Category Archives: Demand Generation

Forget About Hot Leads. It’s Cold Leads that Make the Difference.

When sales teams need marketing to help them make their numbers, the natural response is to go fishing for hot leads. However, as I wrote previously in a white paper on “Lead Recycling,” focusing demand generation activity exclusively on acquiring net new, qualified leads is an expensive proposition for a… Read More

Why Salespeople Hate Most White Paper Leads

How is it that a quality white paper on a hot topic can still generate bad leads? It’s got to be the media, right? Wrong. It’s the offer. Even a well-written white paper, by a respected author, on a hot topic of vital interest to your target audience, can still… Read More

Should I Remove Offer Content from My Website if It’s Part of a Campaign?

A client asks: “If we’re offering a white paper as part of an upcoming campaign, should we remove it from our Website for the duration, especially if it’s ungated?” As demand generation marketers, no matter how skillfully we construct a clear, unambiguous, unfettered path to our precious content, some prospects… Read More

Lead Generation Losing Out to Social Media? Not So Much.

A recent industry study on Lead Management Optimization, conducted by CSO Insights and conducted in partnership with SMEI and Marketo, sheds insight on the relative budget marketing organizations are investing in areas such as lead nurturing, social media, and lead generation. Amongst its findings: • Overwhelmingly, the #1 marketing objective… Read More

Sample Outline for a Lead Generation White Paper

Dollar for dollar, white papers continue to be some of the most effective offers for most high-technology marketers. Prospects are usually more likely to download or otherwise register for a white paper vs. a Webinar, free trial, etc. because 1) the time commitment is minimal, and 2) white papers are… Read More

B2B Email Creative: A 5 Point Checklist

Is your lead generation email ready for primetime? Measure it against these 5 criteria before hitting “send.” 1. Get to the Point. By the time your reader is done with the first paragraph, does he or she know what the offer is, why he/she wants it, and how to get… Read More

5 Creative Ways to Make Your White Paper Irresistible

“Always show an image of the offer.” It’s a rule I quote often, one repeated to me ad nauseum many years ago by an early mentor and long-time direct marketing veteran. The logic: whatever it is you want your reader to download, request, order, or register for, a visual image… Read More