Lead generation is at or near the top of every client’s list of concerns.

On balance, two target groups that are part of nearly every campaign are the ones already in your pipeline and those you’ve not yet found.  In the most recent Marketing Sherpa B2B Marketing Summit – there were some specific tips shared pertaining to these two groups.

(see more details from MarketingSherpa’s summary here for a limited time)

Older leads in the pipeline

Brian Carroll, CEO, InTouch, shared a stark fact: Research has shown that about 80% of leads marketers generate end up getting lost, ignored or discarded.

Rather than continually struggling to find new leads for the sales team, marketers must develop a lead re-engagement process that returns dead or unwanted leads to the marketing pile.

Carroll described how a nurturing process that used relevant industry articles emailed to old leads and timely telephone follow-up generated a 375% increase in sales-ready leads when compared to the conversion rate of new leads. Those old leads eventually added $4.9 million in sales pipeline value.

Hunting for fresh meat online

SEO and PPC are never-ending processes.  The painful truth is that search marketing is never finished. Search engine algorithms are constantly evolving. Competing content is always being developed. Keyword prices fluctuate with demand. You’ve got to evolve to stay ahead of the game.

Marc Joseph, President and Founder, Dollar Days, recommended writing keyword-rich articles to improve your search engine results page positioning for particularly competitive keywords. He showed examples where a continuous stream of content achieved top-five results listings for some of the most competitive product areas.

The last couple of years have knocked many competitors back on their heels or out of the game completely.  When confidence begins to seep back into the market, there will be many potential customers up for grabs.

Now is the time to look at your lead generation program with a critical eye.

Posted by: Steve Banis