The New Year is about resolving to make improvements in life and in business. Improving lead quality is one of the biggest challenges for any business-to-business (B2B) lead generation program. Here are my top three lead nurturing strategies for the new year.
We all know how long the B2B sales cycle can be. Add in misalignment between sales and marketing, and that sales cycle just became your worst nightmare. To stop the leaky sales funnel, we need to facilitate communication and integration between sales and marketing. Here are three simple ways to do that:
Account-based marketing (ABM) is certainly a hot topic in B2B. If you want to compete successfully in today’s market, an ABM strategy is a must.
If your New Year’s resolution involves implementing account-based marketing, this will help you get started:
Now that you have identified target companies, buyer personas and content needs, you can build a personalized content strategy. Customize your messages for each stage of the buyer journey and determine which channels you will use to reach your target prospects.
The degree of message customization can vary greatly. Some companies create a personalized website experience based on their ABM strategy. Others test customized sales offers such as offering a free assessment or audit in exchange for an introductory call or meeting.
Determine your paid media plan. LinkedIn Matched Audiences, Twitter Tailored Audiences and Google Customer Match are all great ways to reach your identified prospects. As part of your ABM strategy, serve customized ad copy tailored to each prospect as they move through their customer journey.
Email is also a very effective ABM tactic. You can send highly personalized emails and tailor the message as prospects move through their research and buying steps.
In 2018, the shift from traditional lead scoring to predictive will be key. In traditional lead scoring, marketers rank the importance of various data actions to understand intent and qualify leads. With traditional lead scoring, the rank is subjective and susceptible to human error. This often leads to lost opportunities and revenue.
The move to predictive lead scoring reduces error and increases lead quality. With this approach, predictive modeling is used to forecast future behavior by analyzing historical and current data to generate a model with a high level of certainty. Predictive lead scoring uses your CRM and marketing automation solution to crunch data for each individual lead.
Consider these three factors as you move toward predictive lead scoring in 2018:
Bottom line: A successful B2B digital marketing strategy is a must in 2018. What is your New Year’s resolution to improve lead quality?
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.
Natasha Humphrey began her career in digital marketing in 1999 and specializes in integrating digital marketing strategies and analytics for a variety of business verticals. She has spent her career on the Agency side and is currently managing paid media accounts for SmartSearch Marketing.
Source: Marketing Land