Archive for the ‘Lead Nurturing’ Category

Nurture Leads. Increase Conversions.

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

42-21546750Do you know this old parable?  A man has a large boulder in his back yard, and every day he goes out a hits it with a sledgehammer in a effort to reduce it to ruble so that it can be removed. Each day he hits it one time. This goes on for a year. And on the last day of the year, he swings the sledgehammer, and it cracks and crumbles in to a million small pieces.

The question is: Was it the last strike of the hammer that cracked and crumbled the boulder, or was it the result of the man’s daily efforts?

If you’re not converting as many leads as you would like, chances are you are not going out back and paying attention that that boulder.

Having a lead nurturing program is essential to reducing sales costs and increasing profits.

Companies with organized, systematic programs to reach back to leads are the companies who enjoy an above average conversion rate.

It takes constant attention.

Leads convert at different times for different reasons. And if’ you’re not staying in contact with your leads, engaging them in value-based conversations, then you are short-changing your efforts.

Seth Godin had a great point in his blog today when he asked why more companies don’t consider the lifetime value of a customer. You can’t convert what you ignore.

You’ve paid for the lead. Leverage that spend and increase your marketing your ROI.

(Image courtesy of Corbis)

Posted in Brand, Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Market Leading, Segmentation | No Comments »

Marketing ROI Increases With An Organized Lead Capture Stragtegy.

Monday, June 1st, 2009

I often get a quizzical look from prospects and clients when I tell them there is a difference  between “generating” leads and “capturing” leads.

What do I mean?

lead-capture-funnel

Companies spend money to generate leads, right? ( if you’re in retail substitute customers for the word leads)

Once generated it’s time to maximize return by capturing as much information as possible about that lead. Most important is capturing contact information.  With this in hand you can now initiate an organized lead nurturing program. You will likely have to provide something of value in return for that information. It could be a free report, a time sensitive discount offer, etc.

Let’s face it, every lead doesn’t convert immediately. And depending on your particular enterprise, your conversion cycle may be longer than others.  You can’t afford to let leads simply evaporate because you couldn’t convert them today.

I’ll talk about the essentials of a lead nurturing program in a future post.  Take time to hone your lead capture process and boost your marketing ROI.

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Posted in Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Return On Marketing Investment | No Comments »

Stuff Your Business Stocking With Marketing ROI in 2009.

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

Can you boost your marketing ROI in 2009? Sure you can. Here’s nine ideas you can put into motion today.

1. If you are like most, the 80/20 rule applies in your business. Segment you customer data and identify those producing the most revenue. Send them a personal note thanking them for their loyalty.

2. Stop marketing to the dead leads on your list. Replace them with leads that better match your best customer profile.

3. Don’t have a best customer profile? Mine your data and develop one.

4. Demand that every marketing dollar spent in 2009 will be measured.

5. Provide information to your prospects and customers that will help them impact their business.

6. Create a digital dialogue with your customers. Notice I said “dialogue.” Ask for feedback.

7. Find ways to add value to the product or service that you market.

8. Actively reengage warm leads.

9. Smile when you talk. Even if you’re on the phone. It works.

There’s no reason to believe that 2009 is going to be any easier than 2008. And, this makes it a perfect time to dedicate yourself and your team to doing everything you can to ensure dollars are deployed strategically and everything has a metric attached to it.

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Posted in Customers, Lead Nurturing, Marketing, Return On Marketing Investment | 1 Comment »

Obama Offering Lesson In Data Gathering and How To Leverage It.

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

This is not a partisan post, but rather an observation on what we can learn about gathering data and then leveraging it to produce maximum ROI. The Obama campaign recognizes the power of data, and uses it  to build their brand, involve supporters in a dynamic experience and create a highly intelligence-based approach to understanding their supporters.

Here is the first page that comes up when you go to Obama’s Web site.  Pretty simple, yet a well crafted data-collection tool.  It’s a good illustration of how to develop an personal conversation with your target.

barackobama.com

There was an informative article on cnn.com today from Leslie Sanchez entitled, “Obama’s high-tech edge in presidential politics.” A self-identifed Republican, Sanchez was director of the Bush White House Initiative on Hispanic Education from 2001 to 2003 and is the author of “Los Republicanos: Why Hispanics and Republicans Need Each Other.” She is not a paid consultant to any current candidate. Sanchez is CEO of the Impacto Group, which specializes in market research about women and Hispanics for its corporate and nonprofit clients.  It’s a good read and offers further insight into how the Obama campaign is taking data and using it in ways here-to-fore not used in political campaigning.

As marketers search for strategies to improve their overall ROI, I think there’s a lesson to be learned here.  Take a few minutes and see if you can identify all of the opportunities the Obama campaign gives visitors to share information … just like the hidden pictures in Highlight’s Magazine. That dates me.

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Posted in Lead Nurturing, On-Line Marketing, Return On Marketing Investment | 1 Comment »

Asking Customers To Be Creative.

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

I get excited when I see what’s happening with the evolution of social media marketing. The biggest challenge remains how to monetize it and measure the marketing ROI. Procter & Gamble is taking a big step forward in that effort.

Brand Week reported that the Cincinnati-based giant is launching a campaign targeting You Tube fans asking them to submit videos giving their tag line ideas for the new Wintergreen Ice toothpaste.

It’s a brilliant example of the new age of advertising … where digital marketing and social media are allowing the consumer to drive the content as opposed to the advertisers.

And this will allow P&G to measure ROI on many levels. And that’s what excites me.

Think of ways you can apply this example to your business. What would you ask your customers to do?

Here’s a link to the Brand Week Article.


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Posted in Brand, Customers, Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, On-Line Marketing, Return On Marketing Investment, Segmentation, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Lead generation strategy suffering from SOS?

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Don’t make the mistake many marketers make. Don’t allow your efforts to be undermined by SOS. Shiny Object Syndrome. You know, total focus on today’s leads and lose track of yesterday’s.
 
Nothing can drive up CPC like un-nurtured leads. Sure, we all want conversion and we want it now. But, not having a lead nurturing process in place is equivalent to spending all your time with the new baby and forgetting the rest of the children. You want them all to grow up, don’t you?

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Posted in Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Marketing | 1 Comment »