Wednesday, December 31, 2014

9 tips to ramp up your B2B data provision efforts

According to a 2013 study published by Hubspot, more than 90% of businesses use b2b data provision strategies to increase their lead generation efforts. With such a high figure, any advices that can be garnered to ramp up your lead numbers are always welcome. To make the monstrous task of b2b data provision easier use the below mentioned tips:
1.       Great content encourages action. There are a lot of details involved in inbound marketing. These details include SEO keywords, subheadings, and even sentence structures. Good content should funnel an impression into a lead, and then finally into a conversion. A well-crafted entry should generate more than a head nod. It should motivate people to sign-up and make purchases, which will ultimately help thebusiness, grow.
2.       Providing only information isn’t enough to make great content. Your b2b data provision strategy should build a perception of expertise around your service or product. To do this, provide meaningful tips and factoids. Providing information is the apex of the triangle. The rest of it involves promoting, optimizing and monitoring the information and use it for lead generation
3.       Great content has to be irreplaceable. Think about it. Top results in search engines get 33% of clicks. This is because your content has to be the leading resource.
4.       Try to tap into your inspiration sources on a regular basis. This may sound like a CEO quirk but everyone finds their own unique way of seeking inspiration. To become the leader in your industry with stellar content means you have to do everything you can to get ahead.
5.       Workplace culture can also be a resource. Your blog can be a conduit for delivering strategic marketing content. Your personality, idiosyncrasies, culture, and modus operandi are all resources.
6.       Even though the public appreciates all the information, tips, and tidbits your company has to offer, it does not appreciate nitty-gritty aspect of your organization. Ensure that things such as bad days, inside jokes, and personal quarrels are kept private.
7.       Be a hub that promotes community not a company-promoting megaphone. Inbound marketing is not an opportunity for putting on a promotional event. They are a chance to engage your audience into a conversation. Social media networks, videos, and blogs can engage customers on a topic.
8.       Don’t forget to KISS or “keep it simple stupid”. Only your industry is familiar with the nuances and jargon of your area of expertise. Your information is valuable to customers but only if it is enriching to them. Therefore use language that is understandable by lay people. Try to avoid going over their heads.
9.       Pay attention to details such as optimizing headlines, micromanaging social media sites, and re-optimizing your keywords. These details, however tedious they might be, do matter!

If you are look for innovative ways to ramp up your b2b data provision efforts consider implementing the 9 tips mentioned above. 

Thursday, December 18, 2014

How Do B2B data solution and lead generation companies generate leads

Since long, the B2B marketing has been considered to be different from B2C marketing. The

reasons for this may be many; ranging from its longer purchasing cycle, multiple stake holders in

decision making process, distinct buying motivation and cost per sales deal being higher. But

increasingly, these dissimilarities between the two are fading away.

The competition in B2B arena is also getting more cut throat and one really has to work hard to

win a deal against others. Business buyers are now expecting more benefits like their personal

use consumer brands; they are more demanding and less discounting than ever before. They are

valuing customization above generalized products. In order to stay competitive in such rapidly

changing B2B sales world, the traditional marketing strategies need to evolve to the next level

and become more data-driven, to maintain their customer relationship backed by years of

experience.

Here are some guiding lines to help you understand that how to adopt the ‘give more to

customers than what they expect’ approach followed by the B2B data solution and lead

generation companies

1. Customer is the King: If you are still trying to shove down your archaic approach or

product down your customer’s throat, you must stop. Stop, because your B2B customer

would not buy what he does not want. You must go back to the drawing board, and shift your

approach from being inflexible to empathetic. Understand what your customer is looking for,

understand his problem and then design a solution for him. All that your customer cares for

is, to find ‘the solution’ to his problem and how your offering solve it faster and better than

others in the market.

2. Business relationship management- the CRM of B2B marketing: Customer relationship

management (CRM) is a famous jargon in B2C marketing, but yes it is now one of the key

formulas in B2B marketing as well. Once you customer shows trust in you, build on this

relationship and make it stronger, do not pounce on him for sales just let the benefits flow in.

Today’s B2B marketing is about building and fostering the few quality leads that you have

not focus on volume of B2B leads generation. Lead generation is not a one-time effort in

B2B marketing, instead it is an ongoing process and hence even after the sales, don’t cut off

from the customer, keep in contact. Especially, if any representative approaches you from

your client for advice, information or support related to your business, you must take that

extra step to help him out. These small favors make the connections that would bring in the

next deal. B2B lead management is much important than lead generation.

3. Don’t act blindfolded, Data helps: In order to strike right and be ahead in the competitive

world, B2B marketers cannot afford to leave key decisions like which customer is active,

what product is suitable and price to be quoted, to the understanding and opinion of the sales

& marketing team. Customer data is a valuable resource which should be exploited to

discover new prospects, identify cross-sell opportunities and anticipate customer behavior.

Hence, utilizing B2B data solutions as your single most powerful resource to base your

marketing efforts will prove to be a very beneficial move in the long run. There is such a

huge amount of customer data available today that a B2B marketer can pitch in early and

provide the customer with a solution before he even asks for it.

B2B customers have evolved into a very demanding lot and hence knowing the knitty-gritties

of their business needs via customer data is a prerequisite for the success of B2B marketing.

Thus, the B2B data solution and lead generation company that adapts itself to the changing

business scenario, must be chosen to buy the data.