Today we will explore several lead generation strategies that begin with the letter "Q":
Questionnaire:
Questionnaires or surveys are a great way to generate leads and gather more information about your prospects and customers in the process. You can leverage the phone, direct mail, email, or your website to ask questions about industry trends, business need, budget allocations, processes used, technology or just about anything that will allow you to gain a greater insight. People respond to questionnaires if there is a perceived benefit, such as getting the results of the survey for free, a coupon to Starbucks, a free trial, etc. Over time, you can develop themes for your questionnaires and add these to your thought leadership repertoire.
Quizzes:
People always like to test their knowledge, especially if they are industry veterans. Hosting an online quiz that gets updated regularly is a great way to build a loyal following and also gauge just what people do and do not know. Use the gaps in knowledge to create more targeted product and service offerings. Don't forget to offer a small prize for the best scores as an additional inducement.
Stay tuned for the letter R...
Friday, October 26, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
Why Delta Doesn't Get It
I was flying from Atlanta to Dayton, OH to visit a client and was sitting in first class. A couple on their honeymoon came on board. He was in the Air Force. For some reason, the woman got upgraded and ended up sitting next to me. Her husband was in coach. Half of the first class seats were empty. The woman asked the flight attendant politely if her husband could move up and sit with her. The flight attendant said she wasn't in charge and would have to check. She ended up doing nothing, so I decided to help the woman out and motioned the managing flight attendant over. I explained the situation. After 5 minutes of conferencing and furiously looking at paper, he came back and said there was nothing they can do. Mind you, this was an hour flight; at most this was going to cost a glass of wine. Here we have a patriot for our country on the plane, a newly married couple - imagine all the goodwill that would generate. Instead, Delta chose to follow some stupid rule, alienate passengers and show once again why the airline industry is losing so much money. They don't understand the customer, and obviously don't care enough to make the extra effort. As a frequent flyer, I found this to be very disturbing. When will the airline industry wake up and deliver an experience that actually helps the customer?
Monday, October 8, 2007
Lead Generation Strategies That Start With "P"
Today we explore the letter "P' for lead generation strategies:
Podcasts.
One of the hallmarks of Web 2.0 strategies, podcasts allow you to deliver audio and video presentations via the web. Since it leverages multiple senses, it allows your target audience to interact with your website much more effectively than just reading text. Podcasts can be effective for playing archived webinars and seminars, interviews, customer testimonials, analyst briefings, and many more. Use your imagination. Think of your website not as a place to store written text, but as a multimedia platform. The possibilities are endless.
Personalization.
In today's marketplace, we are bombarded with saels messaging from multiple channels. Marketers that take the time to personalize their messaging and market one-to-one will yield a much greater return. You may have received a direct mail piece that has your name on it and a unique URL. When you type in the URL you are directed to a page that seems to speak directly to you. Email sent with dynamic content that tailors to your demographics and interests is another form of this tactic. Websites that allow you to self-select your interests and needs and then morph the pages to your profile and remember you the next time you come back are perhaps the holy grail of this strategy. Whatever you do, remember that everyone wants to be treated as an individual, even if they fit in a larger marketing profile.
Public Relations.
PR is still one of the most cost-effective strategies you can leverage to drive demand. But you shouldn't settle for a PR firm who can't tell you what kind of demand they are driving for your business. Impressions are yesterday's metric. Instead of using generic URL's in your press releases and articles, insert specific links to a dedicated landing page that will reinforce the PR program. Then use your web tracking software to measure the number of hits and subsequent conversions. Tie your PR firm to performance rather than expensive monthly retainers.
Partners/Channels.
Selling indirect through the channel can be a very effective strategy for growing your business. Over time, investing in a channel strategy can deliver superior leverage and grow your business exponentially. It does take a good 18 months for any good program to start showing solid benefits. You also need to be prepared to invest a considerable amount of time and energy up front to get the program up and running. In most cases, the partners you recruit will not have your product as their primary product or service, so it takes extra attention and a good economic return for them to get established. Once you have gotten the program going, your costs of sale drop significantly and you can see some solid positive growth.
Personas.
Instead of trying to track 100+ fields of data, consider aggregating your prospects into several categories and label those categories. For example, "Set and Steady" may be a 50 year-old male CIO with 2 children who is risk adverse and relies on a tight circle of contacts to advise him on key decisions. An "Up and Comer" may be a 34 year-old woman who is assertive and willing to take risks. She is an avid reader and uses research along with instinct to make decisions. Neither is right or wrong. They are just possible representations of your target audience. Once you identify the profiles that most likely describe your prospects, it is much easier to market to those profiles or personas. Your prospects will think you are marketing directly to them, but what you are really doing is marketing to the representation of who they are; attempting to guide their thoughts and actions based on perceived behavior or anticipation of what they will do. This is a very powerfule form of marketing and is really starting to have an impact in B2B.
Stay tuned for the letter "Q".
Podcasts.
One of the hallmarks of Web 2.0 strategies, podcasts allow you to deliver audio and video presentations via the web. Since it leverages multiple senses, it allows your target audience to interact with your website much more effectively than just reading text. Podcasts can be effective for playing archived webinars and seminars, interviews, customer testimonials, analyst briefings, and many more. Use your imagination. Think of your website not as a place to store written text, but as a multimedia platform. The possibilities are endless.
Personalization.
In today's marketplace, we are bombarded with saels messaging from multiple channels. Marketers that take the time to personalize their messaging and market one-to-one will yield a much greater return. You may have received a direct mail piece that has your name on it and a unique URL. When you type in the URL you are directed to a page that seems to speak directly to you. Email sent with dynamic content that tailors to your demographics and interests is another form of this tactic. Websites that allow you to self-select your interests and needs and then morph the pages to your profile and remember you the next time you come back are perhaps the holy grail of this strategy. Whatever you do, remember that everyone wants to be treated as an individual, even if they fit in a larger marketing profile.
Public Relations.
PR is still one of the most cost-effective strategies you can leverage to drive demand. But you shouldn't settle for a PR firm who can't tell you what kind of demand they are driving for your business. Impressions are yesterday's metric. Instead of using generic URL's in your press releases and articles, insert specific links to a dedicated landing page that will reinforce the PR program. Then use your web tracking software to measure the number of hits and subsequent conversions. Tie your PR firm to performance rather than expensive monthly retainers.
Partners/Channels.
Selling indirect through the channel can be a very effective strategy for growing your business. Over time, investing in a channel strategy can deliver superior leverage and grow your business exponentially. It does take a good 18 months for any good program to start showing solid benefits. You also need to be prepared to invest a considerable amount of time and energy up front to get the program up and running. In most cases, the partners you recruit will not have your product as their primary product or service, so it takes extra attention and a good economic return for them to get established. Once you have gotten the program going, your costs of sale drop significantly and you can see some solid positive growth.
Personas.
Instead of trying to track 100+ fields of data, consider aggregating your prospects into several categories and label those categories. For example, "Set and Steady" may be a 50 year-old male CIO with 2 children who is risk adverse and relies on a tight circle of contacts to advise him on key decisions. An "Up and Comer" may be a 34 year-old woman who is assertive and willing to take risks. She is an avid reader and uses research along with instinct to make decisions. Neither is right or wrong. They are just possible representations of your target audience. Once you identify the profiles that most likely describe your prospects, it is much easier to market to those profiles or personas. Your prospects will think you are marketing directly to them, but what you are really doing is marketing to the representation of who they are; attempting to guide their thoughts and actions based on perceived behavior or anticipation of what they will do. This is a very powerfule form of marketing and is really starting to have an impact in B2B.
Stay tuned for the letter "Q".
Lead Generation Strategies That Start With The Letter "O"
Today we look at the letter "O":
Offer: If content is your number one priority, then your offer should be a strong number two. To shake people out of their complacency, a strong offer is needed to motivate them to take action. The offer should be related to your product or service. Giving away a free iPod is nice and will drive traffic, but it doesn't usually relate to your core business (unless you are in Telco). Studies have shown that C-level executives don't respond well to discounted offers early in the sales cycle. Consider offering a benchmark analysis, audit or some other service that will have an immediate and deep impact on your prospect's business. Free trials can be effective, along with private access to an industry expert or analysis. View your cycle not as the seller, but as the buyer. What does your prospect need at any given point of time to move to the next step? Once you determine that, you will have greater clarity on what offer you should provide.
Stay tuned for the letter "P"
Offer: If content is your number one priority, then your offer should be a strong number two. To shake people out of their complacency, a strong offer is needed to motivate them to take action. The offer should be related to your product or service. Giving away a free iPod is nice and will drive traffic, but it doesn't usually relate to your core business (unless you are in Telco). Studies have shown that C-level executives don't respond well to discounted offers early in the sales cycle. Consider offering a benchmark analysis, audit or some other service that will have an immediate and deep impact on your prospect's business. Free trials can be effective, along with private access to an industry expert or analysis. View your cycle not as the seller, but as the buyer. What does your prospect need at any given point of time to move to the next step? Once you determine that, you will have greater clarity on what offer you should provide.
Stay tuned for the letter "P"
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