create a winning lead nurturing strategy in 90 days

Create a Winning Lead NurturingStrategy in 90 Days

Henry Bruce, PresidentThe Rock Annand GroupSeptember 29, 2012

c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential

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c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential 2

Some interesting stats to consider …

■ 70% of buy cycle complete before sales is engaged

■ Only 10 - 25% of new lead inquiries are “sales-ready”

■ 3 out of 4 sales opportunities come from leads that are NOT sales-ready

■ 65% of B2B marketers have not established lead nurturing


Sources: Forrester, Gartner, Gleanster, Forrester, Marketing Sherpa, Sirius Decisions

Lead Nurturing Driven Results

■ Lead management practices drive 10+% increase in revenues in 6-9 months

■ Good lead nurturers generate 50% more sales ready leads at 33% less costs

■ Mature lead management teams have 9+% higher sales quota achievement rate

■ Lead nurturing emails have 4-10x response rate vs. “batch and blast” emails.

■ Nurtured leads drive 20% increase in sales opps


Sources: CSO Insights, DemandGen Report, Forrester, Gartner

#1 Sales & Marketing ChallengeGenerating Qualified Opportunities


#1 Sales & Marketing ChallengeGenerating Qualified Opportunities


75% to 90% of the time, cost & effort

10% to 25% qualified leads

0.3% to 1.3% Closed Sales

#2 Sales & Marketing ChallengeProducing & Delivering Compelling Content

Building Buyer Centric Sales Engine for NY Tech 7

The Buyer Cycle


How Buyers Spend Time:

■ 23% in discussion with colleagues

■ 19% searching the web

■ 19% with educational content

■ 18% reviewing promot’l content

■ 21% with sales team interaction

IDC Webinar: 2012 Sales Enablement Strategy: Content is King so Why Does Sales Feel Like a Jester?



How Buyers Spend Time:

■ 23% in discussion with colleagues

■ 19% searching the web

■ 19% with educational content

■ 18% reviewing promot’l content

■ 21% with sales team interaction

Buyers Top Complaints:

■ 33% - too much content that’s useless

■ 29% - content not relevant

■ 24% - content does not meet needs of all stakeholders

■ 23% - not enough educational content

■ Other complaints: Content too long

Not enough video/audio

Content hard to share with others


IDC Webinar: 2012 Sales Enablement Strategy: Content is King so Why Does Sales Feel Like a Jester?

Demonstrate Thought LeadershipWhere Do You Start?

■ Focus on your buyer’s problems … NOT products Start with the primary problem you solve

■ Break the problem down into 3-4 main themes Why multiple themes? Buyers each have their “hot-buttons”.

■ For example: eSignature Process Automation Audience: Financial Services (banks, lenders, debt services) Problem: Customer service expectations and regulatory

compliance strain operational efficiency and increase costs Themes: Focus on business process areas

• Automated account opening• Loan origination and consolidation• Debt consolidation• Customer account management


Program Fundamentals: Focus on 1 Theme for First 90 Days

■ Develop one good content piece Usually involves re-purposing existing content

Focus on problem as it relates to the buyer

Present solution as it relates to you … BUT don’t mention your product

Relate a client case study … Highlight results they achieved

No more than 1500 words, ideally 800-1000 words

■ Develop 90 day campaign focused on that theme: 1st Cycle: Promote the content (email, BLOG post, tweet)

2nd Cycle: Webinar on the topic/theme (ideally with client)

3rd Cycle: Recap with content, webinar and client case study

Create a separate landing page for all program components


Program Fundamentals:Focus for Next Two Quarters

■ Repeat the campaign cycle for theme #2 in Q2, theme #3 in Q3, etc.

■ Other TIPS:

Optimize for search for each campaign

If permission-based contacts is a problem, consider using reputable 3rd party publishers, analysts

Drive themes to other media channels• LinkedIn, Twitter, Syndicated sites, guest blog posts

Re-purpose into other format … Blog posts, Voice-over slides, Video

Establish “Welcome Campaign” for Inbound leads: • Qualify interest. Where are they in Buy Cycle?


Program Fundamentals:Create Content for Each Stage of Buy Cycle

Buyer wants to: Define Problem Evaluate Solutions

Decide & Commit

Content should focus on:

Education & Thought

Leadership

Solutions & Product

Suitability

Credentials & Decision Criteria

Some content examples:

Problem definition/themes

Whitepapers/ webinars

3rd Party coverage Case studies Solution

approaches

Differentiators Solution

comparisons 3rd party product

reviews Implementation

plans Product roadmap

How to buy business case

Testimonials In depth case/use

studies ROI/TCO analysis


Summary and Take Aways

■ Focus on lead quality NOT quantity

■ Demonstrate thought leadership to gain credibility

■ Focus beyond the immediate quarter

■ Establish a platform that builds your “followers”

■ Test and measure everything ,,,


Thank you … Questions??

[email protected]: @hebruceLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/henrybruce Blog: www.rockannandgroup.com/blog


create a winning lead nurturing strategy in 90 days

Documents

educational content

promotl content

content email

videoaudio content

sales feel

sales opportunities

sales readyleads

good content piece