How to Leverage Marketing Automation Tools for Lead Generation

The surge in Internet usage and the overdose of digital information have brought about a huge transformation is the B2B selling process. It has been researched and found out that most buyers prefer to do their research about what they want to buy before reaching out to the company’s hotline.

It is important for sellers to also be informed about their prospect’s wishes. So, there is a need for sales teams to be aware of all the activities that the prospects are doing on the site.

Most company websites have online information filling forms. They know what to do when someone responds to an RFP, or fills up a Contact Us form. Companies are also potential prospects and are reaching out to marketers even if they are not choosing to identify themselves by filling out a form. Therefore, it is crucial to have a platform where both types of visitors are identified – those that choose to identify themselves and those that remain anonymous.

Most analytics tools (like Google Analytics) are more very useful to B2C audiences and hence the talk of summary metrics (number of visit to a page) and Goal completes (who is buying, where are they dropping out etc) which are not quite as relevant from a B2B standpoint. For a B2B environment the marketing automation software used has to be relevant to both Sales and Marketing teams.

When it comes to B2B selling, companies need lead data that is actionable and provides consistent information to all sales teams. This data should help to identify potential prospects, provide some background information to determine if they are qualified and in turn help in reaching out to them.

By using marketing automation solutions for lead generation, marketers can expect the following:

1. Trace Online Activity
Marketing automation tools help in tracking information such as visits made to important pages, downloading content, attending a Webinar, responding to an email sent out, copying content on the site, visiting site from a 3rd party review publisher site, etc. This can be very useful for B2B lead generation.

2. Identify Lead Background Information
Marketing automation solutions help B2B companies to identify the name of the company. Structured data like company size, location, industry can also be identified and be used to determine if the corporate visitor is in the target segment or not and help marketing teams to make a quick decision.

3. Choose Warm Leads Only
There is a lot of data that can be gathered from the interactions of the website visitors with the site. Users can set proactive alerts based on important criteria such as first time visitor from a company, a person from a named account visiting the pricing page, etc can be very useful to a B2B marketer.

4. Identify Target Segment Buyer
There are many people involved in the decision making process, information on their interaction should also be considered to track what the customers are doing. If the contacted person has delegated the responsibility then, it is important to be able to track both individuals and also the company behavior over time to gauge interest levels and qualify them.



Also read on - Lead management, Lead nurturing best practices

Scopes and Potential of Email Marketing

In keeping with the advancements in social media and internet technologies, email marketing has proven to be the most useful marketing tool in recent times. It is the most preferred option for the B2B websites as an effective and a low expense means to connect to a wide section of online audience.

Defining Email Marketing

Simply put, email marketing can be defined as a procedure of establishing an association with past/present consumers and prospective clients by sending them communications such as direct mailers, newsletters, brochures and other digitized information about a product, service or promotional offers through e-mails.

Email Marketing – A Trusted Medium

Today email marketing has emerged as a trusted medium of carrying on online brand and product marketing initiatives. Furthermore, the symbiotic nature between email and the online experience is supported by the increased rate of “triggered mails” or online notifications driven by online communications. This includes instances such as “welcome mailers” when you sign up for any service, when someone updates their status or shopping cart and the like.

Interactions of such kind heavily depend on and assist emails’ considerable trust quotient. Simultaneously, research has indicated that such kinds of mails have the highest-open rates because the consumers expect them. This is further because the notifications are significant to their actions.

It has been estimated that more and more marketers in the near future would concentrate on the “no-brainer” mails that at the first glance may make no mark, but in reality might be a power conduit. Therefore, we can expect potential marketers to leverage email marketing to yield higher revenues and brand awareness.

Industry Solutions For Email Marketing

In the recent past eminent companies engaged in a B2B marketing automation with their email marketing platform ensures that enterprises to attain their marketing objectives by helping them to identify the “website visitor intent”. Thus enterprises can generate and nurture prospects with intent-based emails in the following way:

• Sending follow up mails with relevant data based on intent
• Sharing emails that covers recent consumer feedback, success stories, score over other market players with links to support the same
• Sending out invitations to technological events and online seminars and webinars
• Inviting the online audience to read up case studies or download interesting Whitepapers
• Sending out newsletters regarding industry developments and other important technological news
• Identify in real time as to when a prospect is seriously thinking of a purchase decision

The reach of an email is widespread and its nature is very individual and personal. This indicates that a reader when going through a mail is in his/her private space to browse through the relevant content provided. Hence, if used appropriately, email marketing has the potential to become the face of online marketing in the forthcoming years.


Also read more on - Search Engine Optimization Tools, Lead Scoring Model, Marketing funnel

Advantages of Using Marketing Automation for Lead Generation

The Lead Generation process helps to convert website visitors into prospective buyers. To leverage the right techniques, marketers need to be armed with lead contact information such as email id, phone no, company name, demographic details etc. This information helps to qualify leads so that Sales teams can further work on them (lead nurturing) to convert them into customers.  

Today we find that buyers prefer to do their research about the product and features before contacting the marketer or assistance. In fact, many companies have already created processes to reach out to people who want to be identified. There are techniques to identify leads o when they respond to an RFP, or fill up a Contact Us form. What is missing here is that marketers miss out on the ‘large’ volume of visitors who do not perform any activity and are yet interested in the product or service that is offered.

Although B2B marketers use trade shows and other events for lead generation, prospect information gathered through online sources are becoming reliable these days. Some B2B organizations even tie-up with 3rd party content sites like TechCrunch, Technorati etc., to capture form-fill data (who use assets like white papers, case studies etc. as lead baits to attract visitors). By synergizing between 3rd party list providers, companies can get data and insights which can be used for custom nurturing of leads.

How can marketing automation software help in lead generation?

1. Run automated and custom nurturing campaigns (as appropriate) to convert them into opportunities and customer wins.
2. Depending on the intent marketers can engage the prospect by sending out related articles and white papers to sustain the interest shown.
3. Drive results for teams like Inside Sales, Sales, Marketing and Web Optimization.
4. Can get real time information on the decision maker or influencer of the purchasing decision, in a manner that can be leveraged by an organization to convert its website visitors into opportunities that can be nurtured into business deals, thus enabling sales to clinch deals faster.
5. Send out highly targeted, carefully crafted emails with links to the company website.
6. Conduct intent-based e-mail campaigns for a targeted audience, based on the intelligence displayed/exhibited.
7. Send out newsletters about industry developments and other interesting technology related news.
8. The business intelligence gained can reveal where they are in their purchase cycle.
9. Manage all contacts at one place
10. Reduce the lead time to contact leads.

Since lead generation is today crucial for business growth marketing automation systems can make a large difference to the revenue generated.



Read more on - Marketing automation , Lead Nurturing

Top Benefits of Marketing Automation Services for B2B Marketing

According to Wikipedia, marketing automation systems provide information across all phases of the marketing process, including demand generation, lead management, lead scoring, lead nurturing, lead generation, campaign analysis, lead qualification and sales effectiveness. Out of the processes listed here, marketing automation solutions are most highly preferred for automating scoring leads, executing automated email campaigns and deploying landing pages.

Today, many companies have introduced new and exciting features that enable B2B marketers to gather information from social media campaigns, score leads based on responses and, communicate in a timely manner by sharing valuable content. In this article, let us first look at the three primary uses of marketing automation software which has made it an essential part of running a B2B business.

1. Scoring
Marketing automation software helps B2B marketers to score and rank leads in order to keep the sales and marketing teams focused on the best sales opportunities available with them. Lead scoring helps marketers to prioritize lead nurturing activities so that the warmest leads are nurtured in a personalized and customized manner depending upon what interest them and their buying capacity.

Lead scores can be based on demographics and behavioral activities. Marketing automation software helps to send alerts and triggers to users when leads cross threshold scoring levels so that sales teams can reach out to a prospect in a timely manner.

2. Email Campaigns
Marketing automation software can be used in executing automated email campaigns and lead tracking. Marketers can deliver targeted messages to prospects about their products or services and also build/manage useful email lists. The software also helps sales teams to create email lists for recipients who need to be left out during email campaigns based on any specific criteria.

Marketing automation services provide users with ready to use templates that can be modified quickly to suit their campaign needs. Time-based triggers can be set up to enable timely delivery of nurture emails to prospects at regular intervals. With ready to use and timely reports, B2B marketing teams can constantly assess the efficiency of their marketing campaigns as well.

3. Deploying Landing Pages for Email Campaigns
One of the most highly rated benefits of marketing automation solutions is the ability to deploy customized landing pages. Users can easily create personalized landing pages with visuals, videos, call-to-action buttons, forms, etc. Also, marketing teams can get them published in minutes without having to involve web development teams.


Also read on - Email Marketing, lead generation services

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.


Click here to read more on - Lead nurturing, marketing automation solution

Top Lead Generation Techniques for B2B Marketing

Lead generation has come a long way from its cold calling days. Today B2B marketing is advanced and the marketer focuses his lead generation efforts only towards those who have an idea of the product or, have a need for the product or, are ready to buy their product. The credit to this intuitive and proactive selling must be credited to leading marketing automation tools that not only enhance B2B lead generation efforts but also provide the necessary analytics to track performances.
Here’s a list of the top lead generation techniques for B2B companies.

• Social Networking Campaigns

Buzz generation makes social media marketing work because it replicates a message, not through purchase of an ad, but through user to user contact. For B2B marketing, the message does not necessarily have to be about the product, but could be anything either relatively or remotely associated. Social media facilitates fans of a brand or company to promote it across multiple social media channels easily ad effortlessly. Facebook, LinkedIn ad Twitter are social networking sites that can be effectively used for lead generation.

• Webinars

Being an inbound marketing technique webinars have more potential to reach out to targeted customers than any other campaigns. Webinars are marketer’s way of saying that they have understood a problem area and are offering a suitable solution. By sharing information at the right time to the right set of people webinars enhance the entire lead generation and lead nurturing process by pushing only warm leads into the funnel. Leads generated out of webinar campaigns have seen faster deal closures and have remained loyal customers as well.

• Email marketing

Email marketing is one of the primary sources of lead generation for many B2B companies. When using email as a marketing automation tool, ensure every email has a call to action like ‘register now’ or ‘submit now’ which links directly to the event registration page. Such campaigns which are action oriented encourage the receiver to take an action, indirectly implying his level of interest and involvement in the solution you offer. Also, since the subject of such invitation is of interest to the person, the chances of him responding are much higher.

• Search Engine Optimization

The primary work of a search engine is to find relevant results for user-provided search terms. So in order to highlight a website link during those searches, B2B marketers need to optimize their web pages for higher visibility. SEO practices help to raise marketer’s webpage rankings compared to those of his competitors. Keyword optimization of website content and backlinks to landing pages are some of the SEO activities for lead generation.

• Website Content

Content marketing can be primarily used to address user issues and their priorities for buying. By offering the right content collateral to the buyer at the appropriate stages of buying a marketer can expect to drive more sales closures. Content within and outside a website should be synergized to engage the user at every touch point.

Also read on - Marketing automation software, Lead nurturing

Marketing Automation Solutions for B2B Marketers

Marketing Automation Solutions for B2B Marketers

The B2B buying process has undergone a sea change in the last decade or so. Access to product information, customer feedbacks, industry opinions etc. has made it easier to research on a company and how well it’s offering may fit the requirements of the buyer.

However, the overload of information many a times makes it difficult to choose. After all, it is not easy to choose from a list of vendors, who claim they are the best, offer the most revolutionary products and have a huge list of customers who would vouch for their professionalism and the abilities of their product.

Apart from clarity on the problem at hand it is important to understand how adaptive a B2B company and its resources would be to a solution. This will ensure that they will buy a solution which is least disruptive in a working environment and yet delivers all that it promises.

Marketing automation is a solution which assists marketing teams to find more qualitative leads and prioritize them, understand the needs and requirements of the leads, easing the process of nurturing them when not sales-ready and measure the return on the company’s marketing investment and marketing department’s contribution to the revenue generation process within the company.

While this is being done marketers need to strategically think and plan lead generation, nurturing and management campaigns and assist prospects in the decision making process through their buyer journey. Marketing automation ensures that marketers are able to track all those leads which were interested in checking out the product on the website, but left without sharing their info.

Add to that the other insights that marketing automation solutions provide, about the lead, like – their ‘company name’, ‘pages of interest’, 'intent’, ‘possible identity of the visitor’, etc. and marketers will have enough insight to proactively pursue a lead and pitch to him, than wait for him to get back.

So yes, there is definitely a higher chance of marketers closing in more sales, because marketers are introducing themselves and creating a mindshare among their leads at an early stage. So we could say that the top benefits of using an intuitive marketing automation platform would be that sales teams can assess whether the prospect can be converted into a business opportunity based on the interest areas on the website and the buying power of the prospect. This is because this information becomes key to Sales to carry on with their lead nurturing programs.

For marketing automation solutions to really work, companies require processes to be put in place, thoughtful resource allocation and an understanding between the sales and marketing on how they will manage the leads in the company’s sales funnel.

Therefore, the crux here is that marketers need a marketing automation solution only when there is an appropriate use for it.


Click here to read more on - behavioral analysis, Lead scoring