Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Lead Generation MGT PDF
Lead Generation MGT PDF
Lead Generation MGT PDF
LEAD
GENERATION
AND
MANAGEMENT
For
SMB
Sales
and
Marketing
B2B Research Insights Lead Generation and Management for SMB Sales & Marketing
Marketers need to communicate internally the importance of lead generation, cooperate closely with sales
throughout the process, and generate well-qualified leads that sales can turn into revenue. And while the
adoption of lead-gen programs is increasingly mainstream and growing yearly, it is making its most
substantial inroads among small-to-midsized companies.
“Lead Generation and Management for SMB Sales & Marketing” takes a look at the factors behind successful
lead-generation strategies and tactics, with findings most pertinent to the SMB marketer and sales director:
60% of the respondents to this study represent companies of $100 million or less in annual revenue, and with
fully 47% from companies with $25 million or less. Included are important trends among marketer-sales
peers, including lead-gen techniques, cross-department cooperation, and metrics and technology, along with
recommended action items revealed by the data.
CONTENTS
6. Pathways to progress
✓ Methodology
✓ Contributors
In partnership with
encourage mutual working to improve cooperation between these two essential functions, and
many don’t bother even trying. Those companies that encourage mutual
cooperation between cooperation between marketing and sales can gain significant competitive
marketing and sales advantages.
can gain significant
competitive 3. Metrics and assessment. Marketers say it is essential to use analytics,
advantages. employ closed-loop analysis, calculate and show ROI, and support
accountability. Basic to this effort is improving database management and
data hygiene – both important elements in the lead-gen process. Also key:
understanding buyer personas, the buyer’s journey, the nurturing process, engaging
with buyers via multiple touch points, and defining criteria for the hand-off to sales.
However, marketers to date are far from fully integrating online and offline marketing
tactics. Just 18% of survey respondents indicate that they are “very” or “fully” integrated,
indicative perhaps of the newness of many digital campaign efforts, and a lack of
analytical tools to determine optimum points of integration (Figure 2).
Marketers are clear about the efforts and challenges required to improve their lead-
generation processes and successes. No. 1 is having more and better content that
demonstrates their company’s expertise. This is followed by a stronger website, as well as
better segmenting, scoring, and qualification (Figure 3).
What else holds marketers back from fuller adoption of lead-generation techniques and
the nurturing required to hand well-prepared, strong leads off to sales? Not surprisingly,
lack of resources often is cited, but it’s more complex than mere allocation of funds. For
almost half, the depth and accuracy of the database are significant obstacles (Figure 4).
Lead nurturing is
more dependent
on content
marketing, with
newsletters and
white papers
leading the way.
Marketers also are clear about the methods they believe are most effective in nurturing
leads: There is a strong confluence of opinion around sales calls, webinars, newsletters,
thought leadership, and white papers. Marketers are also deploying webinars to a much
greater extent as a means of acquiring and nurturing leads, as well as social media, blog
posts, and videos. Given that sales calls are considered the most effective method of
nurturing leads (57%), followed closely by newsletters (53%) and white papers (50%), a
productive nurturing scheme would be sales and marketing working together to plan the
timing and cadence of both sales and marketing touches within one campaign.
For marketing’s part, clearly content is paramount in the lead-nurturing process (Figure 6).
PATHWAYS TO PROGRESS
While there is a strong commitment to content marketing in general, there is little attempt
to ensure that the content is targeted and pertinent to the buyer’s stage in the journey.
When marketers were asked where in the sales funnel their
The most productive nurturing lead-nurturing efforts are deployed, 59% said they make no
scheme will likely be one in attempt to consider any stage where buyers are considering
which sales and marketing their purchase (Figure 7). When marketers do cite a specific
stage employing lead nurturing, most cite the mid-funnel (21%).
work together to plan the Only 6% use nurturing at the bottom of the funnel on behalf of
timing and cadence of both sales acceleration.
sales and marketing touches
within one campaign.
The current state of lead nurturing might be viewed as relatively unsophisticated overall,
since B2B marketers often still defer to the sales department and its reps to “warm up”
customers and prospects with sales calls. However, subtle types of nurturing
Competitive approaches are gaining favor, with an emphasis on educational materials that
advantages may be address problem solving.
gained with lead
nurturing tailored to
where buyers are in
the sales funnel.
■ It is not surprising that SMB marketers view their vendor partners as extensions of
their team and marketing staff. This is contingent on the professionalism of the vendor:
its ability to communicate the metrics that produce strong ROI, whether it offers easy-
to-use software, and how easy it is to do business with. It’s telling that the vendor is
perceived as a team member—not merely a vendor.
■ Small to mid-size companies are much more likely than large companies to
characterize a request for a sales contact as a potent criterion for a lead. This may
explain why SMBs tend to rely more on the sales team versus the marketing team to
qualify a lead. Relying more on the marketing function, in vigorous cooperation with
sales expertise, can help SMBs better identify lead stages in order to be more
competitive.
■ SMBs tend to rely on case studies and anecdotes as marketing content, which then is
used to engage prospects in their problem-solving process. SMBs also prefer videos
and blogs for the same purpose. Expanding this to include white papers and research-
based thought leadership, already used effectively by larger companies, can help
establish smaller companies as category leaders, in the same vein that enterprise
companies are striving to do. This could be particularly effective in the branding effort,
which SMBs tend to ignore.
Methodology
Ad Age | BtoB’s study is based on a survey of 282 business marketers conducted in June
and July 2013. Of those, 60% were from companies with less than $100 million in annual
revenue, although 18% reported annual revenue of $1 billion and more. Technology
companies predominated, at 32% of all respondents, with financial services, consulting,
nontechnical, and medical/pharmaceutical companies also represented.