B2B Marketers See Impact in Managing Leads with Marketing Automation
ATLANTA- In and out of an economic downturn, companies struggle to keep
pipelines filled with sales-ready leads. But a new, commissioned study
conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Silverpop found that B2B
marketers who develop consistent, repeatable processes and invest carefully
in automation achieve stronger, more qualified sales pipelines.
The study, “How Managing Leads Pays Off in a Stronger, More Qualified
Pipeline,”
identifies the challenges that B2B marketers face when adopting lead
management processes, the benefits that come from investing in this
discipline, and the factors that lead to success among marketing and sales
teams.
In the study Forrester sees demand development growing more challenging as
business prospects flock online to investigate products and services and
respond less to marketing offers.
The study reveals several key findings, including:
. Lead management is a marketing discipline moving from early stage
to essential
. Mature lead management pays off in a measurable impact on
pipelines, marketing efficiency, and accountability
. Process development and sales collaboration are essential first
steps
. Successful lead management improves marketing’s standing and
stature.
“Marketing automation solutions are still gaining maturity in the
marketplace, but they are gaining recognition for the real business value
they deliver,” said Bill Nussey, Silverpop’s CEO. “But B2B marketers must
understand that lead management programs work only as well as the strategy
upon which they are developed.”
For example, a separate case study conducted by Silverpop found that since
implementing Silverpop’s marketing automation solution, USA Financial has
increased its conversion rate of qualified leads to sales from 23 percent to
43 percent. Additionally, Raeanne Thompson, the company’s marketing services
vice president, says USA Financial saves from $6,000 to $10,000 each month
by only inviting qualified prospects to its sales events.
In analyzing the experiences of early adopters, the Forrester Consulting
study concluded that marketers must focus on four main areas to minimize the
time spent between initiating lead management improvements and gaining
positive, measurable returns. To make lead management efforts pay off,
marketers should implement the following practices:
1.) Profiling and targeting. Learn who your best customers are, how they
buy from you, and which activities or behaviors increase their propensity to
buy. Prioritize what you learn against the new opportunities and audiences
you want to pursue.
2.) Lead scoring. Use what you learn from customer profiling to create
lead definitions. Sit down with sales to discuss lead quality, select
scoring criteria, assign values to each, and model how scores change in
response to specific events or triggers.
3.) Content. Map buyers’ information needs against the purchase process
uncovered in profiling to determine what type of content different audiences
need at different stages of decision-making. Match current content assets
against this map, and look for gaps to fill.
4.) Nurture early-stage buyers. Answer the questions: “What happens when
leads fail to qualify, and how do we get them moving down the path to
purchase again?” Use discussions with sales to plan your first simple
nurturing campaign based on the activities that engage potential buyers
successfully.
For more information on learning the steps to tackling the lead-management
process, register
attend a free Webinar hosted by Silverpop
featured guest Forrester’s Vice President and Principal Analyst Laura Ramos.
About Silverpop
Silverpop’s Engagement Marketing suite helps turn prospects into customers,
and customers into fans. Silverpop’s Web-based solutions enable companies
worldwide to build relationships with customers and prospects through the
creation, automation and delivery of relevant, online messaging. And
Silverpop’s strategic counsel, service and support helps clients with the
precise level of training and advice needed to quickly improve campaign
results and ROI. Silverpop makes it easy and affordable for marketers to
create, automate and execute campaigns … from first click to lifetime
customer. With offices in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany,
Silverpop’s engagement marketing technologies are used by industry-leading
brands around the globe. Best practices and white papers are available at
www.silverpop.com .
SilverpopR is a registered trademark of Silverpop Systems Inc.
