Targeted Lead Nurturing Using Marketing Automation Solutions

In B2B marketing, lead nurturing is a vital process that enables marketers to slowly and steadily convert a prospect into a sales-ready lead. For lead nurturing to be successful, marketers require real time background information to devise a lead nurturing workflow.

Lead background information gathering is usually done in the website through forms. The information gathered is used by sales teams. Usually marketers collect basic information such as industry segment and email id is collected. Since this information is not sufficient for lead nurturing, intelligent marketing automation tools are being deployed. The main benefit of a marketing automation tool lies in its ability to track background information about website visitors that can be used for lead scoring and lead nurturing activities.

In some cases, sales teams may lose interest in the lead due to lack of progress, while marketing department may loose sight and might not follow up on the leads as they have already identified and handed them over to Sales. This results in loss of prospective leads on account of lack of sustained interaction with the lead and collaboration between internal teams.

So, to procure information on prospective clients and not let the good ones leak out at any stage in the marketing funnel, marketing automation tools are imperative. Effective marketing automation software can help marketers to procure a sustainable flow of qualified sales leads over a long period of time.

Marketing automation software can enable marketers to easily identify and nurture leads.  It can:

• Identify leads that have shown an interest but are not yet sales ready can be nurtured.
• Nurture leads by informing and educating them with relevant information.
• Understand the intent of the leads, and their purchasing stage.
• Classify the leads on the basis of sales readiness.
• Pass leads to Sales enabling them to reach prospects that are ready to buy now, with a relevant solution.
• Execute personalized and intent driven lead nurturing campaigns.

In the future, B2B marketers will extend the use of marketing automation platforms to other phases of the customer lifecycle as well. Today most B2B companies use marketing automation platforms exclusively for demand generation, and may not understand their versatility. With a few tweaks they can be used extensively for customer training, retention and loyalty programs, and to generate customer feedback.


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Enhance Lead Generation Process with Lead Scoring

According to Gartner, “By converting segmentation criteria into business rules how leads are rated, or scored, providers see an immediate boost in lead volume and lead quality.”
Lead scoring is an essential part of the lead generation process. Lead scoring helps measure sales readiness aspects for potential prospects and assists sales and marketing automation teams across B2B enterprises in judging their prospects’ stage in the buying lifecycle.

Using robust marketing automation applications, leads can now be automatically scored and prioritized based on their activity, interest and intent. It helps marketing teams to differentiate between leads that are sales ready and those that are not. Accordingly they can pass on the sales ready leads to Sales and focus their efforts on lead nurturing for the others. Also, lead Scoring makes Sales more efficient by helping them focus on the hottest leads first and get to them with a relevant solution in real time.

Using robust marketing automation software, lead scoring process is easy and simple to execute.

• It allows Sales and Marketing teams to define the parameters for a 'good' lead in advance, based on which it then classifies all leads.
• It monitors every click and keystroke, to understand where the visitors are in their buying cycle and which of them are exhibiting key buying indicators.
• It determines their identity and quality. This data when accumulated over a period of time and when combined with a company level view, becomes a powerful tool in qualifying leads.
• Uses of lead scoring tools.
• B2B lead scoring tools are widely used by companies as they can now directly gauge the actual effectiveness of what is working with their potential clients and what fails to create an impact.
• With the help of real time updates, sales reaction time has become faster.
• Automated lead scoring techniques employed by enterprises these days come with the additional focus on enhanced analysis of prospects.
• Scoring analysis helps to nurture leads effectively.

Lead scoring model should use both implicit and explicit behavior of the leads. Explicit information throws light on the “fit” of a prospect to a product. Explicit scores are primarily based on the information about the prospect like company size, industry segment, job title or geographic location. Implicit scores are more realistic and are derived from monitoring the prospect’s online body language like the type of whitepaper downloads, email activities, number of website visits, webinars, blogs, article, virtual shows etc.

By implementing the right lead scoring model and using a robust marketing automation system B2B marketing companies can enhance the effectiveness of the lead generation process.

Also read on - lead management, lead nurturing

Top 5 Content Strategies for B2B Marketing

With rising number of ‘informed’ buyers and fierce online competition it is imperative for companies to come up with a content website engagement strategy that is smart and strategic at the same time. So, content needs to be used proactively and dynamically. By choosing to showcase relevant content, you can ensure that the visitor knows you are listening intently.

This means, every time a user hits your webpage, he/she should be able to choose from a variety of content. Personalized content may include videos, tutorials, e-books, newsletters, thought leadership content, case studies, success stories, offerings, landing pages, and so on.

Here are the top five content strategies you could use for B2B marketing.
1. Blogs
Did you know that 64% of B2B marketers regard blogging on company branded or managed logs as a highly effective tactic? The most important aspect of blogging is to post high quality blog posts often. It is imperative to have a well thought- out social optimization strategy for blogging.

2. Whitepaper
Did you know 65% rate whitepaper as being very influential over purchase decisions? Create whitepapers that contain multimedia elements. Have research teams to thoroughly scrutinize research data before drawing conclusions.

3. Infographic
Infographics are special because they are very engaging and relevant; thereby completely capturing the reader’s attention. They can be used as excellent link baits so it is important to ensure the information is accurate. Use attractive layouts, styles and visuals to build a persuasive info graphic.

4. E-Newsletter
E-newsletter has a very high impact quotient with readers. So, it is important to focus on providing high quality content to subscribers and present it in an interesting fashion.

5. Case Study/Testimonial
Considered as highly influential marketing collateral in purchasing decisions, case studies and testimonials must be a part of content strategy. Size and formats of case studies matter, it is essential to keep it less than five pages.

Lead generation is a common goal for marketing automation companies, especially content marketing strategies. In fact, 63% of companies in a Marketing Profs and Junta42 survey said lead generation was their third most important goal for content marketing.


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Useful Tips for Creating Effective Banner Ads

No one who spends time on the Internet could fail to notice the small rectangular ads that appear on almost all web pages. These are called banner ads, and they are one of the most popular forms of online advertising. What makes banner ads so effective is that any visitor who clicks on them is taken to the advertiser’s website. Banner ads are actually hypertext links or HTML codes inserted into a webpage. Almost all companies, irrespective of whether they are big or small, use banner ads because they are the easiest and the most affordable means of promoting a product or service. The following are some pointers on creating successful banner ads:

• Since banner ads have limited display area, it is always good to keep it short, simple and to the point. Cluttering it with details can do more harm than good. Advertisers have only a few seconds to attract the attention of visitors, and if the banner ad looks cluttered nobody will read it.
• Avoid wordiness, but the words used should be good enough to create a positive impact.
• Use large fonts and a small file size. Large fonts make it easy to read while a small file size helps banner ads load faster.
• Make changes to banner ads depending on the sites where they will be displayed. Because webpages will also have other banner ads, changing font size, color and, if possible, the message can help your banner ad stand out.
• Advertise banner ads on the right websites. Study the audiences of the websites to ensure that you are targeting the right audience.
• Make the banner ads attractive by using interesting images or animation, catchy phrases and bright colors to grab the attention of readers.
• Always include a strong ‘call to action’ in banner ads.
• Make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors.
• Ensure there is a powerful heading that grabs visitors’ attention.

Most people do not consider banner to be an effective lead management technique but rather a tool that helps enterprises and organizations in getting themselves or their products and services known to the people. That is, they are more of a promotional tool than a lead generation tool. But the fact of the matter is that, if implemented properly, they can be leveraged to generate quality leads. For instance, if by clicking visitors are directed to a query section where they can fill in details to get solutions to their problems, it means a lead is generated.

For more info - lead nurturing, lead scoring, lead intelligence

Using Free Trials for Effective B2B Marketing

The popular ‘Call to Actions’ is mostly associated with free trials and offers and, is widely used in both the B2C and B2B industries. It is a universal rule followed by most customers around the world in any industry; that if they want to get the maximum returns for their investments, they allow the customer to test it in his own environment.

Here are some important considerations for B2B clients before using “Free Trials” on your webpage.


Placement effectiveness of ‘Free Trial’
Free trial generally is the primary call to action and gets the top billing in terms of placement – above fold along with the key value proposition or image. Sometimes it is even repeated twice in a smaller print below the fold or on the top along with the login.


Give away for ‘Free Trials’  
Free trial remains most comprehensive form of evaluation for any product or offering.


Ideal time for a ‘Free Trial’ offer
From a sales perspective, it ideal to offer the shortest time and then on an individual case to case basis, make exceptions where required.


Urgency around ‘Free Trial’
By indicating the free trial is available for a limited time in a subscript, one can create a sense of urgency around the call to action. You can also mention “No credit card data required” in the subscript which would emphasise – “no obligations for taking the trial”.


Information around ‘Free Trial’ tabs
Providing links to video, demo, tutorials or other resources may result in more click-through for these links as prospects would like to read more about the product and the value proposition before engaging in a trial.


Is dummy data in a sandbox better than ‘Free Trial’?
Using dummy data in a sandbox depends on whether the product produces data in a free trial which can show the prospects true value and new perspectives which they would find difficult to associate otherwise.

Overall, offering free trials is a practical proposition and works wonders from a prospect’s perspective, because it is an opportunity to go beyond the marketing automation collateral and jargon and check if the product or service being marketed matches the claims made.


Free trial is great option for B2B companies, if data produced during the trial period highlights the value of the product and provides with a strong motivation to buy.
The free product trial experience goes a step further than making available dummy data in a sandbox environment, as it shows how valuable the product is in the prospect’s own environment, thus reinforcing the value proposition.


Free trials help a prospect gain familiarity with the product, its features; not just in a sandbox environment, but right in the production environment. If the prospect does not like something in the promo run, he can voice his opinion and feedback, which can find its way back to the vendor company, who may just be able to accommodate the suggestions in the paid version.


Since most B2B decisions are taken by a group of individuals, going with a certain vendor becomes easier if there is data to showcase the merits of the solution offered by them. Free trials help put together such convincing data.


Also, a free trial allows you to make your first contact with the buyer, it allows you to present your case and build a relationship with the decision makers, which can affect the final purchase decision. So, ultimately it serves the purpose for effective Lead generation and lead nurturing.

Lead Scoring in 2011

Did you know that marketing budgets for marketing automation saw an increase from 6.4% of marketing budgets in 2010 to 6.9% in 2011? Enterprises have realized that with complicated marketing strategies and global recession, marketing automation tools can be more effective in grasping the complexities of marketing campaigns and can therefore offer solutions to solve these complexities. Marketing automation tools can equip enterprises with a cost effective way of ensuring marketing operational efficiency. When conventional and expensive marketing initiatives have failed, it has been the newer marketing elements that need to be focused upon. One such marketing automation element is lead scoring. Very simply put, lead scoring is the process of ranking and getting leads prioritized according to some pre-defined parameters.


Lead Scoring in 2011 - The Road Ahead

Lead scoring can assist enterprises in understanding the interests of their website visitors. Also the intent of these visitors can be ascertained. Often enterprises are plagued with questions about the intent behind a particular prospect’s website visit or about the actual reason behind the 11 will emphasize the ability to grasp the prospect’s intent correctly. Only then can marketing and sales teams take lead score results seriously and also take necessary and suitable action. Also the year will see sales leads scoring engaging more intensely in the analytical aspect of understanding the intent of prospects, which will further help marketing and sales teams to strategize and ideate better on their marketing campaigns. The social media bandwagon will continue to create an impact and it will have some impact on lead scoring techniques as well.

With automated lead scoring methodologies available, enterprises can be assured of better synthesis and communication between their sales and marketing teams. Therefore there will no longer be a sales and marketing teams working as separate teams, rather they will function and work together. 2011 will ensure that lead scoring techniques offer better direction towards the allocation of capital to the right kind of leads rather than focusing on prospects that may yield no profits for the enterprise. Targeted leads, when nurtured, will offer more profits and revenues to the enterprise, and this year will definitely be witness to enterprises enjoying such scenarios.

2011 could very well be the year when enterprises see the economical yet amazingly rewarding aspects of automated lead scoring techniques.

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Lead nurturing, lead management, marketing automation solutions

Effective Lead Nurturing For Increased Sales



Getting potential customers to come to your website and register does not guarantee increased sales. Not all prospects are ready to buy, but that does not mean that they will never buy. You need to keep these prospects engaged if you want them to ultimately buy. It is important to nurture them so that eventually they become your customers.

The concept of lead nurturing has become immensely popular with marketers today.  It can be thought of as the art of keeping your prospects engaged with the right kind of information at the right time so that ultimately you are the choice the prospect makes.  Lead nurturing is the process of developing a positive long-term relationship with leads/prospects through meaningful dialogue, keeping their attention with a series of time-appropriate messages and then tracking their development into sales opportunities.The information or communication sent to the customer needs to be appropriate and timely or your customer may lose interest in your product and make your marketing efforts ineffective. Lead nurturing programs have become much simpler to design and launch with marketing automation.

According to Aberdeen Research, implementing a lead nurturing practice can yield a 50%+ increase in sales-ready leads, making a large impact in a company's revenue and growth goals. 

Based on lead nurturing, marketers categorize leads based on their sales readiness and pass on to the sales team, only those leads that are ready to buy. And the prospects that are not ready are further nurtured to create interest in the products or services offered. The sales team, on the other hand, makes great progress as they have only hot leads to follow up on. And if any hot lead turns warm, it is directed back to the marketing team to be nurtured. Thus, with lead nurturing, enterprises can ensure maximum sales success.

Highly Effective Stages of Lead Nurturing

Some of the best practices in lead nurturing that can bring about the desired results are:

1. Map out a Strategy – Chalk out a strategy that can help you keep your leads interested. Plan out the kinds of content that need to be delivered to the prospect as a part of lead nurturing program, keeping in mind their interests. The kinds of content that can be sent include white papers/articles, case studies, data sheets, videos, podcasts, webinars, links to specific industry news/resources and interviews with experts/executives.
2. Personalize Your Interaction – Personalizing emails is a good strategy. It kind of breaks the ice. Send relevant content based on the interest in the prospect. You have a much higher chance of keeping your prospect in the fold if you provide information they want.
3. Create a Lead Nurturing Schedule – Develop a schedule for sending out information to the prospect. This helps you keep track of where you are in the lead nurturing funnel.
4. Reinforce Brand/Product – The prospect has shown interest in your product, and it is up to you to keep his attention with timely messages. Share white papers, videos or demos about your brand or product. Develop case studies and share success stories with clients. In this way you will be able to create an image about your brand.
5. Strengthen Relationship – Once the image is built, you need to strengthen it and maintain that interest further. You now need to send a controlled communication to influence the prospect’s buying decision.
6. Close the Deal – Once the prospect is purchase ready, it is time to pass them on to the sales team to close the deal. This can be done with offers of a free trial, and sending references.

In going through the above stages of lead nurturing, you can build up a relationship with the prospect and seamlessly progress to making them potential customers. These best practices can help marketers achieve better sales and improve ROI.

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Enhance Your Marketing Campaigns

Marketers all over the world strive to ensure that their marketing campaigns are planned and executed effectively. But despite this, not all marketing campaigns work out the way marketers expect them to. So what are the reasons for their failure? Are there any lessons to be learnt from campaigns that have failed? This article is an attempt to understand why marketing campaigns fail and what could be done to ensure they don’t!

So why do marketing campaigns fail?

No Communication Means Zero Impact: A communication gap between your marketing team and other teams whether sales or IT, can give rise to a constant mismatch between objectives which can negatively impact your campaign. Once this gap is bridged, objectives are clearly defined, and dedicated goals are set, your campaigns are sure to bring about the desired results.

Lack of Relevance in Messages: If your campaign carries messages that inherently lack coherence or relevance, then the possibility of its success is very low.

Gap in Comprehending Prospects Needs: A thorough understanding of where a demand arises, and which group of prospects really need the product is essential to fulfill their demands. Once you get this information, your campaigns can be strengthened with more targeted messages.  

How Marketing Automation Solutions Help

A 2010 IDC insight report claimed that while there are several challenges as far as sales and marketing automation processes are concerned, the benefits are quite evident: lower cost, higher efficiency and productivity, greater accountability, better performance, improved customer experience, and potentially shorter sales cycles. Thus opting for the best marketing automation solution can work wonders for your enterprise and enhance your marketing campaign.  Marketing automation solutions can enable:

• Effective lead management including lead generation and nurturing
• Enhanced CRM
• Efficient data management
• Cost-effective marketing campaigns
• Streamlining of all marketing processes
• Swift execution of multi-channel marketing campaigns

So fill in that missing link between your marketing and sales team by giving your enterprise the marketing automation edge, and see how easily your leads will be converted into actual sales!

Know more on- lead nurturing, lead management,  marketing automation software