Need to Drive Leads? Try These Traditional Tactics Now

In a recent article from eMarketer, “Is Social a Source for B2B Leads?”, a survey from Leadforce1 is highlighted showing that social media is not producing the kind of engagement that drives leads. So what’s a marketer to do?

While we all see the storm clouds on the horizon, the end is not quite here for traditional techniques.

Yes, there are the trends of wide and rapid adoption of social media, combined with unprecedented growth in the use of mobile apps and mobile search, and the growing influence of younger generations entering the workforce. All this is starting to create massive and revolutionary changes in the way businesses in general and marketers in particular interact with customers. But social media has opened up a channel. Other channels have not closed yet.

Radio was not replaced by the television. The web did not replace either. So if you have just been asked to drive more leads now, here are the tactics that can produce the highest return:

Email

Many B2B marketers are still seeing the highest return on marketing efforts with effective email techniques. Customer lists provide a tremendous opportunity for selling additional solutions and services or upgrades. Create a compelling offer to lock-in your current customers for a longer term.

“House” list contacts continue to represent the best opportunity to engage with prospects.  Many B2B marketers make the mistake of trying to push product details on prospects too early in the process. Follow these 6 Content Marketing Tips That Drive Leads. Offer tested content that meets well-defined prospect needs. Nurture your email list with an invitation to visit a resource center that provides thought leadership from well-known experts, webcast and podcast replays, short videos and product demos, customer testimonials and case studies. Allow your prospects to decide for themselves what the best content is for them for the buying stage they are in at the time. You can also look to 3^rd party list sources but expect a lower response rate and thus a lower ROI.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO continues to provide one of the best sources of leads for both B2B and B2C companies. When prospects are ready to buy, they will use keyword search to research products and solutions. You want to be found when they do. And when prospects land on your website, it is important that they find the information they are seeking. Intuitive navigation, deep content, and obvious contact information are keys to utilizing your website to drive leads.

Paid Search

While email can have very little cost and ongoing investment in SEO is simply a requirement for today’s business websites, paid search is often the next place to invest if you are looking to drive cost-effective leads. As an inbound marketing technique, it requires tremendous ability to analyze keywords, test and offer the best content for your prospects at each stage of the buying cycle, and optimize your landing pages continuously. When prospects search for important keywords that relate to your products, some will only select organic listings and some prospects will only select paid listings. It is important to have some presence in both for the most important keywords related to your solutions.

Third-party Media

Online, print, radio, and TV media properties can still offer great opportunities to drive leads. As I mention in 5 Steps to Achieve Lead Generation ROI, it is important to negotiate pay-for-performance contracts with any media property to share in the risk. If the objective of the ad buy is leads, then the media property should be able to assist you in driving the right message to their audience to identify relevant contacts for your sales teams.

There are other traditional techniques that many B2B marketers can use to drive leads today such as telemarketing, blogs, and others. One of the most important points is that nothing can beat an integrated marketing approach that brings together all these elements, plus the latest emerging media like social and mobile, around customer-focused needs. Am I suggesting we should abandon the social media bandwagon? Absolutely not. But the techniques described here can still drive leads today and deliver a positive ROI.

by Michael Brenner, June 18, 2010