Marketing Sherpa has just released their 2012 Lead Generation Benchmark Report. This is an extensive report on tactics and methods for generating new business leads, and draws from close to 2,000 companies covering both B2B and B2C marketing.
Some interesting insights include:
- Online tactics top the charts in effectiveness. Multichannel messaging has been rated as the most effective tactic for increasing engagement. When your targets receive the same message from you via multiple channels, you create a consistent and engaging experience.
- Most CMOs agree that ROI, optimization and audience insights are of premier importance for 2012. The underlying theme of these priorities lies in the quality of leads generated.
- Organizations target quality, but they aren’t paying for it. Despite an increasing need for quality, many organizations invest less than $20 per lead.
- Lead nurturing is proven to improve lead generation ROI. On average, organizations that nurture their leads experience a 45% lift in lead generation ROI over those organizations that do not.
- Clear communication of value is vital to success. The foundation of marketing messaging lies in the value proposition. Without a clear and compelling value proposition, buyers are left wondering why they should buy your product instead of a competitor’s.
(Source MarketingSherpa.com)
My takeaway points from this report:
- Online is key, but not exclusive: Note the emphasis on multi-channel marketing! While online marketing is the most effective, it still needs to be supported by a company-wide marketing strategy that covers all client interactions.
- Increasing awareness of the importance AND cost of value: Companies large and small realize that they need to get more value out of their marketing budgets – AND (perhaps more importantly) they are realizing that there is lots of room for improvement. Optimization of marketing campaigns and more emphasis on ROI will be a recurring theme for the next few years.
- Investing in outside help brings returns: With so much emphasis on improving value, nurturing leads and defining real ROI, companies have to acknowledge the long term benefit of contracting with a specialist. While there will be an upfront investment, the long term improvements in marketing efficiency will more than pay for the expert advice.
You can get the full 2012 Lead Generation Report from Marketing Sherpa on their website.
“Organizations target quality, but they aren’t paying for it.” This is true. A lot of companies try to build a culture that promotes and emphasizes quality refuse to place a major investment on it. The willingness to invest on it is crucial. Certain systems and programs have to be put in place and they all require a significant amount of monetary investment.
Great article, I’m sure these tips will help any business to increase their revenue. Thank you as well for compiling the most important parts in a summary and elaborating on them, well done.
This is a nice breakdown for us. Im sure using these tips those of us that own businesses can apply them to increase company earnings. The Online Marketing part is key in my opinion. Great blog post!
I really love how this article focuses in on multichannel marketing. If the right budget is setup, it’s so important to build on your ROI by simply making sure that you have covered every marketing and advertising platform that would catch the eye of your customers or potential customers.
What lead generation tactics do you see as highly effective?
Two things caught my eye in this post. First was “Clear communication of value is vital to success.” I agree with this completely. You can’t sell a product unless you are able to verbally sell its value. Communicate constantly with your customers, and communicate with potential customers so you can build a strong relationship to build loyalty.
The second thing that crossed my mind was “Investing in outside help brings returns.” I have a problem of not knowing where my money will take me. Unfortunately, I’m afraid of investing because I don’t know if my investment will actually bring me my returns. I will practice the habit of logical investing.
If done right, multi-channel online marketing will be enough on its own to sustain a business. Paying attention to things like Facebook, Digg, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube and such could pay off handsomely. Investing in expert, outside help is one of the best thing a business owner could do. You can’t be good at everything and there are people out there that can be golden in certain areas of expertise.