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Trends and tips from the front lines
by Jody Canavan, President & Founder
If there’s one thing our clients love to hear, it’s tales about how other clients are doing with their lead generation efforts. What have they tried? What kind of results did they get? Among
all the fabulous marketing professionals we work with in tech companies of all sizes, there’s more passion and debate about this topic than any other.
Our first-hand experience building or watching lead gen programs over the last several months substantiates these conclusions about what’s working:
- Integrated campaigns. It seems, however, that people are confused about what "integrated" means. To be integrated,
first, there must be multiple touches to target audiences, and second, those touches must happen over time. Next time you plan a lead gen effort, map it over the course of 12 months and
plan results over that time period. So long as you look at lead gen as short-term, isolated events, there will always be disappointment.
- Print. That’s right, folks, the mail is back. I actually had a CIO tell me that he’s reading his own mail
because he gets so little these days. Professional letters are pulling better than fancier things, which is great news for you.
- BRCs. Scary, but true. I’m still on the fence about this one, but we’ve seen a couple of clients get a decent
volume of BRCs back. People are busy; it’s a lot less hassle to check a box on a card than to pick up the phone and end up in automated attendant purgatory or searching for the right
registration form on the Web.
- Specialized events. This is a tricky one. To be successful, events must be run by competent people who know how to turn
them into results. For example, inviting 20 area prospects to a baseball game and having them hear a presentation first works great as long as a) the guests are qualified, b) the presentation
is valuable, and c) there is a soft close taking place before the game starts.
- E-mail. E-mail programs using purchased lists (versus your house list) under perform when compared
to traditional direct mail. However, there are a couple of industry targets where you can still get a decent return: government (where turnover is traditionally low) and healthcare and
related services. When doing an e-mail campaign, don't forget to provide text as well as HTML versions to allow for different mail clients, and always acknowledge privacy
rules.
- Telemarketing. Telemarketing is still an important element, but never the only one in a campaign—unless you’re
selling a defined item, such as a memory upgrade or an add-on drive. Telemarketing is expensive, and the higher you go in the target organization the more important it is to use a firm
that can hold intelligent conversations.
- Most importantly, good messages. The medium you use to reach targets is important, but what you say determines if they
respond. Make sure your content is strategically sound, and that it addresses issues your targets are dealing with today.
Two more things: Most new revenues your company will get this year will likely come from your existing customers. Create campaigns to build share of customer. And remember, in an economic downturn,
your clients are seeking solutions that solve critical exposures within their organization. Make sure your messages are focused on solving problems, not building visionary solutions.
To learn how Launch International can help you develop and execute a successful lead gen strategy, contact us at info@launchintl.com. |
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Launch International
95 West Court Street
Doylestown, PA 18901
215.230.4340 phone
215.230.4342 fax
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