Originally published on B2B LeadBlog
We surveyed 1,915 marketers for the 2012 MarketingSherpa Lead Generation Benchmark Report, and asked them about their most widely used lead gen practices. Here is what the data says…
Q. Which of the following lead generation tactics does your organization currently use?
Click to enlarge
To help you improve your own lead generation efforts, here are some insights and tips from our audience…
Email Marketing
“Interesting chart, Daniel — thank you for sharing it with us. Do you have any correlation between method and its associated level of effectiveness?” asked Hank Boyer, president and CEO, Boyer Management Group. “For example, email marketing may be the most-used method, and often has the distinction of replacing junk mail with junk email…however, its level of effectiveness is likely pretty low on the list.”
Jann Mirchandani, owner and chief marketing officer, Marketing Café, added “This chart is interesting in that it shows which tactics are being used. It does not, however, show which tactics are producing results. I would argue that email marketing is a tactic that most business owners understand and have been using a long time.”
Excellent points Jann and Hank, so let’s take review at a chart that shows which tactics are producing results.
Looking at some further data from the 2012 Lead Generation Benchmark Report that shows level of effectiveness, we can see that Hank has a valid point in his skepticism of email marketing being the most commonly used lead generation tactic for many marketers, however, he may be underestimating this lead generation tactic’s effectiveness:
Q. Please indicate the LEVEL OF EFFECTIVENESS (in terms of achieving objectives) for each of the lead generation tactics your organization is using.
Click to enlarge
“Is email a lead gen tactic?” asks Brecht of Distressedpro.com. “If you have the email already, isn’t that the lead?”
That’s an excellent point Brecht, but it brings up another question in my mind — Is an email address really a lead? For some companies it may be, but your marketing team should have a Universal Lead Definition, mutually agreed upon with Sales, that defines exactly what a lead is. I would argue a true “lead” is whatever information most efficiently and effectively leads to a sale.
But that’s just my two cents. Here’s how Tommy Landry, founder, Return On Now addresses the question after he himself raises it?
“While I concur that email is the most important medium to get right, I question whether it should be considered a lead gen vehicle at all. If you are emailing them, they are already on your list of leads.”
“Using email right means that you are just catching existing leads at the right time to move along into the sales funnel,” Tommy says. “But I’m splitting hairs, and email remains the most important marketing tool for identifying ‘hot’ leads.”
Search engine optimization (SEO)
As we can see in the above chart, SEO was rated as very effective by a third of marketers, and this tracks with Hank’s experience.
“Our company recently rebuilt its website and we utilize both SEO and optimized Web design to enhance stickiness and click through,” Hank said.
“Early analytics from the site shows a significant improvement in traffic and time spent on the site. We believe this has been achieved by the inclusion of quizzes and assessments and relevant blog content, plus enhancements to the site’s navigation.”
Website optimization/management/design
On the MarketingExperiments blog (sister blog to the B2B Lead Blog Roundtable), we’ve found website optimization to be a very effective tactic, with double- and triple-digit lifts in reach for marketers.
If you are looking to optimize your own website to improve lead generation, here are a few tips from Tommy:
Website optimization goes beyond just the words on the page. It requires strategic long-term thinking and ongoing adjustment.
- Is your site usability as good as it can be, so prospects can self-identify as easily as possible?
- Does the design indicate that you are a serious business or look like you are a fly-by-night operation?
- Is the content on it valuable, written well, and easily scannable by busy users?
- Do the pages load as fast as possible or should you tweak your infrastructure, hosting, or CMS/theme?
The questions go on, but the premise remains the same — have you optimized the user experience of dealing with you online? The website is a huge part of that experience, so get it right. Source — Online Demand Generation: Top Media Vehicles for Driving Leads
Content Marketing
“Content marketing works! If you don’t believe me, check the Alexa rank of Return On Now,” Tommy said. “We kicked off a content marketing program in early July 2012, when our Alexa rank was just under 2.3M. The last I checked, it was closing in on 607K.”
If you’re looking for an example of content marketing, let me do a little horn tooting for just a second, and suggest you look no further than this blog and the MarketingSherpa article that prompted the responses you are reading now.
At least, so says Rebecca Caroe, founder, Creative Agency Secrets, “Daniel — great chart, great blog post and a superb way to demonstrate leadership in lead gen is to follow your tactics:
- Enable future content to be written based on submitted readers’ views.”
If you’d like to be featured in a future blog post, simply sign up for the free MarketingSherpa Chart of the Week newsletter and share your actionable advice on a marketing industry chart that tickles your fancy.
Related resources
Why 75% of Marketers Are Experiencing Lead Generation Pain and How to Stop It Before It’s Too Late
Lead Generation Strategy: 5 signs you’re selling like it’s 1992
Coaching a new biz dev executive…. part 4
There are times when one marketing tactic seems to totally dominate the discussion. In recent years, social media has been in that mix, and mobile and its various form factors and latest upgrade release dates are pretty top of mind for plugged-in marketers.
