“Leads are the metric that, as marketers, we rely on. Because leads mean money.” – Kipp Bodnar
A customer’s buying journey is a long road. And with the amount of information on the internet and on social media platforms, your initial contact with a potential customer pushes farther and farther down the process of lead generation. Generally, as marketers, we believe that buyers will often put off speaking to a seller until they are ready for price quotes.
In fact, a recent study by Forrester found that buyers may be up to 90 percent of the way through their buying journey before they reach out to the vendor. They have done their research, and they likely recognize your name and know the specs of your business. By the time they call, email or walk through your front door, they already know what they want and why they want it.
Lead Generation
But let’s back it up a bit and look at the buyer journey as a whole. This infographic from Business 2 Community details the B2B buyer’s journey and five key data points to consider including:
- 50 percent of marketing leads are qualified but not yet ready to buy
- Only 25 percent of leads are legitimate and should be handed off to sales
- Companies that excel and are efficient at lead nurturing generate 50 percent more sales-ready leads at 33 percent lower cost
- 70 percent of marketing leads never convert into sales. Lack of lead nurturing is the common cause of this poor performance
- On average, it takes ten touches to go from initial contact to a closed deal
As marketers, we have work to do. Because our customers are rarely going to walk through our door without a lot of work and nurturing.
GENERATE MARKETING LEADS WITH THESE CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGIES
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THE BANDWAGON EFFECT:
It is human nature to want to be part of tribes and communities, so when we see someone in our social circle start to do something, we tend to follow along. One way to make an offer more valuable is to show that other people are participating in it. Just be sure your claims are true and believable.
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CREATE OFFERS FOR DIFFERENT BUYING STAGES:
You definitely want prospects to talk sales, but you still need more than just a “Contact Us” field on your website. With most buyers doing research before speaking with sales, it is important to cater for those at each step. Those toward the top of the buying cycle might be more interested in a guide or ebook rather than a free trial or demo. Be sure to include both primary and secondary CTAs throughout your site.
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EMPHASIZE THE BENEFITS OF THE OFFER:
Make the benefits of your products and services clear by using bullet points. They are easy to follow and straight to the point. Also, make sure to edit out any boring or unclear language.
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MORE LANDING PAGES EQUAL MORE LEADS:
According to a recent marketing benchmarks report, companies see a 55 percent increase in leads when increasing landing pages from ten to fifteen. Simply put, the more pages, content and offers you have, the more chance you have to develop leads.
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ORGANIC SEARCH:
Don’t forget about the search engines. You must apply search engine optimization (SEO) best practices to your landing pages to have them found by prospects searching the Internet. Use primary keywords in headlines, sub-headlines, the body of the text and in the description of images and the URL to increase the odds of that landing page being seen.
But of course, we’re only skimming the top. Read 30 Great B2B Lead Generation Strategies to discover more ways to nurture a lead right into a purchase.
