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Lead Generation Category

Keyword Optimization—Low-Cost, Qualified Leads

Thursday, June 18th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

There’s a low-cost, recession-proof way to drive qualified leads to your web site.

“[In this economy] there is a greater focus on customer acquisition. Search is the best tool for that.”

–David Hallerman, senior analyst, eMarketer

Q2 Marketing is offering a proven recession-proof keyword optimization program you can implement immediately to begin driving measurably increased qualified traffic to your web site.

You’ll receive a full listing of keywords, prioritized by daily searches, predicted daily searches and Google KEI (keyword effectiveness index). And you’ll know at a glance, based on the straight-forward, easy-to interpret numbers, which are the most effective for your web site and which ones to be sure and include.

The Q2 Keyword optimization program. It’s fast, affordable and will boost qualified leads to your web site. That’s good news in any economy. Contact sales@q2marketing.com for more.

Posted in Lead Generation, SEO, Technology Marketing, Web site development | No Comments »

Last things you need before you begin to blog

Monday, June 15th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

This series grew out of my heartfelt conclusion that B2B and B2G blogging isn’t for everyone. Sometimes I get the sense that non-bloggers feel guilty about not yet joining the fray. Conversely, a hearty helping of business-to-business bloggers that, it turns out, have very little to say, have jumped in. The series began by highting the four attributes a would-be blogger absolutely must have:

Strategy
Discipline
Desire
Content

But, from there it grew. Because in addition to these, skill and content targeted to audience are essential, as we explored in part two. But wait, there’s more. Here are our final two attributes you need if you’re going to blog. At least for now.

7. Patience. You aren’t going to experience a groundswell of traffic to your site overnight. You probably won’t experience much traffic for the first number of months. Patience is a prerequisite. This ties into the discipline mentioned earlier. Know that this requires a big picture, long term perspective. We all want thousands of unique visitors each day. But remember one qualified inbound lead as a direct result of your blog has greater value than one thousand passive readers.

On readership, promoting the blog is an entirely different story. A story for another time.

8. Metrics. All good marketing is about metrics and blogs are no exception. One of the single greatest assets of web marketing is measurement. Google Analytics, which is free, will give you great data on traffic to your blog, most popular pages, time on site, referring sites and more. Use this information to understand the types of topics of most value and interest to your readers. When quantifying the value of your blog, refer back to your strategic objectives and make sure your goals are in alignment with your initiatives. And the most important metric of all: are you getting qualifed leads?

Posted in Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Economy, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Online Marketing, Public Relations, SEO, Sales and Marketing, Social Media, Technology Marketing, Web site development | No Comments »

Two More of the Most Important Things You Need to Blog

Thursday, June 11th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

Earlier this week we examined the four most important things you need before you blog. To recap, they are:

Strategy
Discipline
Desire
Content

Those are the absolutely essential ingredients if your blog is going to make any impact on your business. Most don’t, according to Technorati’s State of the Blogsphere. According to this September 2008 survey, only 7.4 million out of the 133 million blogs they track had been updated during the previous three months. This means 95% of blogs have been abandoned.

So to avoid an abandoned blog, or spinning your wheels to no avail, here are two more of the most important things you need before you blog.

5. Desire. Blogs aren’t high prose, but you have to like to write. You must have at least a modicum of aptitude for conveying the written word. And you have to want to push out to the world information, trends and issues that are hot in your industry. Being naturally inquisitive and generally excited by your industry and its goings-on will go a long way. And having a finger on the pulse of trends and developments is an absolute necessity if you’re going to attract initial and repeat visitors.

Think of it like going to the gym. If you hate it, or you’re just ambivalent, you won’t keep doing it. It’s better to dedicate your time to other efforts.

6. Content targeted to audience. Part one identified content as critical, but an effective blog extends beyond that. If your blog is going to help you drive business and reach other strategic objectives, your copy must be aligned to your objectives. I talk with bloggers who are disappointed that their consistent and well-conceived efforts are not driving traffic to their blog, sales leads, or even significant traffic to their corporate web site.

Often the culprit is less the quality of the blog and more the relevance of the content to the business. There is no shortage of things I’m passionate about and could blog about, from politics and religion to martial arts, fitness and a variety of business topics. But my Examiner column and Q2 Marketing’s Technology Marketing Blog are focused on strategic marketing for one of our most significant market sectors: B2B and B2G tech firms. If you’re going to get results, ensure your blog is equally targeted.

Check back soon for two more things you need before you blog.

Posted in Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Online Marketing, SEO, Sales and Marketing, Social Media, Technology Marketing | No Comments »

Blogging? Do you have the 4 most important ingredients?

Monday, June 8th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

Business-to-business blogs are everywhere these days. But that doesn’t mean that blogging is really for everyone. Maybe it’s a fit for your and your business. Maybe it’s not. This article highlights the four most essential attributes needed before blogging. We’ll review even more in part two. If you’re missing any one of the four below, regroup and consider if blogging makes sense for you.

1. Strategy. We hear all the time that executives are told they need to blog. They feel this overwhelming urge to keep up with the Joneses and their blogs. But what is too often missing from these recommendations is the strategy behind the blog.

This is true with any marketing activity. It’s not enough to produce a brochure for its own sake or build a web site for the sake of having a web site. How will the blog help you close sales, boost your credibility, fuel search engine optimization, or create awareness for your products? Start here because the next three attributes are irrelevant without a sound strategy.

2. Discipline. Be honest. Are you the type of person who bounces from one thing to the next? Or are you the type who can stick things out and stay the course? Blogging must be consistent, as we all know. Some advise for a daily posting. I think that makes sense if you’re a social media professional or professional blogger. For the rest of us, two to three times a week is a better and more realistic goal.

If yours is going to be a multi-author blog, you’ll need an accountable project manager to build the schedule and keep contributors on track. Contributions should reflect the strategy you’ve carefully planned.

3. Desire. You have to like to write. You have to want to push out to the world information, trends and issues that are hot in your industry. It’s like going to the gym. If you hate it, or you’re ambivalent, you won’t keep doing it.

4. Content. Not all industries lend themselves to B2B blogs. That’s not to say you have to be Guy Kawasaki to create and nurture a blog that people will read. But generally speaking, determine the theme of your blog. Will you cover specific industry verticals? Will your approach be skeptical? Will you provide actionable tips readers can use to help build their own businesses? And importantly–what’s stand-out about the way you will provide information to your world?

Come back later this week for other essential ingredients for a blog that drives revenue for your business.

Posted in Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Online Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Technology Marketing, Web site development | 1 Comment »

The 5 Fastest Ways to Generate Leads in a Recession–part 3

Friday, June 5th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

Leads. Leads. Leads. They’re worth their weight in gold in any economy. But in a recession, qualified lead volume is as essential as it gets. This is the final of our three part series on the five fastest ways to generate leads. Read part one and part two of the fastest ways to generate leads.

To recap, the first four of the quickest ways to generate lead–and sales:

Webinars
Seminars
Speaking Engagements
White Papers

One quick note on the tactics mentioned in these two recent articles: A lot of companies are still spending significantly on lead generating marketing activities. Word on the B2B and B2G tech marketing street is that these activities continue to work, but a greater volume of leads are needed to close sales.

We’ve saved our most non-traditional marketing activity for last as we explore the fastest ways to generate leads. The last program is telesales. We consider this to be non-traditional from a marketing standpoint, because it falls much more under the banner of sales than marketing. But, like in much of the sales and marketing world, this should be a shared responsibility.

The business model of firms that provide telesales is only growing in this economy. There is no shortage or companies that provide this service. Here’s how it works: they make the cold or slightly warm calls to schedule meetings for your sales people and/or technical experts. These can be very helpful in any economy, but especially now when leads volume is so desired. But just because this is a tactical sales exercise doesn’t mean marketing should sit on the bench.

One of the biggest frustrations executives have with outsourced telesales is the script. The telesales people use the elevator and subsequent messaging the company provides. If the message is off target, the value proposition unclear or the message otherwise misaligned, the calls will have limited success.

Marketing should be engaged at day one to craft the call script and ensure it’s aligned with the corporate messaging, product messaging, etc. Marketing should also be involved in the strategic selling process for each movement within the funnel.

Examples: What is the next step that should occur from a marketing standpoint? Should the lead be added to the marketing database, deleted from the database, scheduled to receive a follow up communication such as a white paper, webinar invitation, enewsletter, etc? This is all part of the sales and marketing process. The best case scenario is that the calls close in the short term. But that won’t happen all the time, so the plan for nurturing the leads through the pipeline has to be considered carefully—and early—in this process.

Additionally, marketing should be involved in testing the message. How well are the calls going? Do prospects understand the value of the product or service? What are their push backs? Marketing must evaluate this feedback and hone the script until it’s fully optimized. Again, it’s a process. The days of throwing random messages against a wall to see what sticks are over in today’s ROI-focuses marketing paradigm.

Generally speaking, the programs highlighted in this three-part piece are the five fastest ways to generate leads. If there are any that you’re not currently exploring, now’s the time to take a closer look.

Posted in Brand Consulting, Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Direct marketing, Economy, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Messaging & Positioning, Sales and Marketing, Technology Marketing | 3 Comments »

The Quickest Ways to Generate Leads-3 & 4

Thursday, May 21st, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

Keeping the pipeline full and opportunities moving through it has gotten increasily difficult for almost everybody. I talk wtih sales people and leaders all the time in industries as diverse as technology, marketing, professional services, advertising, financial, healthcare and more. They’re all pretty much saying the same thing. Chances are, these are the same things being said within your organization.

We may not be able to unilaterally market our hemisphere out of a lingering recession, but we can put some programs in place to begin developing and nurturing leads–today. Let’s explore two more of the five fastest wasy to generate leads. Read about the first two of the fastest ways to generate leads here.

3. Speaking Gigs. Secure speaking engagements for your executives, technical people and other relevant and qualified experts. Large conferences and tradeshows will begin accepting abstracts for presenters at least nine months in advance. Not exactly a quick way to generate leads. But the sooner you start looking for these opportunities, the sooner you will have executives lined up. And stay plugged into good events so your executives can be reached out to for regional events that don’t take as long to plan. Remember, some people come to tradeshows to evaluate and buy.

In addition to major conferences, contact chambers of commerce, relevant associations and other business organizations to see about being added to their calendar for a more imminent event. There are a multitude of such organizations in most metropolitan areas in the United States. If the audience is a fit and includes some well qualified potentials, this can be a powerful initiative. If the topic and content are good, this builds and fosters credibility that will move your organization to the short list of service providers or vendors.

4. White Papers. Do you have valuable, current white papers that fit with the strategic direction of your organization? Even if you don’t have finely polished papers, you probably do have components of good white papers circulating in your proposals, internal documents, client deliverables, etc. We know that nailing down your subject matter experts to develop white papers can be a challenge. But it’s worth it. White papers can be important for promoting to your marketing database, as well as to the rest of the prospect world. And if you use a white paper distribution service, you’ll build valuable credibility and leverage Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your key services and products.

Posted in Advertising, Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Direct marketing, Economy, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Public Relations, Sales and Marketing, Technology Marketing, Trade Shows, White paper marketing | No Comments »

The 5 Fastest Ways to Generate Leads

Monday, May 18th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

Now is the time to leverage marketing to generate leads. In an economy where it takes considerably more leads and more times to make sales, moving quickly to keep the pipeline full is of the essence. Marketing should be helping you in the endeavor.

This article examines the five fastest ways to leverage marketing to generate and nurture leads. These tactics are designed to work in unison with more long-range marketing activities, and can be executed on an ongoing basis. They’re also meant to fit tightly with and enhance your selling process.

Webinars. Once you’ve figured out what you have to say with your webinar or series of webinars, promotion is the biggest consideration. Any media organization that you team up with to promote your webinar will be able to provide you with the list of registrants. Assuming you have a good topic that people care about, this should represent a healthy list of prospects in a reasonably finite period of time.

But beware, there are many webinar pifalls to avoid.

Seminars. The next step up from webinars is face-to-face seminars. These are more risky because you need to fill a real live room. With webinars, none of your attendees knows if they are one of 50 or one of 5,000. But when you’re in a room together, it’s all transparent. So seminars pose a constant challenge to fill a room. If the topic of your seminar is “Ten Ways Product X Can Improve Your Business Process,” don’t expect much of a turnout. The seminar must be educational in nature. Advertise good content and deliver, and you’ll build a reputation for high quality events.

As with webinars, seminars provide qualified leads. But unlike webinars, you’re team is able to actually engage potential buyers face-to-face during networking time and Q&A. Seminars are much more powerful at building and promoting your brand to attendees than webinars. They also build greater interaction with your brand and more vested prospects.

Check back later this week for more of the 5 fastest ways to generate leads.

Posted in Brand Consulting, Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Direct marketing, Economy, Lead Generation, Online Marketing, Search Marketing, Technology Marketing, Webinars | 2 Comments »

Avoid B2G Marketing Pitfalls

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

Business-to-government (and business-to-business) marketing is most effective when it communicates value. The best B2G marketing is based on compelling content focused on problems solved and clear solutions offered. Read more about why content-rich marketing materials will reign in 2009.

Government decision makers and the corporate C-suite alike tell us all the time that they read resources that help them and their teams be more effective. Examples of such resources include content-rich newsletters, bylined/contributed articles, case studies, blogs, analyst reports, and white papers. For all of your content-driven materials, ask yourself: how does this help the decision maker do his or her job?

The credibility valuable content builds is paramount for companies selling professional services and products to the government. But remember, this initiative won’t be successful if materials are simply sent off blindly to an overflowing inbox of an unwitting recipient. Rather, these resources will serve as door busters for your business develop teams. And they will serve as incentives to use at different points in the sales cycle.

If you don’t have one already, create a library of powerful, valuable materials for your business development team.

Want to learn more about B2G marketing? Join me at The ASBC’s 5^th Anniversary Conference and Gala April 23, 2009 in Vienna, VA. I’ll be presenting on “11 Essential Steps for Marketing to Government.”

Posted in Business to Government Marketing, Case studies, Direct marketing, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Public Relations, Sales and Marketing, Technology Marketing, Webinars, White paper marketing | 2 Comments »

Ten tips for choosing the perfect ad agency

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

Looking to land a marketing or PR agency? Or maybe you’re considering the options and looking for alternatives to the agency or agencies you already have? Here are some fundamentals for making the best choice.

But first, if you haven’t already, read the four essential ingredients you’ll need before selecting a marketing agency.

And now, for the first 3 tips for securing the perfect marketing agency for you:

1. Commitment to delivery. Agencies sometimes lack structure. Everyone you talk with is going to tell you they hit their clients’ deadlines. To get to the real issue, ask their references about their track record in hitting deadlines.

2. Seeing the big picture. Your account manager should have a firm grasp of your business objectives. The agency methodology should be more about helping you reach your goals than creating award-winning pieces. They must understand how and why you want to impact your audience.

3. What’s the ROI? The agency needs to be able to demonstrate return on projects like yours. If you’re looking at web marketing, what’s the agency done and how has it impacted their clients? If they’re trying to sell you on direct marketing, what’s their track record? How have they measured past success and how will they do it for you? A formal measurement methodology in plain English is a huge plus.

Check back soon for the rest of the ten tips for selecting the perfect marketing agency.

Posted in Advertising, Award opportunities, Brand Consulting, Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Direct Mail, Direct marketing, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Marketing Research, Messaging & Positioning, Online Marketing, Promotional Marketing, Public Relations, Referral marketing, SEO, Sales and Marketing, Search Marketing, Social Media, Technology Marketing, Trade Shows, Webinars, White paper marketing | 1 Comment »

Communicate consistently with buyers

Friday, April 3rd, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

We often recommend that companies looking to better communicate with their client or prospect base consider a direct marketing initiative. One of the most cost effective is a monthly or quarterly newsletter.

It’s often easy for organizations to believe in the value of newsletters. Being top of mind is important. And with some fantastic distribution tools out there, newsletter traffic is eminently measurable.

But the more they consider this tactic, the more some organizations begin to question whether they will be able to consistently generate enough interesting content. This is a fair question, and one that you must absolutely ask before diving into something like a customer or prospect newsletter. After all, starting one only to stop it a few months later doesn’t really advance your cause. Nor is that a very good way to spend your marketing dollars.

Here are some ideas for newsletter topics:

case studies you can use to highlight a successful project or hot trend
new customers or contract wins
new technologies you support that represent trends
company milestones such as growth, partnerships, etc. that could make a difference to your clients
stories highlighting service in the local community and beyond
achievement of industry awards
the addition of new customer-facing personnel

For product companies, announcements of upgrade packages, new products, user groups, special offers and more can easily be used to drive opens and click-throughs. Service companies often have to work a bit harder to generate content, but the point is the same for both: There are exciting things going on in your company that matter to your customers and your prospects.

Newsletters are one consistent way to facilitate constant communications. What aren’t you communicating to your customers (and/or prospects) that you should be?

Posted in Direct marketing, Lead Generation, Online Marketing | 1 Comment »

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