Monthly Archives: February 2017

B2B lead generation – is it different to B2C?

Einstein famously defined madness as ‘doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results’. Lead generation activities always make me think about this because you are doing the same activities every month but surprisingly, you start to get better results the longer you do it.

Still, Einstein makes a very valid point, as you need to make sure that you are measuring and testing throughout thus evolving and improving your activities.  One very important thing to do is to identify if you are targeting consumers or businesses. Here is a summary of the main differences in approach between B2B and B2C lead generation.

What is the same?

  • Understanding your target markets: Regardless of your product you need to start any marketing activity by considering your target markets in detail. Notice that I am talking about a multitude here, the more specific the better the engagement.
  • Choosing the right channels: Don’t forget that content is king, but distribution is queen and she wears the pants… I often talk about the ever-growing choice of tactics out there. Don’t get confused, use it to your advantage.
  • Creating engaging communications: Regardless of your industry, find the questions your clients are asking or the pain they are feeling and provide them with an answer.

What’s different?

Target market size: B2C lead generation initiatives often cater to a broad audience. Unlike in B2B where the decision rests with top management, everyone is a customer with purchasing power in B2C.

Sales cycle: The amount of time and resources dedicated to a purchase are often larger in the B2B world. This makes the sales cycle longer, which can take months or even years to complete. B2C sales cycles and transactions tend to be much shorter and usually involve far less money.

Product knowledge: B2B customers are usually more knowledgeable because they tend to do a lot more research before making a purchase than B2C customers. This means that they typically require more valuable content including free case studies, infographics, and white papers to nudge them along the sales funnel.

On the other hand, marketers often tap into B2C customers during their “buying phase.” Lead generation content for B2C often come in the forms of promotions, unique offers, and personal messaging.

Pitch: Since B2B’s primary currency is trust, products or services are sold through professional (and sometimes personal) relationships that are built over time. B2B clients often make purchases from people they know personally or from individuals with which they’ve built a professional relationship.

On the other hand, B2C products and services make sales through price perception and quality. Customers rarely know individual representatives within a company before making a purchase decision.

To illustrate the case further, here is a list of popular strategies:

B2B strategies:

  • E-mail marketing
  • Seminars and workshops
  • Developing contacts through LinkedIn
  • Content marketing – blogs, articles, white papers, guides, Q&A
  • Telemarketing

 B2C strategies:

  • Social Media
  • Lead magnets, Landing pages and newsletters
  • Memberships and clubs
  • Content marketing – quizzes, promotions, special offers
  • Adwords and Social Media advertising (PPC)

I hope you find my interpretation useful and if so I would be grateful if you would share this with your contacts.

If you would like to consider any of these ideas further and want some help doing so you could consider our sales and marketing plan or get in touch to discuss.

Telemarketing tips: Forget making appointments, build your target market knowledge

 

One of my favourite motivational speakers, Zig Ziglar, once said: “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”

This is true in most situations but I think it is particularly important to remember when attempting to use the telephone to follow up on sales leads, also known as telemarketing, telesales and cold calling.

In a previous blog I attempted to persuade you to outsource your telephone follow-up. I still believe you should. Whilst you and your team are the best people to represent your brand, your time is much better spent speaking and meeting with actual sales opportunities. If you spent five minutes reading any sales success books you will know all about sales funnels and pipelines. Here are two main things to remember about lead generation:

  • When it comes to developing new business, your marketing campaigns represent the very start of the journey. Creating interest is great but there are still quite a few stages to go through before you can call it a sales lead
  • The more touches you add to your sales process the more likely you are to develop the kind of relationships you are after
  • The more information you uncover about your target market the better

So where am I going with this? Well, I would recommend that you consider all of the above when it comes to arranging your next telephone campaign, be it in-house or outsourced.  Most business owners get so caught up with measuring results that they narrow the desired outcome to making appointments.  Here are a few reasons why it does not work:

  • Most telemarketing campaigns are done as a follow-up to a number of communications, typically done by e-mail, often to new contacts who may have not heard of you or considered your product before. This means that when they are called they are not in buying mode so pushing for an appointment is a little premature.
  • Due to a lot of product information being found online, most buyers are less keen on sales meetings per se and feel they would benefit more from speaking to a product expert who can answer their questions

Is telephone follow up a waste of time then? No, not at all. It is a great tool and an important touch, which adds value to any marketing activity as long as you understand what it is best used for:

  • As a tool to clean up your database and identify broad opportunities and dead ends
  • As a way to speed up your understanding of your target markets and how they perceive you
  • As a relationship building tool

If you are interested in learning more about effective use of telemarketing strategy, you might want to come along to a joint seminar I am holding with my friends at MacArthur Davies on Friday 3/03/17 covering the secrets to telemarketing success.  Click here to find out more and register.