MODERN MARKETER S GUIDE TO B2B LIFECYCLE MARKETING Chapter 2: Lead Generation

MODERN MARKETER S GUIDE TO B2B LIFECYCLE MARKETING Chapter 2: Lead Generation

Chapter 2: Lead Generation - overview Introduction...3 The Modern Marketer...4 Lead Generation basics...5 Modern Marketing s influence on Lead Generation...6 Hello, my name is......7 Reading the signs...8 Filling the pipeline...8 What s in it for my business...8 Key take-aways...10 What s next...11 Gain Best Practices...11 2

Introduction 81% 76% 61% of all marketers agree that marketing has value and that value can be measured. of all marketers agree that marketing has changed more in the last two years than in the last 50. of all marketers agree that, for most companies, digital marketing approaches are in a constant cycle of trial and error. 1 These are telling results from a study of 1,000 U.S. marketers completed in Q3 of last year. The new world of on-demand technology has created as much confusion as it has opportunity. When new technologies are brought together with a more-informed-than-ever consumer, the result is the need for greater innovation in marketing to drive business success. Innovation, by definition, is the introduction of something new or different. However, innovation doesn t have to mean ahead of its time or complex. It simply requires greater understanding of the way we approach B2B lifecycle marketing. The Modern Marketer s Guide to B2B Lifecycle Marketing series was created to help you narrow your B2B lifecycle marketing focus through the eyes of your consumer. We ll share a blueprint for aligning your current lifecycle marketing efforts with the consumer decision-making journey from a Modern Marketers point-of-view (POV). At each decision step, we ll outline what questions to ask, what tools to apply, strategic considerations and the significance of integration. 1 Digital Distress: What Keeps Marketers Up at Night Adobe Systems Incorporated Study, 2013 3

The Modern Marketer Emerging from a world in which outbound campaigns, characterized by advertising and intuition predominated, today s modern marketer faces a new paradigm shift of inbound marketing programs driven by digital channels, served by multiple touches and measured by sophisticated technologies and where data analysis is king. 2 It s a pretty long definition for a simple concept. Modern Marketing is about the consumer. The data you have available about consumers. How you use technology to engage consumers. And of course, the measurement of the outcome from your efforts. Advancements in technology and a more empowered consumer have led to a marketing renaissance. A recent BtoB survey of over 500 B-to-B marketing professionals reveals seven areas that have contributed the most to the formation of the Modern Marketer: Ability to track marketing ROMI due to technology Use of social media in marketing 58 % 60 % Shift of power from the brand to the customer Maturation of demand generation and lead nurturing Emergence of mobile marketing 33 % 42 % 42 % Fragmentation of media 30 % Improvements in data cleansing 19 % 2 Defining the Modern Marketer: From Real to Ideal. BtoB in partnership with Oracle Eloqua, 2013 4

Lead Generation basics: Discovery Consumer decision step Discovery Marketing strategy Lead Generation Marketing objective Commonly used tools for B2B Lead Generation Drive awareness and enter consideration set Content PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Remarketing / Retargeting Behavioral targeting Display advertising List procurement Email marketing Marketing Automation CRM integration Mail Outbound telemarketing (OBTM) Sales team These are the basics... and they re basic for a reason. Keep your approach simple. Remember, complex does not necessarily equal better, so don t over complicate. Continue learning, work to not repeat mistakes and, most importantly, capitalize on successes. 5

Modern Marketing s influence on Lead Generation B2B lifecycle marketing Participating in the business consumer s decision-making journey GAIN ACTION STEP MIGRATE Migrate your message and turn product-focused pieces into consumer-centric communications. For decades, companies have been promising to delight customers while simultaneously disappointing them in nearly every channel. That tactic no longer works. Why not Because we ve entered a new era that Forrester calls the Age of the Customer. 3 Modern Lead Generation begins much earlier in the lifecycle than before. Educational content is more accessible because of information availability and social channels. Businesses have become more savvy about creating and sharing content to engage a Suspect*. And audiences have become informed consumers way before they reach the purchasing step. Providing valuable content to Suspects over time, creates awareness, educates audiences and can help move a business into the purchasing Consideration Set. Being viewed as a thought leader in a specific category gives a brand credibility, allowing it to stand out in a crowd. A recent Forrester study showed that consumers could be anywhere from two-thirds to 90% of the way through their decision-making journey before they contact a vendor. Consumers can now delay talking to sales until they are very familiar with their options. Acting as a resource for audiences is what can help differentiate a Lead Generation effort within the decision-making journey. Without establishing credibility, your opportunity for driving new interest diminishes. In the following pages, we outline 4 key considerations for your Lead Generation program. * Suspect: someone who has not shown interest in your product or service, but may share similar characteristics of a current customer. 3 Forrester Perspective: The Business Impact of the Customer Experience, June 2013 6

1. Hello, My Name Is... GAIN ACTION STEP COHESION Make sure your message and POV are aligned across all channels. Having a single, consistent voice is critical to communicating your POV and separating you from other brands in your category. Welcome to the Discovery phase. Before you can start a relationship with a consumer, they need to know you exist. Creating awareness for your brand and your USP has been made much easier, and more cost-effective, through technology. PPC, behavioral targeting and display advertising are great ways to get your brand and POV in front of your target consumers. To stand out during the Discovery phase, it is important to provide as much relevant and meaningful content as possible. Once you ve collected contact information, now it s time to start getting your message out with a Suspect / drip campaign. Email lists are relatively easy to procure if you know who you want to talk to. Being the Discovery phase, this is not the time for the hard sell. No one wants to be sold by someone they aren t familiar with. Remain focused on the key objective of Lead Generation and that is to drive awareness and create interest in your offering. As you gather information on your target groups, use it to build your own opt-in Lead Generation database, develop contact rules to minimize opt-outs. Don t over-communicate. Simply inform. GAIN ACTION STEP STREAMLINE Marketing Automation is a hot topic heading into 2014. As the data shows, 53% of the B2B marketing audience is actively using marketing automation technologies, while an additional 17% are in the process of evaluating or considering implementation. 4 Driving newly aware and intrigued parties to take advantage of content is a great way to collect data on your Suspect and qualify their level of interest. Marketing Automation (MA) is another great tool available to assist you it allows you to tailor your email communications and use dynamic content for a more customized and engaging experience. Data collected within forms in your MA platform can be synchronized with your CRM system to keep information consistent in both systems. This will allow both sales and marketing to keep abreast of leads that are coming through the pipeline. Additionally, tracking the interactions your leads have with your content provides the input to feed a scoring model; this will allow you to rank your leads based on their level of engagement. By implementing lead scoring of your leads activities in your MA platform, you can set alerts in your CRM system to trigger and notify sales of opportunities, empowering them to reach out when buying signs are exhibited. 4 Majority of B2B Marketers Use Marketing Automation with Multiple Strategies in Mind. KoMarketing Associates, 2013 7

2. Reading the signs. GAIN ACTION STEP MOTIVATE When remarketing to site visitors, be sure to give them a reason to come back to your site. Offering value-added content is a good way to validate their decision to revisit and motivate them to provide their contact information. As a consumer winds their way through their Discovery phase, they create a digital footprint. That information can be used to better target them with relevant content and migrate them through the process. Capturing and interpreting this information can provide insights into the Suspect s needs and help you respond with specific content focused on those needs. It also provides you with feedback on what channels are performing best and which you should revisit. 3. Filling the pipeline. As a consumer realizes they have a need and begins the decision-making journey, their behavior provides insight into their readiness to purchase. Remarketing is an effective tool to drive consumers who have explored your website back to it to continue exploring, or provide them additional relevant information. By scoring your site visitors based on any number of criteria, you can gauge their level of interest. You can then begin migrating your most promising Suspects through to your Prospect* Lead Nurturing program. The more value they see in the content you provide to help them address their need, the more confidence and trust they place in your brand. This trust is critical in a sea of brands vying for their attention. And it can carry them (and you) into the next stage of the decisionmaking journey. 4. What s in it for my business Moving away from a product-feature focus, toward a consumer-needs focus requires a shift in mindset from what can I say about my product to what s in it for the consumer This change in perspective can be managed and tested into, without creating upheaval with a wholesale change. * Prospect: someone who has shown interest in your product or service by providing their contact information 3 Forrester Perspective: The Business Impact of the Customer Experience, June 2013 8

Marketers should track the effect of their new mindset throughout the consumer decision-making journey with closed loop reporting and make adjustments along the way. These analytics can be accessed anytime, adjustments can be made, and learning is continuous all while the Lead Generation program continues to operate. Ultimately, marketers are responsible for measuring success and meeting goals. The vast analytics available through PPC, display advertising, remarketing, and in most Marketing Automation platforms, allows you to see how campaigns are performing with a dashboard view. Identify Qualify Relate Automate 9

Key take-aways Every business consumer goes through a decision-making journey. A majority of consumers are incredibly informed well before they make personal contact or a buying decision. Relevant content can help migrate a Suspect to a Prospect. Consumers provide a blueprint for how they want to interact with your brand. The tools are available to reach out and start a dialog, use them within your marketing strategy with a single branded voice with the consumer as your filter. To-do s What tools do you have available to you Are they in house Do you have the resources to implement and manage those efforts Assess all your marketing efforts to determine if they are all speaking the same language if not, identify those that are using your approved voice. Could you use an outside perspective 10

What s next You ve just read the Modern Marketer s Guide to B2B Lifecycle Marketing Chapter 2: Lead Generation Chapter 3 of the Modern Marketer s Guide to B2B Lifecycle Marketing Lead Nurturing provides insights into how to apply a Modern Marketer s perspective to the Lead Nurturing process, using the consumer s POV. MODERN MARKETER S GUIDE TO B2B LIFECYCLE MARKETING Chapter 3: Lead Nurturing Want more on this subject We know you re busy. That s why we ve developed the quick-read Best Practices for our chapter on Lead Generation. It s a helpful guide chock-full of useful tips and insights on developing or enhancing your Lead Generation strategy. Click the link or paste it in your browser to download now. www./leadgenbestpractices About Gain Gain is a group of modern marketers challenging the way mid-market businesses approach and participate in the B2B consumer decision-making journey. Interested in learning more Contact Collin Trost at 404/351-1700 or ctrost@. 11