Tips for Success

Industry experts agree that the best B2B marketers understand precisely how their prospect buy, work to integrate marketing with sales, and deploy the right technology for the right jobs. To improve your odds of success, follow these words of advice.

First, as Andrew Spoeth, Enquiro's Director of Marketing advises, invest quality time to understand exactly how the customer really buys, both online and offline. Online research, focus groups and usability testing can all play a role. You may be surprised to learn, Spoeth says, that "the buying process doesn't follow a neat progression" as you might expect from looking the typical buying funnel. People jump around, so be prepared to engage when the buyer is ready.

Marketing and sales leaders must then clearly define a "qualified lead" and agree to work together toward a common goal. Their boss can encourage this by giving them shared revenue objectives, and fixing measurement systems that motivate lead volume over quality. Developing a mutually agreed leading scoring and reporting process is crucial.

To engage with prospective buyers, the right offer delivered at the right time is paramount. Billy Martin, VP of Marketing at Weather Trends International, said the company uses Eloqua's system to help deliver messages that are "high value and relevant" at a frequency that will increase engagement, not stimulate opt-out behavior.

Finally, deploy the right solutions. Eloqua and Vtrenz pioneered B2B marketing solutions a decade ago, and now offer powerful suites of functionality. As the industry has expanded and matured, upstarts like Marketo and Marketbright have entered with fresh designs and innovative features. And, there are many more solutions in the market from specialty vendors, while mainstream CRM vendors are adding basic capabilities that are bound to grow over time.

In the end, the point of B2B marketing is not about contact generation, it's about creating qualified opportunities for reps and increasing revenue. Marketing needs creative professionals, and sales needs artful reps to close deals. But both can benefit by taking a more systematic approach to B2B lead management, to better connect with buyers and increase the overall effectiveness of the marketing/sales process.

Source: customerthink