THE WHITE PAPER SERIES : LEAD GENERATION

Transcription

1 THE WHITE PAPER SERIES : LEAD GENERATION

2 TIM MURPHY Vice President of Enterprise Strategy & Enterprise Platforms, Digital for Entercom I work for Entercom - we broadcast more than 100 radio stations across the country. Our business model is an advertising model. Entercom only thrives/survives if local small and medium businesses get results from their investment with us. If we provide value to small and medium local business, they renew and help us find more advertising partners. If we don t provide results, they stop working with us and business suffers. So, I have a very selfish interest in trying to discover how we can provide marketing and advertising value to small- and medium-sized business in our markets. When we find success with our advertising partners, we capture the details of our top campaigns and build case studies so we can share best practices with our staff, partners and prospects. We post these case studies to our company intranet, and I am able to see the page views to each case study. I pulled the page view data off our intranet site and identified the top 10 most-viewed case studies (in our library of more than 400). I then studied those Top 10, looking for Common Threads of Success after careful review, I identified five main reasons why advertising campaigns run by small and medium businesses are successful in generating leads. The White Paper Series : Lead Generation

3 Great SMB Lead Generation Campaigns have the following 5 Traits in Common: 1 FOCUS on creating a clutterbusting call to action (aka CTA) 2 Multi-platform distribution The White Paper Series : Lead Generation Ready to capture the leads and create life time value (aka LTV) Compelling and clear creative execution Targeting the right audience

4 truly study the competitive offers in the market, and consumer expectations

5 SUCCESS TRAIT #1: FOCUS on creating a Clutter busting Call To Action (aka CTA) Successful lead generation campaigns ALWAYS focus FIRST on creating a call to action (also called an Offer ) that will stand out from the noise in the marketplace The White Paper Series : Lead Generation Savvy small and medium business leaders know media and creative decisions are pointless to make until you have an offer that is a true HOOK for prospects Smart small- and medium-sized businesses take the time to truly study the competitive offers in the market (and consumer expectations) before creating a CTA. Those that do not critically and honestly study the market often create a lazy, boring CTA and then wonder (after investing in media) why the phones are not ringing The BEST campaigns actually take the time to survey potential customers as a focus group to define specifically what type of CTA would be most effective Simply stating you are family owned and provide great service, or that you are offering 10% off when all your competitors are also offering 10% off, will not clutter-bust, and will fall flat Successful campaigns create offers that make their prospects stop their busy day and take an action that is a challenge in today s dizzying, smartphonefueled world where information attacks us all day Great offers or CTAs typically are A: Focused on the benefits to the consumer B: Time bounded to create urgency C: Create scarcity (i.e. this will run out) D: Easy to redeem, and E: Concise Resource Links How To Create Marketing Offers that Don t Fall Flat 5 Elements of an Effective Call To Action What Is a Call To Action? Tips to Make Your CTAs Effective! A Few Examples Like us on Facebook by Friday at 5 p.m. and you enter to win a $900 Teeth Whitening Package Text PRODUCT name to by 5 p.m. Friday and receive a coupon for a free sample at our store Call in the next 24 hours to receive a free whitepaper that will teach you how to save money immediately Hurry, the next 30 people that text MASSAGE to will receive a free 30-minute session with the purchase of a one-hour session Google just changed the rules of search on 4/21 to penalize sites that are not mobile friendly, is yours? Get a free audit today at site.com/audit to make sure you are mobile friendly and you are not leaking leads currently.

6 cast a wide net within the target demographics

7 SUCCESS TRAIT #2: Multi-platform distribution reflecting evolving consumer habits Successful lead generation campaigns cast a wide net within their target demographics and fish where the fish are, which includes BOTH traditional and new media Smart small and medium businesses know they need an efficiently scheduled media campaign that casts a wide net of awareness within their target audience AND also leverages digital media to pull prospects to take a measurable action such as placing a call, visiting their website, downloading their coupon, liking them on Facebook, or even joining their database The BEST campaigns take a great CTA (supported by solid creative) and distribute it across broadcast radio advertisements, print, TV, direct-to-consumer s to a targeted list, display advertising, text and mobile web, pre-roll video, search and social channels to establish the right blend of reach and frequency against their target audience Savvy small- and medium-sized businesses know today s consumers expect to consume their media across many platforms throughout the day, and their message needs to be where their prospects are A well-coordinated, multi-platform distribution plan will allow an SMB to reach their target audience frequently throughout the day across all of their devices while they commute to work, sit at their desk, check news on phone at lunch, commute home, watch TV, etc. The White Paper Series : Lead Generation When it comes to getting your well-crafted CTA in front of your prospects, hit em hard, and hit em often! Resource Links In a World of Lead Generation, Brands Matter Hacking Radio: How Radio Advertising Can Be a Beautiful Complement to Your Digital Marketing Strategy

8 they want a serious relationship, not a one-night stand!

9 SUCCESS TRAIT #3: Ready & prepared to capture the leads and create lifetime value (aka LTV) Successful lead generation campaigns know that they want a serious relationship, not a one-night stand! They make sure their CTA drives their prospect to a place where they can capture the prospect s contact information. For example, the CTA provides enough value to the prospect so the prospect is willing to Like the Facebook page, fill out a form to join the list, join a text club, etc Smart small and medium businesses know they have to have a PLAN for engaging these new fans or database members, and not lose the potential value of this new relationship The BEST campaigns not only capture this new relationship, but also provide incentives for prospects to SHARE with other like-minded friends in their network Smart marketers do not wait to have the lead captured before deciding what they should do with that , or that Facebook like they know in advance how they want to welcome that new customer and delight them ongoing with offers and content Savvy small- and medium-sized businesses have a staff member or a third-party partner accountable to make sure they have the content and tools to engage these new subscribers with fresh offers and content after their initial media campaign runs. The White Paper Series : Lead Generation They have a calendar for releasing content and offers on their Facebook, and/or they have a schedule for sending compelling newsletters/offers/coupons to keep these new prospects engaged

10 The BEST campaigns possess a strong hook on the front end of their creative

11 SUCCESS TRAIT #4: Compelling and clear creative execution Successful lead generation campaigns make sure their CTA is presented creatively to be EFFECTIVE, not win an art/aesthetic prize. There is no one right way to present your CTA, but one common thread is that the CTA is CLEAR AND CONCISE and the action step is repeated Smart small and medium businesses remember those cool Super Bowl ads they make you laugh but you have no idea who the advertiser was. They know that they cannot afford that outcome The BEST campaigns possess a strong hook on the front end of their creative, and a clear action step after the hook. Hook and then inform. Some use humor to hook, others use a trusted endorsement or testimonial, and others use a compelling question. All of these can work. Savvy small- and medium-sized businesses know they can be funny and clever or straight-forward with their creative, but either way, they make sure the URL or phone number being promoted is clear and repeated so hooked prospects can take action. The White Paper Series : Lead Generation Resource Links Direct Response Radio: 15 Tips for Writing Ads that Work Hook, Line and Sinker: 7 Tips for a Killer Call to Action

12 Great media buys take into account that FULL consumer funnel of activity.

13 SUCCESS TRAIT #5: Targeting the right audience Successful lead generation campaigns are activated by promoting the CTA via the appropriate media channels that contain a high Index of your target audience For example if your business is geared toward working moms and you have two brick and mortar locations appealing to specific zip codes, that business might use radio to create huge real-time reach across that demographic by advertising on a country and Top 40 station and then using digital to hyper-target specific demographics and zip codes to close the loop to conversion Smart small and medium businesses know they need to create broad awareness of and favorability for their brand AND also hyper-target their CTA. They do this by blending the best of what many refer to as traditional media AND digital media The BEST campaigns are built to understand that many consumers hear or see a compelling advertisement on TV or radio or on a billboard, and then go online to close the loop. Great media buys take into account that FULL consumer funnel of activity Savvy small- and medium-sized businesses connect the value of all elements of their media buy and create CTAs that allow them to assign credit to each media channel accurately The White Paper Series : Lead Generation

14 You can contact Tim Murphy at THANK YOU.