Posted by: Christy Roth, Project Manager
When setting lead generation goals for a new program, there are many important considerations to keep in mind. To start, you need to realistically evaluate your team and resources. It’s important to have an idea of what type of lead volume your sales force can handle. You want the users to have the best experience possible, including receiving timely follow-up if they are requesting contact. In addition, it’s helpful in planning to talk to the sales team about what types of leads they receive the most value from, which could be dependent on the type of offer(s) the user registered for, the type of online event they attended, whether or not they raised their hand for contact, etc.
Another key part of starting the lead generation program is knowing what products or campaigns will be the focus of the lead generation push. When embarking on a lead generation launch, you need to keep in mind what you’ve done with past products and how your brand is perceived. Will users understand that this is your product? Do they already trust your brand?
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Posted by: Jenny Bachner, Media Specialist
We’ve always known that banner ads provide good overall branding exposure for a company, but what we really need to know is how effective they are in driving click-throughs for lead generation. And it seems in the past year we’ve witnessed a decline in users clicking through on ads intended to drive conversions.
This is due in part to the lack of targeting techniques available in early 2008, and I also think that banner blindness set in when the users’ need for information was not being met by 90% of the ad units served to them. However, with the integration of more useful targeting techniques, such as behavioral and demographic targeting, perhaps we’re seeing the beginning of an upward trend in click-though rates for banner ads. Take a look at these results from the “Search Engine Marketing and Online Display Advertising Study” recently posted to eMarketer.com:
As people begin to find ad units served more relevant and actually find value in them, they’ll begin to pay attention and be more likely to respond again. I have already witnessed an increase in click-through rates on niche websites that are able to contextually target ad units, and I look forward to following this new trend as we progress through 2009.
Posted by: Megan Amick, Marketing Coordinator
Email is a great tactic for qualified lead generation and for delivering traffic to your website because these visitors have already expressed interest in your offering. So, it is important to track emails to see which tactics within your emails are the most effective. The best way to track your email campaigns is to create tags within each email and use Google Analytics to provide measurable statistics. Tags are created by inserting additional traceable information into your email marketing campaign links. Using the Google Analytics URL Builder you can create these tags to track email campaign information.
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Posted by: Jenny Bachner, Media Specialist
You’ve done a lot of work to prepare for your lead generation or lead nurturing campaign. You’ve assessed the audience, strategized offers, determined the best timeline, drafted a media plan and created a landing page based on conversion marketing best practices. It’s easy to let the details of the program’s final execution slip under the radar. But how you craft your landing page’s registration form(s) is too important to pass over.
The registration form is ideally your prospect’s final destination. So take advantage of these tips for making yours as user-friendly as possible:
Posted by: Kelly Hall, Account Manager
When you start any lead generation or lead nurturing campaign, one of the biggest questions to answer is what you’ll offer your prospects. What you offer is very influential in how prospects will interact with your company. If you offer something requiring very little involvement, then you may wind up with a large volume of unqualified leads. However, if you offer something requiring a lot of involvement then you may wind up with a very small volume of leads – albeit more likely to be highly qualified. Using the purchase cycle, and your goals therein, can help to identify what offers to lead with.
How your lead generation campaign speaks to your prospects is entirely in your control. First, you need to identify the goal of your campaign. Are you just looking for people ready to buy? If so, your offer should align with Decision Phase needs. Are you looking to educate your audience? Then an offer that assists with prospects in the Research Phase would be most appropriate.
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Posted by: Christy Roth, Project Manager
Most marketers are in the same spot: do more with less money. As you’re facing this challenge, here are three things that you can do to improve the efficiency and results of your lead generation program:
#1 – Stay Visible Even in a Tough Economy
Through these tough times it is more important than ever to stay visible to prospects whether or not your competitors are doing the same. There are many cost-effective and even free opportunities to help us accomplish this. Use social media and social networking sites to your advantage. Even though it may be out of your comfort zone, consider being present on tools such as Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, and more. In addition, if you are planning online media buys for 2009, work to negotiate tactics that include freebies such as e-newsletters and ad units. All of these things help keep you in front of potential leads.
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Posted by: Jenny Bachner, Media Specialist
The economy is looking down, and companies are feeling the pinch. When companies feel the pinch, they often consider slashing marketing budgets. For 2009, however, I’m holding steadfast in the marketing recommendations I’ve made to my clients. It’s not about marketing less – it’s about being smarter with the ways we spend.
One of the upsides to online media is that you can carefully measure results and track success. When every marketing dollar counts, it makes sense to invest in a marketing program that will deliver guaranteed results. In online lead generation campaigns, it’s important to keep the leads coming in and to use very specific criteria to qualify those leads as viable opportunities. And while some publications have been offering cost-per-lead (CPL) campaigns for ages, others are just beginning to warm up to the idea.
Cost-per-lead campaigns definitely run the gamut. A program can be as simple as purely paying for leads – which typically doesn’t guarantee the best quality – to the more modern day practice of targeting specific assets to a highly targeted audience. I prefer the latter.
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This month’s issue of BtoB Magazine includes a story on how 90octane helped Fortune 500 manufacturing company Gates Corporation generate leads and engage prospects through a virtual tradeshow.
The show, organized by Penton Media’s New Equipment Digest and Machine Design magazines, took place in May. Visitors browsed through the online booth to find various pieces of Gates content, such as white papers, case studies and brochures. They also participated in an online chat with Gates employees and attended a webinar, “Designing Belt Power Transmissions Systems for Energy Savings.”
Find out about the results when you read the story.
Posted by: Neil Broome, Marketing Coordinator
Email is a very cost effective tool that reaches thousands of people at once and creates qualified leads for your business. Before sending out an email, be aware of some basic email metrics that you should use to track your email campaign’s success.
Sends
-The number of email addresses in the list you’re sending to.
Bounce Rate
-The total number of emails that were returned as undeliverable divided by the total number of emails sent. Multiply the number by 100 to express the result as a percentage. This helps you gauge the cleanliness of your database and is an important metric because each time you send an email to an undeliverable address, you risk being labeled as spam. After each email send, check the bounced addresses and delete them from your database.
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Posted by: Paul Vangura, Project Manager
Email marketing is a great way to stay top of mind with your prospects and customers, but it’s increasingly difficult to make it into the inbox and catch attention. Check out the tips below to help improve your email marketing performance:
- Use good design and formatting to make your message stand out. Include your company name in the “from” field, write an engaging subject line and keep important content near the top of the message. Also keep in mind the limitations of email services; most programs have a display area of 500-650 pixels wide, for instance.
- Develop a Web version of the email message. Some recipients may be using an older email client or have HTML turned off; in either case, your message won’t display as intended. By providing a link to a Web version, you provide another option for proper viewing. read more »