B2B & B2C Lead Generation Strategies Worth Considering
At the 2010 Inbound Marketing Summit in Boston, I was on a panel on October 7th on the topic of Driving More Qualified Leads into your Funnel. One of the questions from the audience was from a marketer who shifted his 2010 online marketing budget from paid to organic inbound marketing. He said that his lead performance had declined and asked for input on how to address it. He didn’t give any other details, so I gave my input from both a B2B and B2C perspective.
Regardless of whether you are a B2B or a B2C business, I have a favorite three letter acronym and a favorite four letter word: Respectively, they are CTA (call-to-action) and TEST.
Marketers should always be testing different CTAs (calls-to-actions). And, I do mean always! The very essence of marketing (online and offline) is testing CTAs and measuring results.
B2B Calls-to-Action
Many B2B marketers fail to offer website visitors and social media encounters compelling reasons to engage. The biggest mistake in online B2B marketing is limiting CTAs to “contact us.” So often a website visitor is conducting research. They are simply not ready to “contact you.” But, if you offer a B2B website visitor something compelling that aligns with their stage in the buying process, they will often accept your offer. Traditionally, a popular B2B CTA has been a white paper download. This can be very effective, but it’s so common that it must be compelling. White paper CTAs with an image and a benefit statement usually perform best. E-books can perform even better than white papers.
Another compelling CTA in B2B inbound marketing is the promise of pricing information. Research proves that the #1 piece of information most desired by B2B website visitors is pricing.
However, rather than publishing your pricing on your website, offer your anonymous website visitor the ability to request budgetary pricing. You can accomplish this several ways to capture serious B2B prospects early in their evaluation process. Consider testing this CTA for B2B sales lead generation that can fill the top of your sales funnel.
B2C Calls-to-Action
B2C marketers may also consider similar tactics depending on their product or service. One of the most effective strategies in B2C inbound marketing is to do extensive testing with website CTAs including using different words, different colors of CTA buttons or images, and even different locations of CTA buttons. Also, consider offering different CTAs during evenings and weekends to appeal to different audiences.
For example, I bet JetBlue has tested and determined that the CTA “Let’s Go” has converted more than other words in that CTA button.
Whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer, I urge you to TEST different calls-to-actions (CTAs) to determine what works best.
6 Critical Success Factors in B2B Lead Generation
