With just 8 days until the start of the FIFA 2014 World Cup and billions of viewers ready to tune in worldwide, what better way to look at the topic of B2B lead generation, than in relation to one of our other favourite topics; football. Now, when it comes to football, a foul is generally defined as, 'an unfair act by a player which is deemed by the referee to contravene the game’s laws'. The rules of effective B2B lead generation are not quite so clear-cut, but the repercussions of committing a ‘foul’ are clearly shown in a lack of consistent, high-quality leads that convert to paying customers. In order to generate B2B leads that result in ROI, understanding the acts that harm a marketing campaign, as well as those that benefit it, is vital. So, what are the fouls of B2B lead generation and are you committing them?
Foul 1: Failure to plan your team strategy
Failing to produce a documented plan which clearly outlines your B2B lead generation strategy and the team tactics you’ll use to implement this, can have a detrimental effect on the performance of your campaign. For your team to successfully score the marketing goals you put in place, it needs to be established the position each person will play, the approach they’ll employ across each carefully selected channel and how each of these will integrate with the others. Winning new business opportunities requires multi-channel marketing and co-ordination between every member of your team.
Foul 2: Lack of pre-match analysis; what happened previously?
Reviewing past marketing activity (and the activity of your prospects!) is another must-do before you begin implementing a B2B lead generation campaign. Look at your key buyers, which strategies have been effective at engaging them previously? Which channels resulted in the most ROI and what were the tactics you employed across all of them? Knowing the outcome of B2B marketing campaigns you’ve done before will help you develop your current strategy and keep you at the top of your game.
Foul 3: Resistance to changing tactics
While the traditional methods of B2B marketing remain just as important as they have always been, introducing new tactics in forms such as content and social media marketing, is unavoidable for businesses that seek continued growth and increased revenue. Utilising these new channels effectively to generate B2B leads is all about using your numbers and data to find out what works for reaching and engaging your specific audience.
Foul 4: Fear of making a substitution
The golden rule of successful B2B lead generation is to continuously test and measure the performance of your marketing. What this means is using the right metrics to determine which parts of your lead generation strategy work and which don’t. Those that don’t must be removed from play and substituted with alternate channels or an increase in activity on the channels that are generating real results. This is the only way to ensure the best ROI from your B2B marketing.
Do you have more B2B lead generation ‘fouls’ to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below, or check out the B2B Lead Generation Planning Manual for more tips on effective lead generation.
