The document provides 7 tips for driving more B2B revenue through marketing. The tips are: 1) use metrics to drive marketing, 2) prevent follow-up failure by nurturing leads, 3) segment your contact list, 4) create compelling content, 5) mine your existing database for leads, 6) change how you use purchased lists by sending educational offers instead of sales pitches, and 7) increase sales productivity by qualifying leads and collaborating with sales. Implementing these tips through both basic and more advanced marketing automation approaches can significantly improve conversion rates and revenue.

1. Top Seven Turn-Around Tips to
Drive More B2B Revenue
Jep Castelein
jep@leadsloth.com

2. 7 Tips
• Marketing as a Revenue Driver
• Focus on online marketing
• Two scenarios:
– Improvements with CRM & Email Marketing only
– Improvements with Marketing Automation

3. 1. METRICS-DRIVEN MARKETING

4. Metrics
“In God we trust;
All others must bring data”
-- W. Edwards Deming

5. Types of Metrics
• Response Measurements
– Response/Conversion rate
• Cost Measurements
– Cost per Qualified Lead
• Revenue Measurements
– Buying Stage Conversion Rates
– % of Pipeline Sourced by Marketing

6. Convert More Leads Into Customers
Lead Management Closes the Gap
in The Middle of the Funnel
Source: October 2006, Best Practices “Improving B2B Lead Management”

7. SiriusDecisions DemandGen Waterfall
Source: SiriusDecisions, Inc

8. Measure Conversion Rates
SiriusDecision‘s Waterfall Model gives benchmark numbers for conversion rates
between the different stages in the funnel. With improved lead management,
conversion rates will be higher.
SiriusDecisions Inquiries MQLs SALs SQLs SQL-to-close
Benchmark N/A 5.1% 61% 56% 26.5%
Best Practice N/A 9.7% 82% 62% 29%
MQL = Marketing Qualified Lead SAL = Sales Accepted Lead SQL = Sales Qualified Lead (i.e. sales opportunity identified)
Example: moving from Benchmark to Best Practice
For each 1,000 leads, best-in-class companies create 46 more MQLs than
benchmark companies (97 instead of 51). They create almost 10 additional
deals (14.3 instead of 4.6 deals, a 300% increase).

9. Basics: Process, CRM & Excel
1. Define Qualified Leads
2. Let Sales give back leads to Marketing
3. Track Opportunities in a CRM system
4. Every week: put the # of new leads, new
qualified leads, new opportunities and won
business in a spreadsheet

10. MA: Automate Reporting
1. Define Qualified Leads
2. Let Sales give back leads to Marketing
3. Let the system capture the data
4. Use the system to generate reports

11. 2. PREVENT FOLLOW-UP FAILURE

12. Why Follow-Up Failure
• No Leads Left Behind
• Facts
– 50% of Leads are not ready to buy
– After 6 months, only 23% have bought
– Nurtured Leads deliver 20% more sales
opportunities
– Best-in-class Lead Nurturing produces 50% more
sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost per lead

13. Create Formal Lead Flow
MARKETING
New
Nurturing MQL
Lead
SALES
Recycled
Lead
Customer Evaluation SAL
Long-term
Lead
SQL Selling
Customer
Lost deal/
Closing
Cancelled

14. Basics: Use Lead Status in CRM
• Lead Status should indicate the stage in the
buying process
• Qualified leads should move in 7 days:
– Disqualified
– Recycled
– Qualified
• If you use Salesforce.com, add Contact Status
field to Contacts

15. MA: Automate Lead Flow
• Use Lead Scoring to qualify leads
• Automatically enter leads into email nurturing
campaigns

16. 3. SEGMENT YOUR LIST

17. Why Segmentation?
• Relevant messages are more effective
– Segmented Emails: 30% More Opens, 50% More
Clicks
• Segment by
– Demographics/Firmographics
– Behavior

18. Buyer Persona Step-by-Step
1. Desk Research
– Goals
– Pain Points
– Needs
2. Persona Interviews
– Ask select customers
– Record the conversation
3. Persona Workshop
– Get feedback from sales
– Test whether persona description sounds realistic

19. Basics: 3-5 Segments
• Create 3-5 segments, e.g. based on:
– Job role
– Type of contact (customer, prospect, other)
– Vertical
• Upload this information in your email tool, so
you can segment based on that

20. MA: Dynamic Segmentation
• Segment on any field
• Segment based on behavior, e.g.:
– People who respond to 3 emails will get
subsequent emails fast (acceleration)
– Send a email to all people who visited the
“Financial Services” section on your website

21. 4. CREATE COMPELLING CONTENT

22. Write For The Reader
• Content Mapping
– Buying Stage
– Role (executive, end user)
• Mix Formats (whitepaper, webinar, video, etc.)
• Use Simple Words
– “Use” instead of “Leverage”
• Avoid Jargon
– Check at http://gobbledygook.grader.com/

23. How to Create Content Quickly
• Link to Other People’s Content
• Ask a thought leader to contribute
• Interview coworkers (podcast/video)
• Collaborate with partners
• Reuse content across formats

24. Optimize Your Emails
• Receive > Open > Read > Respond
• Short and concise subject line (40-50 chars)
• Use a Headline
• Present benefits
• Be brief: no more than 3 paragraphs
• Use only 1 call-to-action

25. Basics: Compelling Content
• Send different content to different roles
• The click rate will tell you how compelling the
content is
• Ask people for feedback on the content

26. MA: Send the Right Content
• Use Lead Score and Web Activity to determine
stage in the buying process
• Vary nurturing frequency based on interest
level
• Measure download rates for PDFs
• Automatically send email to ask for rating

27. 5. MINE YOUR EXISTING DATABASE
FOR BUSINESS

28. Don’t Waste Lead Gen Dollars
• Reconnect with dormant leads
• Be upfront that you haven’t emailed for a long
time
• Create a series of emails (not just one)
• Define your success criteria and follow-up
strategy

29. How Much Are Your Leads Worth?
1. Fit with the Ideal Customer Profile
2. Acquired Names vs. Inbound Leads
3. Recency
4. Activity Level
5. Cross-sell Opportunity

30. Visualization: How Old Are Your Leads?

31. Basics: CRM & Email
• Select dormant leads in your CRM system
• Send them an email series and monitor
responses
• Update status in CRM for responders and non-
responders

32. MA: Lead Reactivation Program
• Select the dormant leads
• Schedule the email sequence
• Create automation rules to update leads
based on responses

33. 6. NO MORE EMAIL BLASTS: CHANGE
THE WAY YOU USE PURCHASED LISTS

34. 56% Thinks That “Just Not Interesting”
Email is SPAM

35. Have Educational Offers
• NOT: asking for the appointment
– You’ll only get today’s hot leads
– You can send such an email only once
– You’ll miss out on leads that need more time
• INSTEAD: offer useful content
– Everyone wants to learn
– Builds credibility
– Allows you to develop an email series

36. Design Multi-Step Campaigns
• You cannot force leads to buy, they will buy
when they are ready
• Different people may be interested in different
topics
• Vary the day and time of the day

37. Send On Behalf of Real People
• Sales person
• Sales Development Rep
• Marketing manager
• Fictitious person
• Include company name if well-known

38. Choose a Good Subject Line
• 40-50 Characters
• Attract attention:
– Cryptic
– Curiosity-invoking
– Typos
• Test different subject lines

39. Use Basic Formatting
• “Outlook” formatting
• 10-40% higher response rates
• Include signature
• Personalize beyond the “first name”

42. 7. INCREASE SALES PRODUCTIVITY

43. What Does Sales Want From Marketing?
• Get Qualified Leads who want to talk to them
• As much info as possible on a lead’s online
behavior
• Be involved in how leads are nurtured
• Get help with prospecting
– See which companies are visiting the website
– Get pre-tested (and trackable) email templates
– Use a fully automated email prospecting campaign

44. Better Lead Priorities
• Make someone responsible for lead
qualification (other than the sales person)
• Define Ideal Customer Profile
• Shortcut to Sales by mixing in sales offers, e.g.
– Request personal demo
– Request free consultation

45. Basics: Sales Collaboration
• Train sales people to look at lead statuses in
the CRM system to find the best new leads
• Have sales people set Lead Status to
add/remove people from the mailinglist
• Put sales people on your mailinglist
• Put some email templates in your CRM system

46. MA: Advanced Sales Alignment
• Sync CRM and Marketing Automation
• Provide a prioritized lead list based on lead
score
• Show email & web activity in CRM (+ alerts)
• Let Sales push unqualified leads back into
marketing
• Provide Sales with trackable email templates

47. The 7 Steps
1. Metrics-Driven Marketing
2. Prevent Follow-up Failure
3. Segment Your List
4. Create Compelling Content
5. Mine Your Existing Database
6. No More Email Blasts
7. Increase Sales Productivity

48. Q&A
Jep Castelein
jep@leadsloth.com
www.leadsloth.com
@jepc @leadsloth