Does your lead generation technique still work?
Everybody knows that B2B marketing is now going through a lot of major changes. The things that have worked before may not bring in the same kind of results in today’s extremely competitive business environment. As such, marketing professionals should look for ways to identify new trends that can help them deliver results.?
According to the B2B Lead Generation Marketing Trends 2013 Survey Results, generating high quality leads remain to be the biggest challenge for most B2B marketers. Converting leads into customers, creating meaningful content, demonstrating return on investment (ROI) and sourcing high quality data and leads are also among the challenges most B2B marketers face. ?
The same survey also indicated that inbound marketing will emerge as the most effective lead generation tactic for 2013 and beyond. As such, having a company website along with an effective email marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) strategy in place can help marketers and business owners attract more high-quality leads.?
Today’s consumers favor inbound marketing over outbound or traditional marketing for a number of reasons. These include the following:
- Outbound marketing tactics such as cold calling, direct mailing, banner advertising, spam emails and billboards are seen as obtrusive. In fact, outbound marketing is now referred to as “interruption marketing“.
- Outbound marketers merely push their message out there hoping that it would reach the right people. Communication is basically one-way and the marketer does not provide any added value. It does not attempt to entertain or educate their customers.?
On the other hand, inbound marketing is gaining a strong foothold due to the following reasons:
- It is very easy to use the internet and social media to attract the attention of the people who are interested in what you have to offer. Posting content on your company blog, building relationships with other bloggers and other social influencers, and uploading content to social sharing sites such as YouTube, Flickr and SlideShare are all guaranteed to bring positive results.
- It gives you the opportunity to educate your potential customers about your business.
- It allows you to interact and have a meaningful conversation with your prospective customers. As a result, they will most likely buy from you when they are ready to make a purchase.
- It is very cost-effective. Studies show that generating leads through inbound marketing is 62% cheaper as compared to outbound marketing.
As for the leading barriers to lead generation success, the same survey indicated that the lack of resources (staff, budget and time) remains to be the single biggest hurdle to achieving most B2B marketers’ business goals.
