Best practices for lead generation, marketing automation and revenue generation topics.

Lead Liaison

Marketing Automation Can Increase the Value of Your Business

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Marketing Automation Can Increase the Value of Your BusinessExecutives have a lot to do. Plenty of people who are building businesses are grooming them for sale – and who can blame anyone for that? Businesses with tremendous growth potential are true cash cows, ready to make years of steady income for the right buyer.

In selling a small to medium sized business, owners and investors know they need to make the business look as profitable as possible to potential buyers. For businesses who are selling service instead of retail, account managers and the sales team already face difficult divisions. Sales folks who are driven by commission often over-promise, so by the time accounts get to analysts there’s already a problem.

This problem can be exacerbated by executives who are hard-driving their sales staff without follow-up on the quality of work environment and account performance with regard to the account service teams. If this sounds like your situation, watch your cancellation numbers – more often than not, overselling without account teams to handle the load can result in tons of dropped clients and bad reviews.

Enter Marketing Automation…

If you’re grooming your business for sale and you find that in your business, “one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing,” marketing automation could be the key to streamlining communications between different parts of your business – and as an overall result, your customers’ experiences with you.

With a marketing automation system in place – and the support to cover any process questions you need addressed – you can rest assured that the start to finish sales and performance processes for your business are handled.

Marketing automation allows sales people to better quality leads, put a system into place that is hands-off for following up on leads, keep better track of customer communication and offer a more streamlined transition to account management.

Marketing automation allows leads that haven’t converted to stay in your funnel more efficiently. Lead scoring allows you and your sales teams to communicate in the most effective way with clients who haven’t yet made a commitment to you.

Marketing automation makes setting up and performing work on new accounts easier for your account analysts. Email management, reporting and handling overall marketing functions for your business can become a more streamlined process with the right marketing automation tools at hand.

Making the Ultimate Sale

A potential investor or buyer for your business is going to want to see not just increased sales numbers and great profitability/growth potential. They’ll want to know you have a great process in place for ensuring future success and a great investment. Marketing automation tools placed properly and utilized by your team can actually increase the value of your business. When you can demonstrate that the future of determining the value of leads and acting on that value is secure, you’re showing investors they can trust they’re making a good purchase.

Don’t wait until the selling process starts to get marketing automation in place – make sure your employees are able to use this technology now! Lead Liaison is happy to help discuss your marketing and selling needs to address how marketing automation can make your business more valuable.

Lead Liaison

Why Do You Need Lead Scoring?

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Why Do You Need Lead ScoringIf salespeople of the world know anything, they know one thing – persistence is key. When you make multiple efforts to contact and follow up with customers, you’re doing a few things in the process.

You’re showing them you want their business. Sales teams who make a few follow ups, then fall off the map lose sales that may have converted over time.

You’re showing them you care. If you care enough to follow up, customers expect the same level of persistence and service when you actually do serve them.

You’re showing them you want the sale. If you develop a rapport with customers, you’re more likely to make the connection that sells.

For many organizations, the problem is not in closing sales for qualified customers – the problem is drawing the fine line between customers who are qualified and those who you could lose if you continue to contact them. Sales tracking and lead scoring helps you make the determination as to who’s qualified and who could convert in the longer term. Let’s answer the question, why do you need lead scoring?

Deploying Lead Scoring

Many companies don’t bother to implement lead scoring because it would take time to actually come up with a system. It’s a catch 22 – you want to get your team scoring leads so you can save time and get better sales coming in, but to actually make the time to develop the system will cost time on the phones and time for you to implement.

This is why marketing automation is changing the game. With a small investment and the help of a qualified marketing automation company, lead scoring and qualification couldn’t be easier. It works like this: You explain your sales process and your thoughts on lead scoring to your marketing automation company. They’ll streamline everything, set it up with your guidance and assistance – then the system does everything for you.

Onboarding Employees

This is typically not a daunting process. With Lead Liaison, employees are typically getting the hang of new processes and managing leads better than ever in under a week. Plus, your marketing department will love the ease of accessing metrics and necessary info all in one place.

Here’s a scenario many companies face: Bob has developed a great rapport with a client, but leaves to go to another sales job. After he leaves, John (a new salesperson) is ready to take on that old client, but has little information that does him any good. The details Bob typed into the CRM are helpful, but aren’t really going to address what John needs to know at the organizational level to approach the client. He loses the sale.

With lead scoring, your sales people don’t just discuss the finer details but have a clear cut process about how likely the client is to purchase and where they’re at in the funnel. This means that regardless of who’s following up, the follow up is solid and conducted under organizational guidelines that meet what can be accurately offered to the client. This is a great way to streamline your sales team’s organizational efforts as well as better appeal to clients.

It’s time to take a look at how marketing automation can streamline your funnel. Take a look at Lead Liaison’s robust offerings today!

Lead Liaison

5 Steps to Avoid When You Are Lead Nurturing

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Lead Nurturing StepsThe lead nurturing process is the disciplined process of engagement with prospects through routine messaging in order to develop a relationship that leads to a purchase. Lead nurturing is more than drip marketing; it’s a process of deepening engagement with your prospects. And it can help more of your sales agents meet their quotas.

But there are some pitfalls to avoid in order to make your lead nurturing practices more effective.

Sending a Single Message to Everyone

One size does not fit all in marketing automation. Often this is the first mistake a new marketing automation user makes. Although the delivery process can be homogenized, your messaging should fit specific market segments. For instance, messaging to realtors may include real estate-specific terms like ‘days on market’ while messages sent to finance-related prospects might include ‘return on investment’. Segmenting your database then sending targeted messages improves the likelihood they will get open.

Not Advancing the Relationship

Broad, generalized messages may be somewhat effective in the early stages of the buying cycle but as B2B leads investigate purchase options they crave more meaningful information. Buyers do not regularly purchase after a single review of their solutions. Rarely does a lead purchase in the early engagement phase. Once a lead has advanced beyond the initial review of available options, they are seeking a deeper connection; therefore, messaging should be progressive.

Not Employing Agile Marketing

Lead nurturing isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it practice, it is a fluid process based on market response. Marketing automation software, like our Lead Management Automation™ platform, allows both small and large marketers to adjust strategies as they receive information from digital marketing campaigns. Marketing analytics are provided so that marketers can modify messaging, reorganize campaigns, and customize digital marketing tools for quick response to market conditions.

Scheduling Improperly

Leads do not want to hear from you every day. They probably don’t want to hear from you every other day. Fact is , B2B buying takes time in most industries so immediate repetition will likely harm your chances of landing a sale more than help. Though there is no magic formula for setting message scheduling, and scheduling intervals likely vary from industry to industry, the use of marketing automation (with its reporting capabilities) can help determine the optimal delivery schedule for your digital marketing assets.

Using Stale Messaging

This is similar to ‘not advancing the relationship’. Old school marketing would tell you to repeat your message over and over to gain mindspace. That practice no longer works in the consumer-driven marketing world. Leads receive messages dozens of times each day so filtering becomes commonplace. Once a lead has engaged with your brand initially, the next step is to move her along so messaging should change as engagements are increased.

Don’t forget that most prospects are often aware they have been contacted previously. Sending the same message with the expectation that the prior message may have been missed is risky. Your content should be fresh and provide value in order to be effective.

Lead nurturing has been shown to improve close rates in several categories. According to a recent DemandGen report, nurtured leads lead to a 20% increase in sales opportunities across multiple industries. That might be reason enough for you to drive more revenue through our marketing automation process.

Got questions? Call Lead Liaison at 888 895 3237 or info[at]leadliaison.com and we’ll give you answers.

Lead Liaison

Marketing Automation Guides Leads from Generation to Conversion

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Marketing Automation Guide LeadsThe marketing automation system is designed to gently guide leads from the initial generation to final conversion. There is a steady stream of potential customers surfing online every day in search of new products and services. Marketing automation software captures, nurtures, qualifies, and converts more online leads than any other automated marketing system.

Automated Lead Generation

Marketing automation software is designed to capture every potential lead that comes in contact with a website. The process is completely automated, so no lead can escape its grasp. Their online profile and behavior is automatically extracted and used for lead profiling and scoring.

Improved SEO Drives Traffic

The content marketing automation produces is successful at nurturing leads, but it also helps drive more traffic to a website. Search engine’s rank websites based on quality content and keywords. Marketing automation assists SEO efforts by using keyword-rich articles to inform and engage visitors.

Better Lead Profiling

It is easier to guide a lead from generation to conversion when a company understands their needs and interests. Marketing automation uses online registrations and surveys, as well as their online activity to develop a comprehensive profile of the lead.

Scores & Prioritizes Leads

By comparing the lead’s profile against the profile of an existing customer, marketers can better evaluate whether the lead is ready for conversion. Every demographic and behavioral characteristic is given a value based on relevancy and then ranked by how closely they match to current customers. The sales team is only given leads that a high chance of conversion, so their valuable time is never wasted.

Segments Leads into Similar Groups

Marketing automation is a craft that balances automated technology with personalized attention. It cannot successfully convert leads by using the same approach on every potential consumer. Unfortunately, it also cannot efficiently address hundreds or thousands of lead’s individual needs. The compromise to this problem is lead segments. By grouping leads together that have similar interests and backgrounds, marketers can offer a more personalized approach without having to customize their efforts for every single lead that is generated.

Nurturing Leads with Customized Content

One of the most effective ways that marketing automation guides leads from generation to conversion is through lead nurturing. By taking the information gathered in profiling, marketers can develop customized content directed at each lead segment. This information is created to build trust and strengthen relationships with potential consumers by offering them value prior to conversion.

Marketing automation guides leads from generation to conversion by first capturing them as they surf online, and then profiling, scoring, segmenting, and prioritizing each lead based on their characteristics and needs. It also uses quality content to both enhance SEO and nurture leads into consumers. Marketing automation covers the complete lead management process from start to finish.

Lead Liaison

How to Use Lead Scoring to Land Qualified Leads

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How to Use Lead Scoring to Land Qualified LeadsMarketing automation generates a significant amount of leads, but it is the lead scoring process that filters and prioritizes leads to determine which are most qualified. Not every lead has the same potential. Lead scoring determines who has the highest chance of conversion, so the sales team is only focusing their energy on landing qualified leads. We’ll show you how to use lead scoring to land qualified leads.

Compare Leads against Current Customers

A lead will have a greater chance of conversion if their behavioral and demographic characteristics are similar to existing clientele. This is usually a strong sign they will have the same needs. Marketing automation can land more qualified leads by basing their criteria on their current customers.

Uses the Sales Team to Understand Customer’s Needs

Marketers should always ask the sales team for their opinion when they are developing lead scoring criteria and lead nurturing content. The sales team works directly with the company’s existing clients and they understand what they truly want.

Rank Criteria based on Relevancy

Every characteristic of a potential leads should be weighed based on relevancy. For example, a lead that clicks on a DIY video could imply that they are just using the site as a resource for information versus a lead that clicks on a page that contains product pricing and specifications. Higher value should be put on behavior that demonstrates sincere interest, like if someone volunteers personal information in an online registry to gain access to information.

Test Different Lead Scoring Criteria

There are some criteria that will have obvious relevancy, like whether or not someone clicks on a company’s contact page while other characteristics like a person’s purchasing history may not matter as much as you originally estimated. It is important to test different lead scoring criteria by not only changing the criteria, but by also adjusting the value assigned to the criteria.

For example: Let’s say that right now lead scoring determines that leads between the age of 40 and 50 are less relevant and therefore are assigned one point and leads ranked between the age of 20 and 30 are given four points because the product appeals to a younger demographic. If marketers notice that the business is now attracting an older audience, they can test the lead scoring by boosting the age 40 to 50 criteria up to two or three points. If older clients are truly interested in the product, this change could help the business land more qualified leads.

Include Criteria to Measure Inactivity

If a lead was active for a significant period of time and then they suddenly stop visiting the site, that behavior should also be considered as part of lead scoring. It may be an indicator that the lead nurturing content is not answering their needs or that they have already chosen to go purchase elsewhere.

Marketing automation was created to capture and land more qualified leads. This will be easier to accomplish if marketers use the right lead scoring criteria by involving sales in the process, basing it on relevancy, testing various criteria, and including inactivity. Lead scoring can be a powerful tool for ranking and prioritizing leads, so sales professionals are always focused on the people who have the highest potential for conversion.

Lead Liaison

How to Optimize Landing Page Sliders

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Marketing automation isn’t just about lead management – well it is, but it’s also about finding out how to get those leads into your funnel and keep them there. One of the most critical and overlooked metrics related to lead management is your individual pages’ bounce rates.

We’ve talked about bounce rates before. Yes, you need to lower them. Yes, you need to be able to see that clients are staying engaged and your site design and layout aren’t prohibitive to that. However, there are some things you could be doing with your landing pages that are prohibitive, and you don’t even know about them. Today we’ll be focusing in on one aspect of a landing page that plenty of advertisers aren’t really thinking about when it comes to their own sites. Let’s show you how to optimize landing page content and sliders in this article.

The Landing Page Slider

A slider is one of those slideshow-type deals on your landing page that allows customers to click through a series of side-scrolling images. Some sliders change automatically without the user needing to engage. Yahoo News has one:

Landing Page Slider

For a news site, the slider is a great idea. Different content on the site is highlighted and the user has the ability to click to a news story that catches their individual interests.

These days, business websites that sell products and services also feature the slider. If your company sells retail products – much like a news site – it makes sense to utilize a slider. You can use the images to let customers know about special promotions, featured products or just to generate interest in a particular product category.

Sliders for Service Websites

Consulting and service oriented websites don’t have it so easy. If your site was designed by a company that isn’t concerned with branding you, or if you’ve uploaded images to the slider yourself, you may be using stock images that aren’t necessarily reflective of your branding or what you have to offer.

Many of these sliders take up most of the page they’re featured on. They tend to make a website look slick and modern – but if they’re taking up the entire page above the fold, your users aren’t really getting anything from them but pretty pictures.

Optimizing Your Sliders

If your landing page features a slider, you really have two options. You can either nix the slider altogether and have your web designer create something new – or you can optimize the images you’re putting into the slider.

For instance, if you’re selling marketing consulting services and one of your slider images is your logo, try changing up or adding text to the logo that really pushes your products. Ensure this text contains some sort of call to action,

“Learn why Lead Liaison Services is the Best out There.”

“Read Customer Reviews to discover why Lead Liaison is the Best Choice.”

The idea behind customizing the sliders is not just to add a different look to your landing page, but to get a click-through to a different page that details your products and services. This strategy is intended to decrease your bounce rate by allowing customers to learn more about you and go to a page with a higher chance of capture. The secondary page should feature a form to fill out or a number to call so you have a better chance of capturing customer info.

Lead Liaison staff can hook you up with analytical tools that will help you keep track of your landing pages – how they perform, what you could do better and how to integrate landing page metrics into the rest of your marketing via an advanced marketing automation interface. Find out more today! We’d love to help you.

Lead Liaison

Common Mistakes Made in Marketing Automation That Could Drive Away Business!

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Common Mistakes Made in Marketing Automation That Could Drive Away Business!The online world of commerce is constantly evolving and traditional marketing methods are not able to keep up with the new global business structure. Marketing automation was developed so that marketing campaigns could mimic the speed and efficiency of the internet and online business commerce.

It can be an incredibly valuable tool for generating and converting leads, if it is done correctly. Unfortunately, common mistakes made in marketing automation can have the exact opposite effect. Marketing automation can either convince a lead to trust in a business or lose the lead’s trust completely.

Here are seven common mistakes made in marketing automation that can drive away business:

1.       Strong Sales Pitches and Aggressive Calls-to-Action

One of the most common mistakes made in marketing automation that could drive away business is overly aggressive calls-to-action. Today’s consumers know they have plenty of options and they will not be bullied into rushing a decision. Coming on too strong can permanently turn off a customer.

2.       Not Involving Sales Dept. in the Process

Marketing and sales should combine their knowledge and experience to create the best lead scoring criteria and lead nurturing content possible. The sales department has in depth information about what leads want and need. They can help make sure the criteria and content is suitable for a typical buyer.

3.       Monitoring Only a Lead’s Activity

Too many businesses only focus on a lead’s current activity and they tend to stop monitoring leads that are not active. A lead’s inactivity should be tracked as well. If someone was on your site daily for four days in a row and they haven’t been back for weeks, they may be too busy investigating alternative options. This is the perfect time to reach out to them with some pertinent guidance or purchasing incentive.

4.       Getting Too Personal

A very common mistake made in marketing automation that could drive away business is asking too many questions. Questionnaires or surveys are great for gathering more data on potential leads, but too much of it will become overwhelming and annoying. Limit each questionnaire or survey to only 5 to 10 questions and don’t attach an online registry to all the quality content on your site.

5.       Not Focusing on the Consumer’s Needs

Every aspect of marketing automation should have the consumer’s needs at the forefront of the decision making process. What does the lead really need to know? How can I help the lead make an informed decision? What can I do to offer the lead greater value? These are all great consumer-focused questions, but it all boils down to what does the consumer really need? For example, if you sell fitness equipment, don’t focus on the equipment itself. Instead, focus on the lead’s need to get healthier and/or lose weight.

6.       Not providing Valuable Content

Articles, ebooks, and tutorials are meant to help potential leads make their decision. It is not an opportunity to brag about your product or service. Free online content should offer the reader real value as a method for building a trusting and lasting relationship. Useless or poorly written content can quickly drive business away.

7.       Not striving to Improve on the Marketing Automation Strategy

Not every lead nurturing campaign is going to work. Marketing automation strategies are based on solid research, but until they are implemented, it is hard to be certain about the response you will receive. The same goes for the relevancy of lead scoring criteria. As a company analyzes their conversion rate against their lead scoring profiles, they will notice different components that are not properly rated.  A common mistake in marketing automation that will drive away business is not striving to improve on your current strategies.

Lead Liaison

Why Smart Consumers Insist on High Quality Lead Nurturing Content

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Why Smart Consumers Insist on High-quality Lead Nurturing ContentConsumers now have all the power. They have the ability to quickly research and choose products from anywhere in the world. The internet has inspired global competition and consumers are fully aware that they do not need to remain loyal strictly to businesses that are located in the same city, state, or even country. They have an abundance of choices online, so businesses need to do more to demonstrate that they are the right choice. Because of these reasons, consumers demand high quality lead nurturing content.

Forget about Strong Sales Pitches

Businesses that want to stay competitive will need to sway these smart consumers using high quality lead nurturing content. Every blog, eBook  or buying guide needs to be helpful and honest. Smart consumers are tired of strong sales pitches and gimmicks that don’t provide them with any real value. If an article sounds like ad copy, it won’t be taken seriously.

Focus on how it Benefits the Consumer

Smart consumers are looking for a business that is willing to go the extra mile to prove they are worthy. They want real life examples of how a product or service has enhanced another person’s life and specific details on how it can improve their own life. High quality lead nurturing content is focused on how a product or service benefits the consumer, not on the product itself.

Claims Made in Content Must Be Verified

Smart consumers are also insisting on demonstration videos that clearly illustrate every claim made on the website. It is not enough just to say that a product or service is better than the rest, savvy consumers want proof. If they don’t find the proof they need on your website, it only takes a minute to search for another provider who can offer them evidence to back up their claims.

Businesses that make the Buying Process Easier

Since smart consumers can easily choose any online provider that impresses them for whatever reason, every detail of the transaction should be convenient and helpful. The website needs to be easily navigated, online purchasing forms should be simple and automated, and there should be instant access to live customer service when requested. There should also be straight forward answers to all of their frequently asked questions readily available online.

High-quality Lead Nurturing Brands a Business as an Expert

Well-written and informative content will establish a business as being an expert in their field. It will help the consumer trust that their hard earned money is being spent in the right place. High quality lead nurturing content will build a solid relationship prior to the consumer making the purchase, which should result in greater trust and loyalty.

Smart consumers would prefer to find one source for all their needs, so they are not constantly shopping and comparing new businesses. If they encounter an easy to use website that is focused on verifiable facts about how a product or service benefits the consumer instead of merely strong sales-pitches, it will build trust and brand loyalty. High quality lead nurturing content is the most essential component for converting today’s smart consumers.

Lead Liaison

Understanding and Automating Your Marketing Funnel

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Understanding and Automating Your Marketing FunnelWhen you’re getting ready to work out your marketing automation plan, understanding and automating your marketing funnel is one of the most important things you can do. Many companies see ads for larger marketing automation companies and get excited, expecting a miracle solution to come in that will completely revitalize their business.

Is a marketing automation company capable of some miracle work? Absolutely. You’ll be able to track signs that customers are ready to buy and spend time on leads that truly hold the promise of closing. But at the end of the day, if you aren’t ready to nail down what your sales process actually is, marketing automation isn’t going to work as well as you’d like it to – no matter which company you go with or what methodology you put into place.

Identifying Your Sales Funnel and Sales Cycle

A sales funnel isn’t a finite thing – every business has its own process and sales cycle – but any business that identifies prospects and sells goods or services has a sales cycle, and therefore a sales funnel. Just like your common hardware-store funnel, the top of the sales funnel is wide – meaning, leads get to you in a variety of ways.

As you engage leads through your funnel, the way you focus them on your products and services tends to become sharper. You want leads to understand your true value, to think about you when an opportunity for purchase comes along, and to refer you to friends and family for future sales of your products and services. For that reason, your sales funnel doesn’t actually have an end if you have the types of products that can be re-purchased.

The length of your sales cycle determines how you set up your marketing automation. If you’re selling a larger ticket item, it’s possible that clients could spend weeks or months in your sales funnel as opposed to just a few days. It’s common sense – a new home is a lifetime purchase, but a product you see on an infomercial is something you might buy in just a few seconds. A Realtor doesn’t necessarily advertise on television – they put themselves out there via word of mouth, billboards, magazine and internet ads and signs put up in front of houses because a house is an infrequent purchase. A Realtor relies on the fact that most families will purchase only once or twice in their lifetimes, so it’s important to get their name out there rather than to encourage a quick sale.

Automating the Funnel

Take the time to determine what the different steps are in your funnel. See one of our top articles on Sales Pipeline Stages to learn more about typical stages in the funnel. How do people get to your brand and therefore into your funnel? Once they’re in there, how do you manage leads and identify which ones have true potential to close? For customers who aren’t read to buy, how can you further engage to get them to buy, and how can you track the results of your engagement? Do you reach out to customers once they’ve been sold to, or do they leave your radar – and therefore your funnel?

Marketing automation software like Lead Liaison helps you not only automate the above process, but you can also track metrics to get an idea of your overall marketing effectiveness. Marketing automation can definitely change the way your company closes leads and engages leads in your funnel.

Some marketing automation companies leave you to figure out your sales cycle and sales funnel yourself. At Lead Liaison, we’re happy to look over your processes to find out how best to automate your sales and marketing funnel. For more information, contact us today!

Lead Liaison

Can Automation Help Marketing & Advertising Agencies?

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Marketing and Advertising AgenciesDigital agencies have a new tool to gain a competitive edge: marketing automation. And while there are those that wish to focus on simply designing creatives and making social posts, progressive agencies are looking to manage their clients’ marketing lead pipelines. Marketing automation (we prefer the term “revenue generation”) provides a multi-layered way to show clients how well your messaging develops client/prospect relationships. Marketing automation can help marketing & advertising agencies grow their business.

Agencies can leverage their expertise in message development with the ability to provide managed marketing services. Our Lead Management Automation™ platform allows agencies to identify marketing/advertising leads, move leads through advanced messaging, integrate agency campaigns with inbound channels, and provide metrics to their clients. Rather than taking a shotgun approach, agencies can segment markets for specific messaging. And results are better defined as demographic and behavioral data provide ad managers information to help refine future messaging.

Today’s advertising is delivered through social media, content marketing, mobile, and other digital channels. Marketing automation monitors these channels, allowing agencies to manage audience, delivery, format, and other parameters.

Through marketing automation, digital agencies can provide:

  • Lead prospecting
  • Lead tracking
  • Lead qualification
  • Lead nurturing

Once a lead has passed advanced from marketing-qualified (targeted for nurturing activities) to sales-qualified (ready for contact by the client’s sales department) an agency can seamlessly transition the lead generated from their activities to their clients’ customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. This can be a powerful benefit for agencies looking to create a deeper relationship with their clients.

Advertising and marketing efforts are geared towards creating attention, generating interest, motivating decisions, and inspiring action. Marketing automation provides a management tool throughout the entire process. By offering clients lead management services in addition to campaign development, digital agencies reduce their clients’ need to continually monitor and analyze results and allows agencies to modify messaging and campaign execution in order to maximize results.