Lead Generation Optimization Is “OUT”–Web Conversion Measures are IN

What Gets Measured Gets Managed

When I say Lead Generation Optimization (LGO) is “OUT,” I
mean this week we released our annual LGO report.  More than 600 companies responded to this year’s
survey; approximately one-third of respondents were Services firms, one-third
Technology, and the final third Non-Tech/Manufacturing or Other.

For the first time in the seven years of this report, a slim
majority (51%) of firms responding now track the ROI of their marketing
campaigns.  As mentioned in my earlier
blog, the objective of these campaigns is much more closely aligned with sales
objectives.  With respect to evaluating
marketing ROI, the success measures, again, are much more closely tied to
sales.

Firms
reported the top three metrics they use to assess the value of their lead
generation programs are:

1. Total
   number of leads generated per campaign
2. Number of
   leads that convert to sales opportunities
3. Amount of
   revenue ultimately closed from those opportunities

A key part
of determining ROI is the ability to track the disposition of all leads by
source via a CRM system. With over 75% of all sales organizations leveraging CRM
applications today, marketing now has visibility into the life cycle of the
leads they are generating. This allows them to expand from just measuring
success in terms of “awareness” and “impressions”- the metrics they often had
to rely on in the past-to more tangible measures noted above.

What Gets
Fed Grows

2009 was an
ugly year for so many reasons we each want to forget about it as quickly as
possible.  Added to all the other reasons
was the fact that while 85% of firms had increased their revenue targets for
this year, 67% had frozen or reduced their marketing budgets. 

In addition
to a healthier global economic picture and increased business activity, in 2010
marketing is benefiting from its own economic stimulus package; this year 85%
of firms are once again raising their revenue targets but, unlike last year, in
2010 72% of firms are increasing their marketing budgets.  Figure 1 shows where these firms will be
spending their larger budgets this year.

Figure 1

As you can
see, web-related marketing activities are IN. 
It should be noted that the chart represents change in areas of investment, not relative size.  So Direct Mail could see 39% of firms
investing less in this category and redirecting the savings to E-mail marketing
,yet the Direct Mail allowance could still be much larger than that set aside
for E-mail .

Still, the
writing is on the wall like so much graffiti: web-oriented marketing is IN and
in ascendance.

Your
Next Move

Is
your marketing budget aligned with your top producing lead generation programs?

Using
the top metrics described earlier, determine what lead generation programs are
producing the largest amount of quality leads. If you’re like the majority of
respondents, these programs might be your top four:

1. Email
   marketing
2. Live
   Events/Tradeshows
3. Website
   registrations
4. Webinars

Whatever
your top programs may be, feed them, manage them and watch them grow.

To learn more, check out our complete 2010 Lead
Generation Report.

Sell well,

Barry Trailer