presenter: adam blitzer, vp of marketing, pardot marketing automation
DESCRIPTION
How to build compelling email campaigns that drive improved results.Lead Management and Marketing Automation: Best practices for deployment* How drip marketing and lead scoring combine to make email marketing more powerful.* Smart techniques for tracking and analyzing leads to improve advertising ROI.* How tools like Pardot, combined with social media intelligence, make cold calling obsolete.TRANSCRIPT
B2B Marketing Guide toLead Qualification and Nurturing
Adam BlitzerCo-Founder and COO, Pardot
• SaaS Marketing Automation
• 275+ clients
• 30 team members in Atlanta; one lonely guy in Tallahassee
Who are these Pardot guys?Introduction
• Background in email marketing
• Worked/lived in Japan for four years
• Only bald member of Pardot team
Who is this Adam fellow?Introduction
• What is lead qualification?
• How does qualification increase sales?
• How can nurturing reduce spend?
Lead Qualification &Nurturing: Overview
Introduction
• The Campaign
• The Execution
• The Leads
• The Results
The Anatomy of aMarketing Campaign
A Day in the Life of a B2B Marketer
• 80% of inbound leads never have a meaningful conversation with sales
• Needle in a haystack vs. low-hanging fruit
Should All Leads Be Assigned to Sales?
The Need for Lead Qualification
• A large number of the leads who were assigned should have never crossed the into the Sales arm of the organization.
• 70% of your qualified but mishandled leads will buy from a competitor within 24 months.
The Awful Truth
The Need for Lead Qualification
• Defining a “Marketing Qualified Lead” (MQL)
• Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Aligning Sales and MarketingThe Need for Lead Qualification
Greater alignment means:
• Less Lead Loss
• Higher Opportunity Conversion Rates
Traditional Methods:
• BANT – Budget, Authority, Need and Timeline • Explicit Factors
(title, company size, etc.)
• Activity Level
• “Eyeball” Approach
What is a MQL?The Need for Lead Qualification
Implicit Factors: What they do
Explicit Factors: Who they are
Finding the right 20%: A Blended Model
The Need for Lead Qualification
Example Implicit Lead Scoring Model:
The Need for Lead Qualification
• Form or landing page conversion: +50 points• Site search query: +3 points• Link Click in an Email: +3 points• Visitor page view of Standard Pages: +1 point• Visitor page view of “Buying” Pages: +5 to +25 points• Opportunity created: +50 points• Opportunity lost: -100 points
Interest vs. IntentThe Need for Lead Qualification
Interest Research Phase
• Views 25 pages on your website
• Downloads 2 whitepapers
• Attends webinar
IntentBuying Phase
• Contact Me form
• Searches for your company by name
• Product Trial
• Most new, inbound leads should not be advanced to Sales
• Many buyers of B2B technology are taking longer to close
• 80% of the “Best In Class” companies will implement a Lead Nurturing strategy by end of 2010
Lead Nurturing 101
The Need for Lead Nurturing
Nurturing prevents leaks in the sales funnel:
• Educate non sales-ready leads
• Standardize communication
• Stay top-of-mind throughout the sales cycle
• Reconnect after a loss
What’s in it for Me?
The Need for Lead Nurturing
• Nurturing leads before a sales call is considered to be the most critical form of nurturing
• Leads have shown interest but not intent
• Content should be educational and come from Marketing – push, don’t pull
Education for Leads who are not yet a MQL
Lead Nurturing How To
• Deliver a consistent message
• Automate delivery so Sales is not responsible
• Adjust or terminate the message when the prospect responds
• Turn trial into a customer
Standardize CommunicationLead Nurturing How To
• Automate delivery of “salesy” content – push the right combination
• Inject personal notes from rep – nurture with the “human touch”
• Trigger/alert rep-driven follow up processes
Stay Top Of Mind In Sales CycleLead Nurturing How To
Lead Nurturing How To
Reconnect After a Loss
• Lost opportunities are still assets
• Send “keep in touch” content as contract expires (e.g. month 9 of 12)
Do’s and Don’tsLead Nurturing How To
• Use segmentation
• Use an introduction
• Be mindful of timing
• General to specific
• Know when to stop
• “Nurture” your entire database
• Assume that newsletters nurture
• Be creepy
Do Don’t
• Companies that excel at lead nurturing attribute as much as 50% of new deals to older leads that have been nurtured.
• Nurturing results in a lower cost per opportunity
Show Me the MoneyLead Nurturing and the Bottom Line
• Lead qualification aligns sales and marketing to reduce lead loss and streamline the funnel
• Leads that are not yet qualified should be nurtured until sales-ready
• Research shows that companies using lead qualification and nurturing are closing more deals with less resources
ConclusionIn Closing
Think Outside the Inbox:The B2B Marketing Automation Guide
Book