A handy checklist for successful B2B lead management

July 31, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

So much attention is devoted to online lead-generating mechanisms (SEO, PPC, etc.) that much less is given to the less glamorous activities involved in properly handling those leads, once acquired.  And in these recessionary times, leads are just much too precious to waste by mishandling them.

So along comes Mac McIntosh in his Sales Lead Report with a brief checklist of things you must take a hard look at and ensure they’re in good working order:

Fulfillment of requested information.  If it’s all-electronic, no problem;  if you provide a hard-copy/snail-mail option, your process can’t be too snail-like.
Lead database (CRM).  By now, most B2Bs have one;  less common is finding that it is fed promptly with new leads and updated by Marketing and Sales as a result of each nurturing “touch”.
Process for lead distribution to Sales, and a universally-agreed definition of a qualified lead.  Marketing/Sales coordination is where far too many B2Bs fall down, at the cost of wasted leadgen investment and morale in both functions.  Mac gives some success pointers in his piece, but much more guidance is available “out there” (e.g., this post – and many others – from Brian Carroll’s blog).
Nurturing program.  Probably you have one, but it may need a tune-up.  Do some testing to ensure that your email (messages and frequency), move-along offers and telemarketing are all working optimally.
Measurement.  Especially in tight times, it’s critical to report on how these programs are working.  You should know (at minimum) cost per lead, cost per qualified lead, and cost per sale;  which leadgen programs produce the highest ROI;  which nurturing techniques are working and which aren’t.

There’s no real rocket science here;  but it can be easy to forget that your lead pipeline is a chain, and any weak or missing link can negate all the good done in the other steps.

Filed Under: B2B Web Strategy, Lead Generation ·

Three top tips you haven’t read before on writing more effective PPC ads

July 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

In these times when every dollar counts, I wanted to provide some actionable tips for writing better pay per click (PPC) ad copy …beyond the elementary hints that can be found almost anywhere on the Web.  They can be introduced – and hopefully remembered – using just three words:

Empathize     ***     Identify     ***     Specify

B2B advertisers need to empathize with their buyer’s needs.
Users are searching because they must satisfy a need, or have a problem that needs solving.  Recalling our blog post “Is your website selling when it should be solving?”, marketers already have a general understanding (and God help them if they don’t!) of their buyers’ problems which their product solves.  So, leveraging that understanding…

Create ads that empathize with buyers by addressing [Read more...]

Filed Under: B2B Web Strategy, PPC ·

Writing for the Web – a refresher course

July 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Though a bit of a dust-off from the files, Anne Stuart’s piece for Inc. on this evergreen subject has some timeless advice, well worth another read.  Starting with the well-worn research that Web “readers” actually scan in a headlong rush, looking for specific items of interest, Anne encapsulates her recommended approach in “the three S’s”:

Make it scannable.  Place the most important information at the top of each document.  Precede longer documents with brief executive summaries.  Make liberal use of headlines, subheads, bullet points, “Q&A” format, bolding and color for emphasis.  But avoid mixing too many fonts, or using underlining for anything except links.

Keep it short.  Use non-complex sentences (general guideline: 20 to 25 words max);  break up long paragraphs (rule of thumb: 3-5 sentences max).  Write less:  usability research indicates that the most effective Web documents are 50% shorter than their print counterparts.

Segment your content.  Use a “drill-down” approach:  split long material into smaller chunks, linking them to the top-level document and to each other.  Consider presenting some information as checklists, pulled quotes, sidebars, primers, glossaries, “at a glance” boxes, charts or graphs, FAQ documents.

Anne’s bottom line:  “Write Web content you’d like to read yourself, and present it the way you’d like to read it. Chances are your Web readers will view it the same way.”  A final great feature of her article is the concluding “Resources” list, including books, Web documents and discussion groups;  it’s worth the click over just for that.

Filed Under: B2B Web Strategy, Engagement, Web Design ·

Yahoo + Bing: a ding for Google??

July 29, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Yahoo and Microsoft today announced their joint search/advertising partnership, a deal that had been gestating since the turnover from Jerry Yang to Carol Bartz at Yahoo.  “The reason the deal happened now is the recent success of Bing.  I think it put pressure on Yahoo, as well as Yahoo not being able to turn it around on its own,” according to Gartner Inc. analyst Neil MacDonald.

Under the arrangement:

  • Yahoo search results will be powered by Bing
  • Bing Paid Search will be handled by Yahoo, though the technology will be Bing’s
  • Yahoo will gain limited access to users’ Bing search data, enabling it to better target ad presentation

The deal allows both companies to focus on their core competencies:  Microsoft can focus on technology and Yahoo on marketing and sales.  It also enables them to challenge Google’s stranglehold on the search marketplace:  65% (Comscore data), while together MS and Yahoo account for only about 28% of US search market share (Google’s dominance in the rest of the world is even greater, where those numbers are 67 to 11%).  If Bing’s early buzz continues, additional search market share should come its way;  and Yahoo’s reach will clearly put Bing in front of many more eyeballs.

But one shouldn’t get overly excited yet;  this deal will take time, because there are some tough hurdles to overcome – antitrust, technology and privacy.  In the best case, the deal isn’t expected to close until early next year, and then it could take another two years before all the pieces are in place worldwide …and that’s if Google’s expected negative lobbying effort with antitrust regulators doesn’t succeed.

Is this something that B2B marketers need to respond to?  I think not.  If you’re like most of our B2B clients, your search traffic is 80–85% Google-based …well above the US average.  If you’re thinking about PPC advertising on the new platform to augment your Google visibility, other engines are probably more suitable to advertise on:  Business.com (general), Capterra.com (software), ThomasNet (industrial) and Globalspec (engineering).  But stay tuned, of course…

Filed Under: B2B Web Strategy, Search Engine Marketing ·

Twitter this way, expect revenue returns

July 28, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Twitter recently released a how-to guide called Twitter 101.  While we sift through it to find more material for a longer post, Jeff Cohen has already done this and posted a brief summary over at Social Media B2B.  Some of the points he gleaned from the Guide:

It’s about relationships. Hmmm… social media is about relationships;  B2B selling is often characterized as “relationship selling”.  It’s a clear-cut congruence that we’ve pointed out in… oh, maybe 3 or 4 previous posts.  Even B2B buyers are people first, who buy from people they trust;  and trust grows out of relationships.

It’s real-time. Buyers who have questions will expect responses today, not next week or month;  and they will tend to value those vendors who understand this and respond appropriately.  If everything your company says in public has to be approved by a VP and/or Legal, Twitter is probably not going to be your vehicle.  Empower your employees and trust the training you’ve invested in them.

Measure the value. Initially, simple numbers (followers, mentions, responses) will do.  As time goes on, you’ll want to develop metrics that more explicitly tie Twitter usage to leads and sales;  and hopefully some of these will begin to gain industry currency soon.

Or you can rely on the recent ENGAGEMENTdb study (conducted by Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group), which shows that companies measured as having “the greatest breadth and depth of social media engagement” grew revenues by 18% over the last year, while the least-engaged companies dropped 6% on average.  Yes, it’s only a correlation… but there’s no question which of those groups you want to be in.

Filed Under: B2B Web Strategy, Online Marketing, Social Media ·

Still more evidence: social media not just a fad for B2Bs

July 27, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

B2B marketers need to take note of where social media usage really is, according to recent research (summarized in BtoB “Top Agency”) conducted by Michael Stelzner and sponsored by Social Media Success Summit 2009.

Survey respondents identified the benefits of social media marketing as:

#1:  gaining more attention for their business
#2:  improving traffic and growing marketing lists
#3:  building new partnerships

In addition, more than 50% said a major benefit was improvement in search engine rankings.

Some other moderately surprising findings of the study…

  • 88% of marketers are employing some form of social media.
  • 90% of business owners are most likely to use social media.

This is looking more and more like a train that has left the station …hopefully with your B2B on board!

Filed Under: B2B Web Strategy, Online Marketing, Social Media ·

Guidelines for a more efficient website redesign project

July 24, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Since a large part of our business is website redesigns, we’re always motivated to pass along info that can help our clients streamline the process.  Here, MarketingSherpa discusses the recipe used by Bert DuMars of Newell Rubbermaid (if you’re thinking, “Oh snap, a B2C”, you should know that they also have sizable commercial/industrial lines of business).  While a bit of it may be overkill for many of our clients – Bert is responsible for literally dozens of brand websites – most is quite relevant.

Much of his focus is on making the redesign successful the first time, which means that most of the heavy lifting happens before the redesign actually starts:

  • Get user feedback from both online surveys and click-stream data;  this will illuminate improvements needed in information architecture, navigation, search, content and graphics.  (For Rubbermaid, this process begins as much as a full year ahead.)
  • Update the brand’s strategy before starting;  no need to elaborate on the project elongation that will result from updating the strategy during the redesign.
  • Assign one in-house person to oversee the project;  having someone coordinate Marketing, IT, the other stakeholders and external support helps the redesign project go so much smoother and faster.

Finally, DuMars suggests resisting the tendency to try to satisfy everyone, vs. simply the great majority;  there will always be a group of people who don’t like something about your new site.  Also, focus on solving the major problems, vs. small aesthetic issues.

Filed Under: B2B Web Strategy ·
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