Feature Article: Capturing Leads
In the past few months several of our B2B oriented clients have mentioned that their traditional lead generation programs such as print ads, direct mail, trade shows, and print catalogs have been losing effectiveness.
The root cause in most cases is that the typical B2B target audience of engineers and technical buyers are spending less time reading print publications and attending trade shows and have turned to the Internet to source and research products and services. This most likely explains why a recent survey of US manufacturers done by a New Jersey based consulting firm found that 62% of those surveyed are planning to completely overhaul their website in 2005. This same study found that when companies were asked to identify their primary objective for their website, “generating sales leads” was second only to “providing information on our company.”
While most of our B2B client contacts have seen the writing on the wall that lead generation is shifting from traditional methods to Internet based tactics, they often still struggle convincing senior management to reallocate budgets to Internet based initiatives. Taking all this into consideration, the purpose of this article is to provide some insight into the distinct advantages that website marketing has over traditional marketing methods used to generate sales leads.
- In a recent survey by GlobalSpec, 35% of engineers and technical buyers indicated their use of printed trade magazines is decreasing and 30% reported they would attend fewer trade shows.
- Over 90% of engineers use the Internet to research specifications, find more comprehensive product information, shorten design cycles and get finished products to market more quickly.
Greater Access To Qualified Leads That Have A Lower Customer Conversion Cost
The focus of any lead generation system should be on quality of the leads and the cost of converting them to a customer.
An effective web-based lead system will not only generate highly qualified sales leads, it can also shorten the overall sales cycle and significantly reduce the costs associated with converting sales leads to customers.
For most of our B2B clients, engineers and technical buyers represent the largest segment of their target market. Currently, over 90% of engineers and technical buyers are using the Internet to source and research products and services. The core reason for this is that, unlike print material, the Internet can provide them with immediate access to information that is regularly updated and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, from any location in the world that has access to the Internet. What this means for your company, if it is targeting engineers and technical buyers, is much greater access to this market segment.
Sales leads that are generated from direct mailers or trade shows are often days or weeks old and sales opportunities may have come and gone in that time. This is not, however, the case for online sales leads. When engineers and technical buyers visit your website, they are in most cases trying to meet their sourcing needs and are ready to buy. In cases where they are sourcing products from an ecommerce enabled website, they can make an immediate purchase order.
Unlike print ads or direct mail, your website can offer ample opportunities and methods of interacting with your website. For example, websites that employ advanced product configurators can also allow for custom solutions that meet very specific requirements to be instantly purchased.
Ability to Measure Effectiveness
Sales leads generated from or directed to your website, offer unparalleled opportunity when it comes to measuring results and identifying your best prospects. Using simple real-time tracking you can determine:
- Who are your most active leads?
- What information they accessed.
- Did they make any purchases?
- What campaign drove them to your website?
Using reverse IP address lookup can help you identify the organization they are from and their geographical location.
You can also employ more complex and costly sales analytic tools, such as those offered by Salesforce.com (provides sales lead management tools) and WebSideStory (allows you to build behaviour profiles on visitors to your website).
Budget Issues
In order for manufacturing companies to reap the benefits of higher quality sales leads, it is not necessary to increase marketing budgets. It is simply a means of reallocating marketing dollars to Internet marketing programs , such as search engine optimization or pay-per-click programs. Online sales lead systems can reduce costs per lead, on average, by 75% compared to trade shows and publications.
- Web Based Lead System $14,000 and up.
- Direct Mailers (Design, printing, mailing, etc.) $18,500 and up per mailer event.
- Trade Publication Advertising $25,000 and up per publication and time frame.
- Tradeshows (Travel, setup, staffing, collateral, etc.) $20,000 and up – per event.
- Print Directories $20,000 and up per directory and time frame.
- Telemarketing $3,000/month = $36,000 and up per year.
- Print Catalogs $45,000 and up - which quickly get outdated.
This article focused on the advantages of a web based sales lead system. In our next newsletter, we will continue to explore specific strategies for acquiring sales leads from your website.
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