of high quality, or targeted, prospects. We use this as an outsourced B2B lead generation tactic when there are just a handful of decision makers inside Fortune 2000 companies. We have found that the often hold onto a brochure in a file and will reference at a later date. However we do recommend you customize the intro letter.
Advertising/Internet Advertising
While this method can generate large numbers of leads, it must be done right. Otherwise, you can spend tons of money with no results. Start by looking for publications that already serve your specific audience, and use ads that motivate people to action. Try to stay away from pushy, big company style image-based advertisements.
Internet advertising is more suited for independent professionals and smaller companies. Search engines can generate leads by creating ads from within your website. You are able to develop highly targeted and qualified leads by determining what keywords are most used by your prospects. The longer the tail of the search and the more niche your solution the more we recommend Pay Per Click.
Live Seminars
This method allows you to find leads very early in their buying process. It is important to pitch a solution to a problem that you know your targeted audience already has. The cost for seminars is inexpensive (including equipment, promotion, room rental), and the price jumps down even further for teleseminars. Having your top executive conduct the seminar can sometimes help pull in more prospects.
Trade Shows
This method is not always as successful as the others on this list, but can still be helpful if your company has the extra time and money to expend. If you can find an event that coincides directly with the interests of your target audience, trade shows can produce leads. However, the quality of leads may be lower because trade shows are more often attended by the influencers than the decision-makers of a company.
Complementary Partner Referrals
This method differs from industry to industry, but results in the highest quality leads. It is important, for B2B sales, to build relationships with other companies who sell to the same people you do. By partnering with other businesses who operate in the same industry, you can begin to share information and prospects, which makes everybody happy.
Want to explore B2B lead generation and demand generation in greater depth? CLICK HERE to go to for additional B2B demand generation resources. CLICK HERE to view our How To Build a B2B Demand Generation video. To schedule a free pipeline velocity and benchmark review please click here.
by gabriel_sales | Mar 20, 2012
In a previous blog, we discussed the importance of landing pages in B2B Demand Generation. Having a flashy layout or cool graphics can help grab your visitor’s attention, but what we have seen in the data as a top B2B demand Generation Company is that what the page actually says in much more important. This blog outlines the basics of how to make the most of your B2B Demand Generation landing pages, by detailing specific content related issues. If this content is a little too basic for your needs we invite you to check out our B2B Demand Generation Blog Topic area or our B2B Demand Generation Knowledge Center.
Here are seven B2B Demand Generation tips for creating effective and persuasive landing pages.
- Align content with keywords. The reason for having landing pages, is that they are content-based. This means that when a visitor clicks a link to “lead generation”, they should land on a lead generation landing page, not a home page. Sending your visitors on a wild goose chase to find the information they are looking for is likely to fail, so make it as easy as you can for them.
- Have multiple landing pages for each of your products, services or campaigns. Directing people to their specific interests makes it easier for them and gives you credibility. You can use Pardot to create landing pages specific to each campaign, which has an easy-to-use drag and drop tool designed to generate multiple pages with no coding required.
- Know who you are talking to. In addition to pages categorized by campaign, you should create audience-specific landing pages as well. Different content appeals to different people, what appeals to IT personnel may not appeal to the marketing team. If you take this into consideration and build your landing pages accordingly, your visitor will be much more likely to convert, as you are already speaking their language.
- Decide what you want. You have to figure you what you want your visitors to do once they come to your landing page. Are you satisfied with people reading certain content, or do you want email addresses as well? You can get both by offering content as collateral for contact information.
- Make sure you have a clear goal. Try not to overwhelm or confuse your visitor with many different options on the same landing page. Pick one specific action as the goal of each landing page, and make it obvious. The goals should always be B2B Demand Generation of Sales Qualified Leads.
- Simplicity and transparency are key. Be clear and concise with your language; using simple “if/then” statements work well. For example, say something like, “If you fill out this form, then we will send you a white paper about a specific topic.”
- Remember to use the right keywords (the keyword for this page is B2B Demand Generation) to get a slight SEO lift for your overall website.
For more information on building effective landing pages, please visit our blog titled “The Importance of Landing Pages” or contact Gabriel Sales directly.
If you’d like look at B2B demand generation in a little more depth we invite you to check out our CLICK HERE for our Knowledge Center dedicated to B2B demand generation. For a quick overview of how Gabriel Sales creates and integrated inbound and outbound machine CLICK HERE to view our How To Build a B2B demand generation engine. To schedule an appointment for a free pipeline velocity review from Gabriel Sales, please click here.
by gabriel_sales | Mar 13, 2012
This blog looks at the purpose and function of landing pages and their importance as a B2B lead generation tool and touches on how you can leverage landing pages to find new prospects and close deals. If this content is a little too basic for your needs we invite you to check out our B2B Demand Generation Blog Topic area or our B2B Demand Generation Knowledge Center.
Anytime a visitor reaches your website from an outside link, they have found a landing page. Recent market research has shown that improving the quality and function of landing pages can be a low cost way to help companies improve prospect conversion rates and B2B demand generation efforts lead generation. However, as a top B2B demand generation company we have found that only attention grabbing, well-designed landing pages effectively find prospects and qualify leads.
When it comes to any type of professional or personal relationship, we generally accept the importance of making a good first impression. If you want someone to buy something from you, this becomes absolutely crucial. In this sense, landing pages can be compared to the many entrances to a Macy’s department store. Regardless of what entrance you choose to walk in, Macy’s has a colorful or stylish visual display waiting to greet you. When creating a landing page, you want to create the same effect. You want to find the right balance between showing off your newest and most impressive goods and offering something for everyone. Borrowing another tactic from a Macy’s entrance, you can offer multiple incentives or enticements on your landing page, which are aimed at motivating people to buy something.
It is also helpful to think of the people visiting your landing page like Macy’s customers. Some Macy’s shoppers are simply there to look around, and do not plan on purchasing anything. Others will not be your target audience, and some will have entered the store by mistake. A few will be genuinely interested in a purchase, but are not yet ready to buy. These are not the people you want to target when it comes to your landing pages. The type of customer you are looking for is the one who walked into the store knowing what they were looking for and already has an intention to buy. These are the customers you are most likely to persuade, because you have already determined they have an interest in your offering.
Another way Macy’s strategy can be applied to landing pages is with upkeep and customer service. Macy’s constantly updates their store displays and product offerings, and offers their customers new discounts and deals. Landing pages should be treated with the same constant care and be updated frequently to keep current with market needs.
While creating an effective landing page is key step in quality lead generation, it is not the only method available (other ways to generate leads are discussed here). However, we recommend as an outsourced B2B demand gen company that well designed landing pages should not be underestimated as an easy and effective way to transition prospects to leads to qualified leads to customers.
If you’d like to know more about B2B Demand Generation Outsourcing, Outsourced B2B Lead Generation or Sales & Content Basics, to check out our CLICK HERE for our Knowledge Center dedicated to B2B demand generation. For a quick overview of how Gabriel Sales creates and integrated inbound and outbound machine CLICK HERE to view our How To Build a B2B demand generation engine. To schedule an appointment for a free pipeline velocity review from Gabriel Sales, please click here.
by gabriel_sales | Mar 6, 2012
As an outsourced B2B demand generation company we understand that shifting your culture is not easy. Your sales team and your marketing team may not communicate fluidly. Your outsourced B2B demand generation effort may be focused on B2B lead generation and not closed deals. This blog give you a simple B2B demand generation scorecard as a first step to give Sales and Marketing a shared quota.
As the first step to integrate and align sales and marketing we recommend that you create an agreement between sales and marketing that clearly defines the different stages of a lead and what makes a lead ready to be worked by sales. As an outsourced B2B demand generation team we understand that to two organizations and even personalities within an organization will always agree what a sales qualified lead is so we recommend that this be done in writing. As a second step we recommend that you craft a very simple scorecard so the team works together towards a single goal – Closed business. Once this is done the entire team will be focused on working as a “team” to move deals through your sales process. Keeping the scorecard simple is essential. As a B2B demand generation process consulting firm this is the best practice to frame that scorecard.
Touches to Interest – How many times do you need to attempt to reach them before they show interest.
Interest to Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) – Interest in your information.
MQL to Sales Accepted Lead – Does it make sense for a Sales Representative to work the deal
Sales Qualified Lead to Proposal – Once a lead is an SQL you need to set benchmarks for how many buyers move to accepting a Proposal or Price Quote
Proposal to Closed Deal – There is no grey area to sales or marketing what the shared quota is all about.
For help, B2B demand generation process consulting or facilitation of conversation between your sales and marketing teams or get some free B2B Demand Generation bench marks feel free to CONTACT US.
For more information on how a top outsourced B2B Demand Generation company approaches increasing velocity in the new economy we invite you to visit more of our blogs:
Top B2B Demand Generation Requires Sales Content Marketing
Top B to B Demand Generation Requires Sales and Marketing Alignment
5 Steps to Launch or Turn Around a B to B Demand Gen Team
