THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO LEAD GENERATION WORKBOOK

Transcription

1 THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO LEAD GENERATION WORKBOOK

2 WHAT IS LEAD GENERATION; WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Lead generation describes the marketing process of stimulating and capturing interest in a product or service for the purpose of developing a sales pipeline.

3 WHAT IS LEAD GENERATION; WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? WHAT LEAD GEN IS: Content marketing and blogging Website and SEO Social media PPC Content syndication Direct mail Telesales marketing Lead nurturing and lead scoring WHY IT S IMPORTANT: Find more leads Find better leads Enhance prospect relationships Close deals faster Cross-sell and upsell to your current customers Maximize your spend on all marketing campaigns Be more strategic in your marketing strategy Leverage cross-channel marketing Align with sales for a closed-loop deal process LIST A PRIMARY GOAL YOU BELIEVE LEAD GEN CAN HELP YOU ACHIEVE WITHIN THE NEXT YEAR.

4 HOW HAS LEAD GENERATION EVOLVED? Traditional lead generation has undergone substantial changes in recent years, thanks to new online and social marketing techniques. In particular, the abundance of information readily available online has led to the rise of the self-directed buyer and the emergence of new ways to develop and qualify potential leads before passing them to sales.

5 HOW HAS LEAD GENERATION EVOLVED? To show how lead generation has changed, use the key phrases at the bottom to fill in the blank boxes on the right. The words on the left represent lead generation in the past, and the blank boxes on the right represent lead generation now. TRANSFORMATION OF MARKETING MISSION IN THE PAST Represent the company NOW Find customers CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE Mass advertising Demographic MECHANICS & TACTICS Point-in-time blasts Few/isolated channels MEASUREMENT Third-party data (Nielsen) Intuitive decision making KEY PHRASES 1:1 Targeting Represent the customer Owned, big data Fact-based decision making Behavioral Exploding/integrated channels Continuous relationship Being found

6 STEPS TO DEFINING A LEAD To build out your lead generation strategy, you must start with the basics. Every organization will have its own definition of a good lead. If you don t know yours, begin with lead generation 101.

7 STEPS TO DEFINING A LEAD Sales and marketing teams must create and agree upon a universal lead definition. 1 Schedule some time to meet. Gather all your key stakeholders in a room, and pick each other s brains. 2 Ask the hard questions. For marketing: What does your target market look like? Who do you have in your system, and what are they engaging with? For sales: What prospects are you speaking to? What types of buyers are closing? 3 Decide how good is good enough. Set a base level. What does marketing consider a good enough lead to pass to sales? Conversely, what does sales think is a lead worth following up on? 4 Get the flip side of the story. What leads does marketing consider bad? And what leads does sales consider not worth their time? 5 Agree on a definition, and write it down. Once you have written down your definition, abide by it. Add it to your marketing automation system; post it up on walls do whatever is necessary to keep both teams on point. 6 Iterate. Meet regularly to review this definition. You should iterate and change your definition as your company grows and priorities shift.

8 DEFINING A LEAD Use the 6 steps below to help shape the definition of a true lead. 1 Write down when and where the sales and marketing teams will meet. 2 What does your target market look like? 3 What type of leads are in your system currently, and what are they engaging with? 4 What types of leads are closing? What size companies do they work for? Where are they located? What does marketing consider a good enough lead to pass to sales? What does sales consider a bad lead? 5 Agree on a definition, and write it down. 6 Iterate. Meet regularly to review this definition. You should iterate and change your definition as your company grows and priorities shift.

9 CREATING YOUR BUYER PERSONAS Content is the foundation of your inbound marketing efforts, and a great way to generate leads. The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as the marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience with the objective of driving profitable customer action. Your content marketing will be what fuels most, if not all, of your lead generation campaigns, so you need to make sure you get it right.

10 BUYER PERSONA EXERCISE Don't dive into content marketing without a strategy. You need to understand your buyer so you can set the tone, style, and delivery strategy for your content. Conduct interviews with customers, prospects, sales, and your customer service teams to come up with at least 1-2 personas. Focus on the following topics when creating each persona: Background: Basic details about your ideal customer and his or her company Job details: Key job responsibilities, likes and dislikes about job Main sources of information: Where your persona does his or her research Goals: Persona s primary and secondary goals Challenges/pain points: Your persona s challenges, and the emotions which accompany those challenges

11 BUYER PERSONA EXERCISE continued Preferred content medium: How your persona likes to absorb content Quotes: Bring your personas to life. Gather actual quotes during interviews Objections: The objections you anticipate from personas during the sales process Role in purchase process: Persona s influence in the decision making process Marketing message: The messaging that speaks directly to this persona

12 BUYER JOURNEY EXERCISE To map your own persona buying journeys, create a spreadsheet with a separate tab for each buying phase, and fill in the following items: BUYING PHASE ACTIONS & QUESTIONS BUYER ACTION BUYER DOING (Y/N)? QUESTIONS BUYER ASKS EVENT #1 EVENT OCCURS EVENT #2 EVENT #3 PROBLEM #1 KEY BUYER ACTIONS PROBLEM SURFACES PROBLEM #2 PROBLEM #3 CONSEQUENCES OF PROBLEM IDENTIFIED CONSIDER ALTERNATIVES FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM PHASE EXIT CRITERIA

13 Now you know what your buyer personas look like. Time to color them in! Use the color legend to complete the picture below. BUYER PERSONAS COME TO LIFE COLOR LEGEND:

14 CONTENT MARKETING WORD SEARCH Content marketing comes in many forms. See how many you can find below. Article Blog Posts Case Studies Checklists ebooks Guides Infographics Kits Podcasts Slide Decks Surveys Templates Videos Webinar

15 WEBSITE OPTIMIZATION FOR LEAD GENERATION When it comes to converting leads and making lasting impressions, your website is where the magic happens. Analytics and testing company KISSmetrics stated it best on its blog: Your leads are only as good as the website that produces them.

16 WEBSITE OPTIMIZATION FOR LEAD GENERATION Below is a handy SEO checklist for the different types of content on your site. Use this as a reference while reviewing your website content. HOMEPAGE WEBSITE CONTENT LANDING PAGES PRODUCT/ SERVICE PAGES RESOURCES PAGES Highlight the latest / hottest content Use eye-catching visuals Write catchy copy Include ways for people to opt-in to content Use attention-grabbing headlines Tie customer needs to solution benefits Make calls-to-action clear and prominent Use consistent voice Include your logo Write a great headline Focus on a single call to action Entice readers to respond to your offer Use strong calls-toaction on each product page Make contact information clear on the page List pricing information (if applicable) Organize your content logically Make your content easily accessible with one click Include visual thumbnails of each asset Write clear and concise copy Use plenty of bullet points Address customer pain points Make sure each page is optimized for SEO Copy edit for typos and grammatical mistakes Feature relevant visuals Keep paragraphs short Include a short form to capture leads Use easy-to-read font Display a Thank You page that points to a related offer Make content scannable Use compelling imagery (little or no stock imagery)

17 LANDING PAGES Landing pages are customized pages that your leads are directed to from social media pages, received s, event invitations, paid ads, or search engine results. For effective lead generation, specifically create new landing pages for each program.

18 LANDING PAGES Use the tips below to create landing page content that is guaranteed to convert. WRITE YOUR LANDING PAGE COPY USING THESE 5 STEPS AS A GUIDE 1 Set up the problem. 2 Talk about the solution. 3 Point out the WIIFM (What s In It For Me). 4 Add a clear call-to-action. 5 Deliver the goods (such as an ebook, video, or webinar registration).

19 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION Your prospects are searching for what you sell, but will they find you? Search marketing is about prospects discovering you through search results and converting them into opportunities. The higher you rank in organic searches, the more people will find you.

20 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION Write 5 keyword phrases that are valuable to your business. Then use the Google Adwords Keyword tool to research CPC, CTR, and Conversion Rate. KEYWORD COST PER CLICK (CPC) CLICK THROUGH RATE (CTR) CONVERSION RATE URL

21 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION The MOZ guide below is an example of a perfectly optimized webpage.

22 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION Use the MOZ guide on the previous page to create your own perfectly optimized webpage. TARGETED KEYWORD HEADLINE PAGE TITLE IMAGE NAMES META DESCRIPTION URL BODY COPY

23 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION Use the clues below to find the most important aspects of on-page SEO CLUES DOWN 1. Text supporting the keyword focus for the page 2. Google uses these to understand what your webpage is about 3. What shows up in Google SERPs 4. is king ACROSS 1. The explanation of a webpage; also shown in SERPs 2. Direct path to a webpage 3. Abbreviation for a link 4. Time it takes to open a page 5. Synonymous with picture

24 SOCIAL MEDIA & LEAD GENERATION Using social media to brand your business isn t groundbreaking anymore. Been there, done that. Although social is still important for branding and generating buzz, it s also increasingly used for lead generation.

25 FACEBOOK Facebook ads provide highly targeted opportunities to reach your audience. They appear on the right side of a user s screen and are similar to traditional PPC ads: you place a bid on how much you want to pay per click, or you can pay per thousand people who see your ad. TAKE SOME TIME TO CREATE 3 DIFFERENT FACEBOOK ADS FOR VARIOUS ASPECTS OF YOUR BUSINESS. AD TITLE: BRIEF BODY COPY: CALL-TO-ACTION: AD TITLE: BRIEF BODY COPY: CALL-TO-ACTION: AD TITLE: BRIEF BODY COPY: CALL-TO-ACTION:

26 TWITTER We ve had great success placing Promoted Tweets in user feeds, targeted to followers and users who fit our criteria. We use Promoted Tweets to create demand for new content assets, upcoming events, or demos. Every Promoted Tweet that we run leads to a form, which improves our chances of gaining user data. CREATE 3 PROMOTED TWEETS THAT YOU CAN USE ON YOUR COMPANY S TWITTER ACCOUNT. REMEMBER, ONLY 140 CHARACTERS. PROMOTED TWEET: PROMOTED TWEET: PROMOTED TWEET:

27 LINKEDIN LinkedIn ads give companies the chance to target their audiences in powerful, unique ways. The information found on a user s LinkedIn profile is different from other social networks, and it s particularly helpful for businesses. CREATE 3 LINKEDIN ADS, AND REMEMBER LINKEDIN S AUDIENCE IS MORE PROFESSIONAL. MAKE SURE THESE ADS ARE DIFFERENT FROM YOUR FACEBOOK AND TWITTER ADS. AD TITLE: BRIEF BODY COPY: CALL-TO-ACTION: AD TITLE: BRIEF BODY COPY: CALL-TO-ACTION: AD TITLE: BRIEF BODY COPY: CALL-TO-ACTION:

28 BLOGGING BEST PRACTICES Unscramble the words below to learn how to make your blog a key piece to your lead generation strategies. 1 TEYAIRV 2 CETOXNT 3 ULVASSI 4 CAEERRHS 5 EHSCLDEU 6 TSCLIANAY 7 BEOAERSNPL 8 NIRSHGA 9 ENVELACRE 10 GSUETS Answers: Variety, context, visuals, research, schedule, analytics, personable, sharing, relevance, guests

29 MARKETING is a cornerstone and key component of many marketing campaigns. Whether you re hosting an event, publicizing a new piece of content, or promoting a new service offering, can deliver relationship-building communication at every stage of the funnel, especially to those leads already in your database.

30 MARKETING Follow these pro tips to write the perfect subject line for your . 1 FRAME YOUR SUBJECT LINE AS A QUESTION. Questions compel readers to open your s as they pause to consider the answer. 2 TRY A LIST. This is where your Top 10, 5 Tips, etc., subject lines come in. People gravitate toward short, easily digestible information. 3 MAKE A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPEAL. According to Copyblogger, the subject line You are not alone gets an average open rate of 90%. As you write your subject lines, keep basic human psychology in mind. 4 BE CONVERSATIONAL. Don t be afraid to use conversational language in a subject line. TRY WRITING A FEW SAMPLE SUBJECT LINES FOR YOUR NEXT SEND HERE:

31 PAID PROGRAMS Inbound marketing has been getting a lot of buzz lately, but a well-rounded marketing mix should include both inbound and paid techniques. Inbound marketing alone can t always drive people to buy, so smart marketers use outbound and paid techniques to introduce their businesses, amplify their messaging, and expose their content to leads.

32 PAID PROGRAMS Use the table below to create 5 pay-per-click (PPC) ads. You only have 25 characters for your headlines, and 70 characters for your copy. Remember to research keywords and track conversion rate regularly. KEYWORD OR PHRASE AD COPY URL

33 TELEPHONE-BASED LEAD GENERATION Telesales, or inside sales reps, can contribute greatly to successful lead generation. Your sales team qualifies your leads and adds a personal touch. An important distinction here: Telephone-based lead generation isn t the same as telemarketing. Telesales provides the human interaction needed to turn your marketing leads into opportunities and sales.

34 TELEPHONE-BASED LEAD GENERATION Use the worksheet below to help set expectations within your sales team. A How many meaningful activities ( , calls, etc.) do you want each sales rep to perform per day? B How many business days, on average, does your sales team work? C What percentage of the day does your sales team work on their inbound queue? Figure out how many meaningful activities each inside sales rep should complete every month. A B C The number of activities an inside sales rep should complete every month: Now, divide that number by 2.6 (the number of times, on average, an inside sales rep will call each lead). (A x B x C) / 2.6 = The number of quality leads an inside sales rep can work per month:

35 LEAD NURTURING Once you ve invested in your lead generation strategy, you ll want to get the most out of every lead. Many companies do a great job of generating Top-of-Funnel (TOFU) leads, but most new leads aren t yet ready to buy. That s where a solid Middle-of-Funnel (MOFU) strategy comes in.

36 CREATE A STAY-IN-TOUCH LEAD NURTURING CAMPAIGN Check the boxes after you complete each step and begin to strategically think about nurturing leads through the sales funnel. DAY 1: INTRODUCTORY Draft an that provides an interesting look into your business. DAY 10 Draft an offering new content related to first download and Web activity. DAY 15 Draft a sales that explains your products and services. DAY 30 Draft an offering a best practices ebook or video. DAY 45 Call from your sales rep to check in. DAY 75 Draft a personal from sales rep offering a demo.

37 TESTING & OPTIMIZATION When it comes to lead generation, the more you test, the more you know. You can t optimize your lead generation without first testing it, but many marketers don t know where to start testing. You need a clear plan of attack.

38 TESTING & OPTIMIZATION Use the 5 steps below to identify a testing strategy relevant to your business in order to increase the success of your campaigns. STEP 1: DEFINE SUCCESS. What are your ultimate success metrics? List 3 macro-conversions (end goals like clicks, conversions, and leads) and 3 micro-conversions (smaller steps you want leads to take, like watching a video or sharing a blog post) STEP 2: IDENTIFY BOTTLENECKS. Identify what isn t working. Perhaps you re getting a lot of traffic to a key website page, but people aren t actually converting or downloading your gated ebook. Ultimately, it s the bottleneck that you will want to test. STEP 3: CONSTRUCT A HYPOTHESIS. If no one s filling out your form, maybe you need to shorten the number of fields, move the form to a different part of the page, or change the download button color. Your first hypothesis might be that your forms will work better with 3 fields instead of 5. STEP 4: PRIORITIZE. Prioritize your hypotheses based on predicted impact. For instance, you might predict that moving your form will have more impact than shortening it, so test the new form location first. Depending on your resources, you can always run multiple tests. STEP 5: TEST. Testing is crucial! Turn to the next section to decide what type of tests you'll perform.

39 TESTING & OPTIMIZATION Now that you know the steps to take before you test, choose one of these types of tests for a few of your current campaigns. TYPES OF TESTING: A/B TESTING MULTIVARIATE TESTING Compares the conversion rates of two assets by splitting the traffic or sends. Compares a much larger number of variables to show a statistical significance. WHAT YOU WANT TO TEST TESTING TYPE

40 METRICS If you can confidently identify how your lead generation campaigns truly deliver financial returns, you ll lift your marketing team s influence and credibility even further. If you understand how your campaigns perform, you can also make the right strategic investments to improve results over time.

41 METRICS Below are some common metrics used when tracking lead generation. Check all below that could apply to your marketing campaigns. Marketing % of contribution to sales pipeline: The % of revenue in the sales pipeline (opportunities) that originated from marketing efforts Marketing % of contribution to closed revenue: The % of revenue in closed won deals that originated from marketing efforts Quantity of Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs): The number of SQLs passed on to your sales teams Quality of SQLs: The % of SQLs not rejected by sales Investment per Inquiry: Total lead acquisition investment, divided by the total number of inquiries Cost per Lead: Total campaign costs, divided by quantity of leads Inquiry to Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL): Conversion of initial inquiry to MQL MQL to Sales Accepted Lead (SAL): Conversion from MQL to SAL SAL to SQL: Conversion from SAL to SQL SQL to Opportunity: Conversion from SQL to Opportunity

42 LEAD GENERATION MAZE Lead gen is all about strategy and finding new ways to engage with your audience. Find your way around the roadblocks, and get to your customers! MARKETING START HERE CUSTOMER

43 We know that marketing is a tough job after all, we re marketers ourselves. Marketing to marketers is no easy task, but it s one we love. That s why we re happy to share our knowledge about lead generation via both inbound and outbound marketing. There s no perfect, one-size-fits-all approach to lead generation. Just use the channels and tactics that help you reach and engage your target audience. Keep their challenges, goals, and concerns top of mind; deliver information and content that solves their pain points; nurture those relationships, and engage them over time. You ll soon be filling your funnel with high-quality leads.

44 About Marketo: Marketing Software. Easy, Powerful, Complete. Marketo (NASDAQ: MKTO) provides the leading cloud-based marketing software platform for companies of all sizes to build and sustain engaging customer relationships. Spanning today s digital, social, mobile and offline channels, the Marketo solution includes a complete suite of applications that help organizations acquire new customers more efficiently, maximize customer loyalty and lifetime value, improve sales effectiveness, and provide analytical insight into marketing s contribution to revenue growth. Marketo s applications are known for their breakthrough ease-of-use, and are complemented by the Marketing Nation, a thriving network of more than 190 LaunchPoint ecosystem partners and over 40,000 marketers who share and learn from each other to grow their collective marketing expertise. The result for modern marketers is unprecedented agility and superior results. Headquartered in San Mateo, CA with offices in Europe and Australia, Marketo serves as a strategic marketing partner to more than 2,700 large enterprises and fast-growing small companies across a wide variety of industries. For more information, visit Marketo, the Marketo logo, Marketing Nation and LaunchPoint are trademarks of Marketo, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.