Maximizing Lead Generation Table of Contents

About the Author     vii

Acknowledgments     vii

We Want to Hear from You     viii

1 The Case for Lead Generation     1

Defining Terms: What a Lead Is and What It Is Not     2

How Lead-Generation Campaigns Differ from Other Types of Marketing Communications     4

The Lead-Generation Process     6

Market Research for Lead Generation     10

Organizational Roles and Responsibilities for Lead Generation     12

Case Study in Lead-Generation Excellence: How Anritsu Reached Key Decision Makers with a Three-Touch Campaign     13

2 Campaign Planning: You Can’t Leave It to Luck     19

Who? What? When? Where? Breaking Down the Buying Process     20

May I Have This Dance?      23

How Will You Know When You’re There?      24

The Goldilocks School of Lead Flow Planning     25

Planning for Your Campaign Budget     28

3 The Marketing Database: Not Sexy, But Essential to Success     33

Data Sources and Types     34

Data Fields You Need for Lead Generation     46

Data Hygiene Best Practices     50

Database Analysis, Segmentation, and Modeling     54

4 Campaign Development Best Practices     59

Best Practice I: Research and Testing     60

Best Practice II: The New Importance of Content Marketing     66

Best Practice III: Marketing Automation     71

Case Study: When the Chips Were Down, Marketing Got Automated     73

5 Campaign Media Selection     75

B-to-B Lead Generation Media: The Top Five     77

Set the Stage for Lead Generation with PR     84

B-to-B Lead Generation Media: Three to Avoid     86

Using Web 2.0 for Lead Generation     88

How to Select the Right Media Mix     92

Mixing It Up: Multiple Media     93

6 Campaign Execution     101

Campaign Target Selection: Finding the Winning Combination     102

Seven Steps to Successful Lead-Generation Creative     106

How to Develop Offers They Can’t Refuse     110

Getting the Best Work from an Agency or Creative Freelancers     118

7 Response Planning and Management     123

Response Management Step-by-Step     124

Six Strategies to Capture the Response Data You Need     124

The All-Important Landing Page     126

Why Responses Are Often Mishandled     131

Inquiry Fulfillment: The Beginning of a Beautiful Relationship     132

Six Rules of Fulfillment     134

8 Lead Qualification     139

Setting Qualification Criteria: Can’t Beat BANT     140

What to Ask and When to Ask It     141

Need for Speed: Moving Qualified Leads into the Pipeline     142

Lead-Ranking Strategies     145

Qualifying Leads at a Trade Show or Event     150

Marketing Checkup for Telephone-Based Lead Generation and Qualification     151

The Whos and Hows of the Handoff     153

9 Lead Nurturing     157

A Marketing Function with a Big Sales Benefit     158

The Lead-Nurturing Process, Step by Step     159

Nurturing Best Practices     161

Case Study: How a Comprehensive Rethinking of Lead Generation and Management Strategy Improved Lead-Nurturing Response Rates and Lowered Costs     167

10 Metrics and Tracking     175

Response Rate     176

Cost Per Lead     179

Inquiry-to-Lead Conversion Rate     181

Lead-to-Sales Conversion Rates     182

Expense-to-Revenue Ratio (E:R)      183

Seven Techniques for Tracking Leads to Closure     185

When a Lead Doesn’t Close     190

11 The Fast-Evolving Future of Lead Generation     191

1. More and Better Marketing Automation     192

2. Sales and Marketing Will Finally Get on the Same Page     192

3. New Data Sources for Prospecting     193

4. Social Media Will Get Real for Lead Generation     193

5. Affinity Marketing Will Come to B-to-B     194

6. Face-to-Face Events Will Resume Their Importance     194

7. New Ways to Nurture     195

8. Ever-Evolving Customer Behavior     196

9. More and Better Video     196

10. Mobile Will Happen     197

Index     199