Key to Marketing Automation Success: Process First, then Campaigns

February 8, 2012 – 7:36 am

In a phone call this week I was swapping war stories with a well-known sales and marketing consultant, who, like us, works with B2B companies to improve their return on marketing automation. Interestingly, our experiences in the rapidly evolving marketing automation category were quite common, especially in one area:

A year ago, most of the client engagements for both our firms were what my consultant friend called “rescues” – that is, companies who purchased marketing automation software, jumped immediately into tactical campaign mode, and then needed help six or nine months later when they realized they were achieving only a fraction of the platform’s potential.

In the case of our agency, though we still get our fair share of calls from companies who find themselves saddled with what amounts to an expensive email broadcast system, a growing percentage of our engagements are with companies who have yet to even purchase the software. And that fact, I would propose, is a good sign for a maturing market. It would appear that companies are now waking up to the fact that no marketing automation software can be successful without a proper strategic foundation. Read More »

By Howard Sewell | Posted in B2B Marketing, Lead Management, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Automation | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

7 Tips for a Successful PPC Landing Page

January 25, 2012 – 8:14 am

Where do most paid search (PPC) campaigns succeed or fail? Though it’s typical for marketers to invest more time and legwork in the mechanics of search (keywords, bid strategy, campaign structure), I’d argue that the majority of PPC campaigns are won or lost at the close: the landing page.

The rewards from making even slight improvements to your PPC landing pages can be dramatic. Improve conversion (click to lead) rates by just a percentage point or two and you can increase lead volume (and slash Cost Per Lead) disproportionately. Here are 7 tips that can make a difference:

1. Include a clear, specific call to action. Not “learn more.” No “For more information …” Make the reward specific and tangible. Information offers (white papers, ebooks, information kits) often work best because they appeal to prospects across a broad segment of the selling cycle.

2. Sell the offer. Once you’ve decided on the right offer, sell it. Remember, it’s not the company you’re selling, or the product, it’s that white paper or video or Webinar the prospect gets when he or she fills out the form. If the offer is a video, show screen shots. If it’s a white paper, include excerpts, Amazon-type page previews, even reader reviews. The more detail, the better. Read More »

By Howard Sewell | Posted in B2B Marketing, Demand Generation, Inbound marketing, Landing Pages, lead generation, search marketing, SEM | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (4)

5 Best Practices You Can Borrow From This Email Campaign

January 13, 2012 – 11:28 am

There’s a lot to like about the email campaign I received (image below) recently from Infusionsoft, a maker of sales and marketing automation software for small businesses. It’s not perfect by any stretch (the copy could use some improvement – more on that later) but many of the techniques on display are simple, straightforward best practices you can easily apply to your next lead generation campaign.

1. Make the offer look like an offer. The free guide on offer is an ebook, a downloadable PDF. It is not – as the offer image might have you believe – a spiral-bound hard copy. Misleading, you say? Perhaps. But on a subconscious level, illustrating the ebook as something tangible and “real” increases the perceived value and makes it stand out in a way that a simple cover image, for example, would not. (Note the additional image at lower left showing charts and graphics.) Read More »

By Howard Sewell | Posted in B2B Marketing, Content marketing, email design, email marketing, Graphic Design, Interactive Design, Landing Pages, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Automation | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

How to Optimize Your Website’s Resource Library for Lead Generation

January 6, 2012 – 7:24 am

A well-designed resource library can be a key factor in converting Website visitors to measurable, actionable sales leads. Conversely, a poorly designed resource library is where old white papers go to die. At worst, resource centers can be tough to navigate and difficult to search, leaving visitors frustrated and only too happy to seek their information elsewhere.

Since our agency was founded, we’ve compiled a significant store of informational content, and so, like many companies, our site’s resource center quickly grew from a single page, relatively clean and easy to browse, to a veritable laundry list of white papers, ebooks, podcasts, videos and more. (See thumbnail at right.) Even though the site as a whole continued to generate a consistent stream of leads, we knew we could do better, so we set out to redesign the resource library with the following objectives:

1. Improve the user experience by making the library easy to browse, search and navigate.
2. Promote individual content items more effectively (and improve SEO) by including short descriptions visible at first glance.
3. Increase reach by adding the capability to like, share, rate, and comment on content items. Read More »

By Howard Sewell | Posted in Ad Agencies, B2B Marketing, Content marketing, Graphic Design, Interactive Design, Landing Pages, Marketing Automation | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Information Kits: Packaging Offer Content for Higher Response

December 23, 2011 – 10:05 am

For most B2B marketers, information offers like white papers, case studies, and analyst reports strike an effective balance between response rate and lead qualification. Compared to a Webinar, for example, they require little time and commitment on the part of the prospect, yet if written, titled, and positioned carefully, can serve to generate leads that are reasonably qualified.

You can expand the appeal of content like these by packaging them into information kits. An information kit, generally speaking, is a compilation of informational content designed to appear to be more than the sum of its parts. By compiling a variety of information as one offer, you appeal to a wider spectrum of prospects for whom an individual white paper or case study may not be sufficient to generate a response.

The following is a recipe for a good information kit. Your particular market may dictate variations, naturally, but this list comprises a variety of information that seems to “cover the bases” well, and more importantly, has proven to be successful for a variety of different B2B clients: Read More »

By Howard Sewell | Posted in B2B Marketing, Campaign Strategy, Content marketing, Demand Generation, Offer Strategy | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)