The Best Way to Succeed at B2B Marketing

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Many marketers will tell you that B2B marketing can be much more challenging than B2C marketing. This is because B2B transactions often require more time, involve of a greater number of decision makers and require a proven return on investment. B2B marketing also is challenging because this market segment is focused on streamlining the buying process in order to save time and money.

One common mistake B2B marketers make is to spend most of their time selling based on the proposition that their product or service is better than their competitors’ products or services. While this certainly must be part of the equation, it is important to understand that the majority of B2B sales are made when you are able to solve a problem. In other words, many times a B2B marketer must accentuate the negative aspects of a prospect’s current vendor in order to make a sale.

One of the most important things you can focus on when approaching a B2B prospect is how they feel about their current vendor and the level of service that vendor provides. The fact is, most businesses you want to sell to already need what you are selling, they are just buying it from someone else. In those cases, you need to find out how you can do what their current vendor is doing—only better. This involves asking prospects if they are happy with their current vendor. You also need to ask questions like, does your vendor pay enough attention to your needs? Do they make things easier on your business? If you find out the answer is no to any of these questions, you have the perfect opportunity to explain why your company is a better fit.

Another huge issue that many B2B companies have is that they are overwhelmed with managing multiple vendors and would be much happier having one point of contact. If you are able to provide this single point of contact, you need to emphasize it. You can start by asking if they would like to spend less time managing vendors. If the answer to this question is yes, you have your opening. This is especially true when it comes to IT solutions. Show a prospect a software system or solution that is easier to manage and you might find yourself with a new customer.

In the end, B2B marketing involves solving problems. Therefore, to successfully sell in this arena, you must always pay attention to what your prospect has to say about what is wrong with their current situation and vendor and then tell him or her how you are different.

Effective Lead Nurturing Techniques

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Effective Lead Nurturing Techniques

Lead nurturing is an ongoing process. Research shows that fewer than 10 percent of leads will immediately convert. In light of this fact, lead nurturing is essential to the success of any business.

Unfortunately, being aware of the importance of effective lead nurturing is only the first step. The next—and perhaps most important—step is knowing how to effectively nurture leads. What follows are five of the best ways to do just that so you are able to convert leads into customers.

1. Lead Scoring. When surveyed, marketers say that lead scoring is one of their most successful lead generation tactics. Leads scoring, in the most basic terms, is ranking leads in terms of their potential value. In other words, it helps to determine which leads merit a follow-up call directly with a sales rep and which leads can be nurtured further down the sales funnel. These metrics allow the most time, money and resources to be devoted to the most valuable leads.

2. Multi-Channel Lead Nurturing. No longer is an email-only lead nurturing strategy enough to convert leads. Today, you need to employ a combination of email marketing, social media, website content and outbound sales calls to get the highest conversion rate possible.

3. Personalized Emails. Email marketing continues to outperform all other lead nurturing methods. This is especially true when emails are personalized. Personalized emails are most effective when triggered by the following behaviors:

  • Clicking on email links
  • Downloading gated content
  • Showing a significant level of engagement

4. Targeted Content. One way to look at targeted content is to view it as the right content delivered to the right people at the right time. Once you understand particular lead segments, you produce content that speaks to those leads and is delivered when they are most likely to see it. This type of lead nurturing can be especially challenging for marketers since it requires:

  • Specific knowledge of prospects
  • The creation of targeted and effective content that speaks to particular segments of prospects
  • An automated marketing platform to identify, segment and target prospects in relation to your inbound marketing strategy

5. Timely Follow-Up. Statistics point to the effectiveness of follow-up calls when it comes to qualifying leads. A timely, well-researched email or phone call is the best way to convert inbound leads. That’s because, unlike cold calling, you know exactly what a prospect is looking for based on their browsing history.

Effective lead nurturing isn’t always easy. However, when done correctly, the results are well worth any time and money a business invests in the process.

Phone-Based Customer Service Still Reigns Supreme

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Phone-Based Customer Service Still Reigns Supreme

Reaching customers has never been easier. However, is reaching the same as connecting?

The number of internet users is in the billions. That means if you want to connect with customers and prospects you have any number of ways to do it. Text, email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

There is simply no way you can discount all of these ways of interacting with your customers. After all, these modes of communication wouldn’t still be around if they weren’t effective at getting in touch with people and aiding businesses in areas such as lead generation and business development. These channels also offer a relatively simple and affordable way to keep in touch with clients and prospects.

Despite these new modes of communications, a recent study shows that almost 80 percent of customers are frustrated when they cannot talk to a live person when they believe it is necessary. Further, a whopping 75 percent of customers believe that when it comes to customer service issues they should always be able to have a conversation with a real person. They also report frustration that many times they are unable to do just that.

Many companies mistakenly believe that phone support is too expensive to maintain. While this may be true if they try to manage this type of support in-house, outsourcing with a telemarketing firm is actually very affordable. More importantly, since the frustration of not being able to connect with a customer service representative quickly and easily can lead to unhappy customers, the question becomes can you afford not to offer phone support. Consider this statistic: 68 percent of today’s consumers expect customer support interactions to take place on the phone.

It is not hard to understand why phone communication is preferred by customers. Not only are these phone calls more personal, they also allow a customer service representative to provide issue resolution much faster and more efficiently. That’s because during the course of the call there is a back-and-forth that allows the issue to be fixed in a manner which the customer finds satisfactory.

Today’s consumers have little patience for long or frustrating customer service menus or electronic exchanges that never allow them to speak one-on-one with a customer service representative. If you want to keep current your customers happy, and attract new prospects to your business, it is important that you keep the phone lines open.

Lead Generation Myths

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Lead Generation Myths

Generating leads is essential to the success of any business. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation regarding lead generation which can result in lost sales and missed opportunities.

One of the biggest challenges of lead generation is keeping the flow of leads steady. Many times it feels like feast or famine. You either have so many leads you can’t possibly follow up on every one of them, or you have none at all.

If you really want to connect with prospects who are interested in your products or services, it is essential that you approach lead generation in the right way. The biggest barrier to this is falling prey to the many myths surrounding lead generation. So what are those myths and what is the truth when it comes to mastering the art of lead generation? Read on to find out:

Myth #1: Generating leads can be done on an as-needed basis.

Truth: In order to keep a steady flow of leads in your sales pipeline, it is imperative that you consistently connect with prospects, not just when you have downtime. Although this can be challenging, failing to approach lead generation in this manner will create gaps in your sales funnel.

Myth #2: If you have a website, you will be able to obtain leads.

Truth: To generate leads, your website needs to have a system and plan in place for generating leads. This means creating content for your website that prospects want and need. Your website also must promote interaction between your brand and prospects.

Myth #3: Lead generation is just a matter of getting information out to prospects.

Truth: If you want quality leads, you must focus on lead nurturing by engaging with prospects. Further, you must track what methods of lead generation garner the best leads and capitalize on those methods.

Myth #4: Quantity beats quality.

Truth: While you want as many leads as possible, it is important that you are filling your sales funnel with only those leads that are likely to—at some point down the road—become customers. Remember, it is better to have 100 qualified leads than 100,000 unqualified leads since you will be better able to invest your time and resources into nurturing those leads that are most likely to become customers.

Myth #5: Generating leads won’t cost you any money.

Truth: Even if you don’t purchase a list of leads, you still need to invest in lead generation. If you want to become a thought leader in the industry, draw people to your website or nurture leads, it will cost you both time and money. So while you may have to spend money on quality content for your website, for example, this investment will pay off down the road in the form of new customers.

Generating leads is critical to the success of your business. The more thought and planning you put into this task, the more customers you will secure over time.