FEATURE B2B DATA
Research Director at Experian ph. “The world is changing and how B2B marketers operate is changing, which affects how they approach lead generation work. The timeliness of the information that’s available, for example, is a factor. It’s easier than it’s ever been to get good information quickly and then act on it. It makes a
“ It’s easier than it’s ever been to get good information quickly and then act on it which makes a form of marketing automation possible in B2B.”
Gareth Rumsey, Research Director, Experian ph
form of marketing automation possible in B2B.” Zina Manda, Sales Director at Mardevdm2, believes that feeing the funnel is vital and also sees evidence of marketers being cleverer about it.
decisions. There may be multiple influencers.” That’s why Washbourne recommends targeting a number of contacts within any given business, and that’s also why he encourages marketers not to forget that keeping the funnel topped up is of vital importance.
“Sales always want leads on a plate but that means you can end up with very small market to hit,” he says. “these days it’s all about cross- selling and up-selling to existing customers but it’s dangerous not to go after cold acquisition.” An interesting consequence of the new database marketing world order is that the humble database marketer is suddenly à la mode once more, after many a long year in the wilderness. Richard Lloyd: “The prima donnas of recent years have been the analytics guys who’ve got all the limelight but the basic database marketing guys are back in favour now. We’ve gone back to basics and we’re relearning what we already know - but that’s often the case in this industry.” Llloyd also points out that feeding the funnel isn’t as simple as flicking a switch: “If you discover that your nurturing process isn’t delivering for the sales guys and you need 100 new leads in 30 days, you can’t just suddenly switch lead generation activity on and off and get the results the next day. It doesn’t work like that, so you need to take a more strategic approach.”
22 February 2012
“It can be a much easier decision for marketers to just work on guys that are already in the funnel, rather than having to ask for more budget.” Mike Housley, Director, Cyance
Unfortunately, Llloyd and every other contributor to this feature, is firmly convinced that a strategic approach is not what most marketers are able to take thse days. Tactical activity is still very much the order of the day Part of the issue, explains Cyance Director, Mike Housley is simply cost: “Times are tough and good lead generation costs a lot of money, it’s that simple. It can then be a much easier decision for marketers than to just work on guys that are already in the funnel, rather than having to ask for more budget to do some leadgen work, even if they know it’s likely to generate results.”
CHANGING LANDSCAPE Other factors include a basic shifting of the consumer landscape, says Gareth Rumsey,
“You need to the feed the funnel, that’s a given”, she says. “And we’re seeing more and more marketers getting better at that. They’re making use of data to move prospects into the funnel, and there are more and more tools that help them do that. Marketing automation systems in particular are helping to drive that agenda but no matter what way you look at it, businesses can’t simply rely on selling more to their existing customers, they’ve got to keep acquiring new customers.” A more contentious issue raised by Manda is
the thorny problem of pricing. She is very keen that the lead generation industry does not end up going down the commoditisation route that so many other parts of the sector have followed. “We really have to remember the value of what a gooid, qualified lead is worth and we need to remember to tell our customers that. The industry really must hold the line when it comes to pricing. It used to cost £50 or £60 for a qualified lead. These days you can get them for £5. That’s not a road we want to go down, is it?” A fair point, and one that most would agree on.
“At the end of the day, generating leads is just like any other aspect of what B2B marketing is all about,” says Housley. “There’s no rocket science required here. All we need to do is do the basics well all the way through the process. Nothing more, nothing less.”
So it appears that marketers may indeed have lost sight of the vital importance of lead generation, of feeding the funnel - albeit with very good reason. But when the good times return, as they surely must do, it will pay to be prepared. n
www.dmarket.co.uk
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