Marketing Automation – The Importance of Lead Scoring in B2B
I have spent a great deal of time of late evaluating various marketing related technologies to build out some efficiencies and adopt some of the newer tricks out there. In an earlier article, I dug into my view on the content management space. As it turns out, several of the content management and WEM vendors also include Marketing Automation. So I thought I’d talk a little how to use it to nurture leads.
Marketing Automation: What Is It?
If you work in Marketing, there’s a good chance you already know what this means. Just to be certain we’re all on the same page, let’s review a quick definition to get on common ground.
“Marketing Automation is a software-based solution that offers advanced email marketing functionality such as drip marketing, multi-step campaigns, landing page generation, and full analytical tracking. It also can include more advanced message testing and targeting features not commonly found in simple email marketing products.”
Essentially, these products exist to help marketing teams better nurture and qualify leads in the early stages of the sales funnel. That way, once a lead makes it to sales, the person is more likely to be qualified, interested, and ready to dig in to consider the product in detail. They likely have a real project and budget, maybe even a desired time line, leading to a true opportunity waiting and ready for your sales team.
Lead Scoring: The Key to Nurturing and Qualifying
In order to achieve that vision just described, it is absolutely critical that you think carefully about how you want to designate what a qualified lead is. This can be done very simply, or it can be quite complicated in larger enterprises or businesses with a broad product portfolio.
Simple Version: Response Indicates Interest
The simplest example of how to implement lead scoring is to start with a multi-step campaign. Let’s say that, once you identify a new lead, they go into an automated campaign that sends the following emails:
1. A welcome email with links to free information about your product and the problems it solves
2. (Two weeks later) A second message including a little more product information, as well as contact info should they wish to demo a product
3. (Four weeks later) A third message leading with a more focused offer centering around a demo
4. (Eight weeks later) A fourth and final message extending a more premium or urgent, time-limited offer that moves them along the sales cycle
Like I said, this is very simple. Basically, you are providing a little more motivation to respond each time. If this does not get a response, then perhaps they are not ready to buy quite yet. Or maybe they haven’t gotten the project approved, even though they will. But one way or the other, they were willing to let you be in touch with them. Unless they unsubscribe, you still have a reason to push on.
Long-Term Plan: Poised For The Right Time
If you try the simple approach above, a certain minority of the contacts added to the database will convert. But you will still have quite a lot of names who did not respond, but who may one day still be a potential customer. For these contacts, you need to have a long-term drip marketing approach in your back pocket.
Drip marketing works similar to multi-step campaigns, except it loops in analytics and progressive profiling. That way, you can build an understanding of who they are, what they care about (particularly content and offers on your website and in emails), and how likely a true purchase is in the future. In most cases, it is absolutely crucial that email open and click data, web site paths and behaviors, and any dripped data fields be aggregated in a single Marketing Automation product.
Going into much more detail here would make this blog post a candidate for splitting into multiple entries, so I may take a moment in the future to dig into specifics. For now, just know who you want to sell to, know how to understand when they are ready to consider your product, and have a concrete set of standards for identifying true opportunities, then build your web content, site map, and email campaigns to “lead the horse to water”, to coin a tired-but -appropriate cliche.
Lead-Scoring Holds It All Together
In case it didn’t jump out at you, lead-scoring is the key to this whole approach. Sales teams have been scoring leads for years, so if you find yourself struggling to figure out how to score prospects, get some face time with whomever it is who does your sales pipeline management. Their model may or may not be ideal for you since it’s focused on actually closing the deals, but seeing how they build from first contact through a closed deal or lost deal is something you can extend out to earlier stages of the life cycle. That’s the part Marketing should be managing on behalf of sales anyway, and if frees up your sales team to generate revenue more quickly once leads and opportunities do make it to them.
Read MoreHow to Get Massive Traffic to Your Web Site – Rapid Mass Traffic
Like with all these system there is something that is already out in Internet land and we just haven’t found it yet or it’s a new magic piece of software etc that saves the work.
With this in mind myself and the team here decided to take a look and see what all this was about as the videos on their site shows very staggering results.
So we purchased the product knowing that we have the Clickbank 60 day return policy to cover us for any crap we might find.
What Get In The Package
First off you get a tons of videos explaining how this all works and they are so easy to follow through. The guy who has created the product (Latif) is very hyper and sometimes does run away with the whole reason we have brought the product but in saying that its very well explained.
Surprise
You also get a lot of hidden bonuses showing you how make the most of this system and get immediate traffic flow to make very easy money. Latif further shows you the way he started online using these methods to generate a cash flow within 1-2 weeks….and its very easy to follow and understand. – This is a fantastic published bonus and he could have sold this in a product on its own.
You also get an Ebook which is highly recommended that you read first as the videos will not make any sense to the newbie. However even the experienced should read this book first as Latif explains and references a few things back to the Ebook.
Does It Work?
We set up the system exactly as Latif explains for us to do and we had no traffic what so ever. However we reviewed back on a few of the videos to see if we had done anything wrong…and we had….so we adjusted and it went crazy.
Read MoreBest Products to Sell For Profit – Online Products That Can Earn Consistent Cash!
What are some of the best products to sell on eBay to start seeing extraordinary profit on a regular basis? How do I succeed in this department and how can I ensure that I will see the success I dream about every single day?
There are things that you can do in order to make sure that the product you are selling will with a high certainty, earn you consistent profit, at least for a set period of time. I have nearly perfected the technique, even though there is always room for improvement, the thing is that you can start today!
Best Products to Sell Online
What are the best products to sell online. There are some options you have. You can either sell already created products, or create your own products by fulfilling a need, yes it’s possible – you can create a product, we will discuss both!
Okay, first of all, how do you find the hottest products that will pull profit? Well first of all you want to go on stores or online marketplaces and seeing what’s hot. What is selling, go on the what’s hot list and see what people are looking for this year, or this time of the year. You also want to make sure that you check the closed listings to see what products are getting the most bids per category, seller’s tools like Vendio will help you decide which products are hot and ready to sell!
How to Create Your Own Product
This is something that I have personally seen a little success of. Let’s say you have seen a theme come up, or a need that needs to be fulfilled. You create a product for it. For example, I saw a problem with specific product and I created an Ebook for it. Now granted it only made me about 500$ a month, but I mean it only took me 1 day to make the product, so how’s that for return?
You can create products like this and sell them by going on websites such as Google trends, keyword tools, and just reading what’s going on around the blogosphere!
Read MoreHas Your E-mail Mission Lost Its Luster?
Remember when you started your e-mail campaign?
You had a mission — provide the best service and value possible to the maximum number of people spending the least amount of advertising dollars.
You thought you did everything right. You used graphics and catchy headlines and sent daily e-mails for the count-down to the end of the sale.
You got a lot of sales. That told you that you were doing it right. So you did it again.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” An old axiom that works well in most circumstances.
If, however, either, you are still selling the same product to someone who has already purchased, or it appears that you are selling that same product, this person will probably wonder why you aren’t paying attention!
Yes, it’s true. Buyers buy, and when you your customers buy something from you, you can accurately assume they will buy from you again. You have a product or service they like, and you have established a certain level of trust.
Why, however, would they buy the same thing again if they don’t need it?
Maybe you’re not offering the same thing. You just forgot to tell them that. Your subject line once again read: “20% Discounts One Week Only”, and the primary link in the e-mail content pointed to the same product. Oops.
Hey, it happens. And it’s one of the little things that quickly takes the luster off the best-designed e-mail marketing campaigns.
When results show something is successful, you want to do it again. So do it.
Don’t, however:
Make everything identical. If every offer has a “20% Discount” it ceases to seem like a bargain.
Forget to tie new links to new products in the right areas of your e-mail content. If the discount you’re offering applies to a different product, make sure it is well-identified and linked appropriately in your e-mail.
-Do a content “add-on” without changing focus. Maybe you still have some of the older product left, and yes, you’d like to move it, also. But it’s not the primary purpose of this e-mail. Proofread your e-mail and check all the links before hitting the ’send’ button.
You can and want to link to the buying behavior of your clientele. You and your team will want to know:
Why was your first campaign successful?
What did you identify as particularly meeting the needs and desires of your target market?
How did you highlight the benefits?
What promise did you make…and keep…that triggered the response you got?
How did you appeal to their emotions?
If your second e-mail marketing blitz is for a different product, how can you touch those same key elements without having your e-mail sound like it’s just a repetition of your last sales campaign?
One method I’ve found helpful is to look at the current headlines. We all respond at some level to what is going on around us. Let’s say for example you were selling an anti-aging cream last month, and this month you found a source for a new supplement that has been shown to reduce inflammation. You might start the message content to all those who purchased last month something like this:
“Last month you purchased ‘MagicCream.’ You’ve discovered the first secret of biologically younger-looking skin. This month you will discover how to stop those stress lines on your skin that are created from inflammation. Take more years off your life. Unlike Heidi Montag and many other celebrities who’ve had to resort to dangerous surgical procedures, you can create beauty inside and out with natural, healthy products I will continue to research meticulously…and use personally… before making available to you at the lowest price possible….”
Since Heidi Montag is currently the topic of some controversy as a role model because she’s having plastic surgery to improve her looks after making the very public statement: “Beauty’s really within”, she provides the perfect springboard for the connection between current topics and your product. Even for those who may not have read about the controversy, it sparks curiosity, and ensures your readers feel connected to current events.
Keep your e-mails fresh and relative to current events. A clean shine keeps the luster on your e-mail mission. Sort of like that comfortable pair of serviceable shoes look like new with a fresh polish.
Read MoreWhy the Internet is So Good For Testing Your Business Ideas
There are many reasons why a business online should succeed if you have the right idea. The main reason is numbers; numbers of people online, and the other reason is cost. For a conventional business you have overheads like payroll for staff, lease payments, taxes, insurance, retirement funds for staff etc. The list is long and what percentage of gross income goes to these overheads? Lots i suspect, from 25% to 50% or higher!(just a guess)
The other big plus is that you only need a very small percentage of people online to buy your product or service to make good money. There are over a billion people online and the number increases every year. Get on board now and ride the wave. To be sure you have a better chance than most to have your business idea online succeed, the following points should be thought about before your business goes live.
1. You must find out what people want
2. How much competition is there in your chosen niche?
3. Do you have the expertise to provide what people want?
4. How much will people pay for your product or service?
5. How many buyers per month do you need to make the business worthwhile?
What is the point of trying to sell something that no one wants, or there is little demand for. Use Google search to see how many of that product is out there already. The other way to do research, saving you time, is to pay someone to research your idea.
Once you have a product or service that you feel is a goer, test it out in the marketplace. Do joint ventures with people who have opt in lists, use Google AdWords, use free and paid classifieds, try solo ads. Many more marketing strategies can be used. If you already have a website that gets traffic why not put an ad on this website so that at least your new idea gets seen. If you try these methods, which some do cost money, over a month or two, what is the response?
In a conventional business the testing of a business idea costs much more than on the internet. For under a thousand dollars you can normally find out if your business idea is a goer or not on the internet. If you have created a digital product, the cost is even less. The biggest expense with creating a digital product is time. Sometimes months are spent developing this product, and then if it fails, you are not very happy. But your research, if done well, will ensure you have a good chance of succeeding.
Every product you launch on the internet has potential, how do you really know how good it is going to be unless you test it. Some products have been around for years, yet still sell. So what if it sells well at the start and then sales taper off. This pattern is probably the norm, the only variable is the length of the tapering off period.
The big advantage that the internet has is that setup costs can be recouped so quickly with a popular product. The research and time costs are easily paid back with even 500 sales. We are assuming the cost of the product is $20, 500 sales would bring in $10000. Assume for a moment 10 sales a month at $20 equals $2400 per year. Your setup costs are probably covered, and the rest is pure profit. You can now go and develop your next business idea. The previous examples are purely fictitious, as every product is different, and will have different setup costs.
The main point is that an internet business idea is much less costly to try out and the potential reward can be substantial. The numbers of people on the internet mean that with a small outlay, even modest sales can be very rewarding. How do you know really, unless you test, whether a product will be a best seller? You could surprise yourself, and become one of those who develops a product once a year, and makes a very comfortable living selling online. Good luck!
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