Increasing qualified lead generation and ROI with lead scoring - Tactical... · Increasing...
Transcript of Increasing qualified lead generation and ROI with lead scoring - Tactical... · Increasing...
Increasing qualified lead generation and ROI with lead scoring
Jen Doyle, Senior Research Manager, MarketingSherpa
Kaci Bower, Research Analyst, MarketingSherpa
Today we’re going to discuss:
1. Key findings from research from more than 1,745 B2B marketers
2. A case study in which a B2B company increased sales conversions by 190%
3. Three simple steps you can use to increase the ROI of your lead gen efforts
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Research background
1,745 B2B organizations were surveyed on:
• Top challenges
• Barriers to success
• Best practices
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Key finding from research
No 68%
Yes 32%
Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded June 2011, N=1,745
• 1,745 B2B organizations were surveyed
• 68% of B2B marketers
have not identified a funnel process
• Funnel optimization strategies present great opportunity for success
Q. Have you identified a marketing-sales funnel process (such as registered lead, rules-validated lead, phone-ready lead, etc.)?
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Challenges growing in pertinence
33%
39%
33%
27%
37%
35%
69%
34%
41%
36%
36%
37%
44%
78%
33%
38%
38%
40%
41%
49%
74%
Marketing to a growing number ofpeople involved in the buying process
Marketing to a lengthening sales cycle
Generating public relations "buzz"
Competing in lead generation acrossmultiple media, from podcasts to paid
search to webinars to print ads
Generating perceived value in "cuttingedge" product benefits
Generating a high volume of leads
Generating high quality leads
2011
2010
2009
Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded June 2011, N=1,745
• B2B marketing challenges on the rise year-over-year
• Continual struggle between quality and quantity of leads
• The marketplace is evolving, and marketers are resistant to adapt latest best practices
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CMOs speak out on top challenges
• “The greatest challenge would be lead scoring and the scoring truly representing closing sales.”
• “We lose many of our leads throughout the sales funnel.”
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Case Study: Revamping lead gen
• Goals: Profile audience, segment database, and establish automated scoring and nurturing
• Results: 190% increase in sales conversions
“My challenge is not to increase the number of leads, but to get improved conversion rates throughout the funnel.” -Nick Halsey VP Marketing Jaspersoft
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Customer-centric messaging
Centralized and
Segmented Database
Four
Nurturing Tracks
Customer
Community Member
Corporate North America
Corporate Europe
CMS
Web Analytics
E-commerce
Open Source
Email System
Mar
keti
ng
Au
tom
atio
n
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Qualification and scoring
• Applied demographic and behavioral scoring
• Collected information through dynamic registration forms
• Handed leads off to Sales once the qualified lead threshold was met
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Triggered nurturing and hand-off
Download of 30-day trial version of
software
Series of five automated emails
Hand-off to Sales
Automated sub-campaigns
Actions indicating readiness to buy
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Results
190% increase in sales conversions
E-commerce #3 closing
rate
30-day trial drip
#2 closing rate
Request for contact
#1 closing rate
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B2B Marketing Funnel 1.0
Leads enter the system
Leads go directly to Sales
Sales “cherry-picks” the best leads
Sales spends significant time “checking in” with the rest to see if they are ready to buy
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B2B Marketing Funnel 2.0
Leads scored
per criteria
Qualified lead criteria established
Non-qualified leads stay in
Marketing for nurturing
Qualified leads go to Sales
Leads enter system
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IDENTIFY: Defining a qualified lead
• Generate more qualified leads • Improve alignment • Increase sales effectiveness • Accelerate sales pipelines • Increase overall revenues
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IDENTIFY: Defining a qualified lead
“By definition, a universal sales lead is one that has been determined to fit the profile of the ideal customer, has been qualified as sales-ready, and spells out the responsibilities and accountabilities of the participants in the program, Sales and Marketing.”
-Brian Carroll Executive Director of Applied Research MECLABS
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IDENTIFY: Lead qualification improves ROI
• 35% lift in lead generation ROI from screening leads
85%
115%
Average lead generation ROI
Sends all leads to Sales Does not send all leads to Sales
Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded June 2011, N=326 CMOs
27%
28%
32%
51%
56%
66%
71%
Lead has reached a certainlead score
Lead has downloadedcontent
Lead has indicated anacceptable purchasing
budget
Lead has explicitly asked tohave contact with sales
Lead has indicated a validbusiness need
Lead appears to be intarget market
Lead contact informationhas been validated to be
real
Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded June 2011, N=1,745
IDENTIFY: Requirements of sales-ready leads
• For those marketers that do have qualification, these are the most popular criteria
• Contact information, target market and valid business need
• Explicitly asking to have contact with Sales
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IDENTIFY: How to define a qualified lead
1. Analyze existing qualified leads
2. Bring Sales into the loop
3. Draft and roll out
4. Adapt over time
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IDENTIFY: Sample lead definition
• A sales-ready lead for our company has a need for CRM software -- and 'gets it.'
• They have some level of education on CRM and a clear understanding of the benefits.
• They have an adequate budget set aside for their purchase.
• They have downloaded one of our whitepapers on CRM software benefits.
• Approximately 30% of leads generated from Marketing will be sales-ready.
• Approximately 15% of sales-ready leads will be closed by the sales team.
- CRM Software Developer
IDENTIFY: Resources
1. MarketingSherpa’s 2011 B2B Marketing Advanced Practices Handbook
2. Post-Summit Workshop – B2B Marketing Advanced Practices
3. B2B Lead Roundtable Blog – www.b2bleadblog.com
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SCORE: Score all leads
• Lead scoring – the process of adding or subtracting points, as a result of various lead attributes and behaviors, that identify sales-ready leads.
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SCORE: Lead scoring improves lead gen ROI
138%
78%
Average lead generation ROI
Currently using lead scoring Not using lead scoring
Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded June 2011, N=326 CMOs
• 77% lift in lead generation ROI from scoring leads
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SCORE: Top lead scoring criteria
30%
32%
33%
38%
38%
39%
42%
49%
50%
57%
58%
71%
Offline lead activity
Subtraction of points
Key problem / pain point
Time frame for purchase
Anonymous tracking ofwebsite activity
Budget
Industry
Company size
Job title
Frequency and / orrecency of activity
Content download
Online lead activity
Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded June 2011, N=1,745
• For those who score, these are the top criteria
• Lead behavior is an excellent indication of engagement
• Balance behaviors with demographics
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SCORE: Creating lead scoring campaigns
CRITERIA
• Demographics and attributes
• Behaviors
EXECUTION
• Manual execution for a small number of criteria or leads
• Automated execution to ensure consistency
ASSUMPTIONS
• Launch with a best guess for qualified lead threshold score
• Test and adjust threshold over time
FLEXIBILITY
• Continual process of trial and error
• Gather qualitative feedback and quantitative data
FEEDBACK
• Check in with Sales regularly
• Identify problems early on
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SCORE: Lead scoring attributes/behaviors
Lead Scoring Attributes Lead Scoring Behaviors
Industry Website visit
Company size (number of employees) High-value website page visit
Annual revenue Email open
Location Email clickthrough
Budget Whitepaper download
Job title Webinar registration
Key problem / pain point Phone call
Current solution Email sent
Education Visited booth at trade show
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SCORE Sample lead score calculation (1)
Lead scoring criteria Addition / Subtraction
of points
Works for a company with 100 + employees +3 Indicated an acceptable budget of $5,000 for purchase +5 Indicated a time frame to purchase of three months or less +4 Has job title that includes “Manager” or “Director” +3 Indicated desire to be contacted by a salesperson +21
Total 36
Target threshold is 21, so route lead to Sales
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SCORE: Sample lead score calculation (2)
Lead scoring criteria Addition / Subtraction
of points
Works for a company with 100 + employees +3 Indicated a time frame to purchase of three months or less +4 Clicked through on a company email +2 Visited the pricing page on website +2 Downloaded a whitepaper on benefits of outsourcing +2 Lack of activity for 14 days -3 Unsubscribed from the email list -5
Total 5
Under target threshold of 21, so hold lead
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OPTIMIZE: Continual adaptation
• Adapt methodologies over time to meet the needs of our evolving marketplace
Universal
lead definition
Lead scoring criteria
Attribution of points
Lead score threshold
Overall lead
quality
Continual Optimization
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Example of lead scoring process audit
1. Review scores of deals that closed.
• Did these meet your threshold?
2. Review deal sizes and time to close for won opportunities.
• What were the lead scores for accounts with large purchases and short timeframes to purchase? Were they higher than other leads?
3. Review scores of deals that did not close.
• Were these leads under your threshold?
• Were some over your threshold?
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OPTIMIZE: How to continually optimize 1. Audit your existing lead scoring process regularly
2. Ensure that you have a closed-loop feedback process with Sales
3. Conduct a SWOT analysis of your existing lead scoring process
a. Stay abreast of industry happenings, and any internal or external factors which may influence your market and lead scoring campaigns
4. Be willing to segment lead definitions even further where there are opportunities
5. Adjust the individual scoring values based on how your company (re)defines a lead
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Summary
1. Generating more high-quality leads and improving lead generation ROI are top B2B marketer challenges
2. Funnel optimization strategies present a great opportunity for success
3. Three-step process for B2B Marketing Funnel 2.0:
1. Define and identify qualified leads
2. Score all leads based on attributes that indicate sales-ready leads
3. Optimize through continual adaptation and improvement
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Hands-on training
Instructions for Worksheet 1
• If you DO NOT have lead scoring • Draft criteria for a qualified lead
and initial lead scoring campaign that can be used for launch.
Instructions for Worksheet 2
• If you DO have lead scoring • Execute SWOT (strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of existing campaign.