Direct Marketing Tips
Six Principles of Deliberate Marketing, by Suaad Sait (Part 2 of 2)
- Qualified buyers vs. leads - Deliberate marketing enables you to extract the most value from your marketing programs based on using the most cost effective method to move prospects and buyers through the funnel. It is not focused on simply filling the marketing and sales funnel with contacts and expecting sales to follow up on any lead that indicates interest. It is about profiling the best possible buyers, recruiting more buyers that are just like them, and then executing the most effective techniques possible to move the prospect through each stage of the funnel.
- Predictable vs. spray and pray - Deliberate marketing techniques make it possible for you to predict the results of your efforts because you know your direct programs are focused on the right buyers at the right type of company. With this approach you know you are using the right messages and the right medium to deliver that message based on the buyer profile. You also know that you are delivering this message to buyers in companies with a similar combination of characteristics as their best customers so their propensity to purchase is higher. Marketers can rely on repeatable demand generation efforts to provide a steady stream of qualified buyers to sales. You no longer have to endure the up and down cycle associated with typical methods for filling the funnel.
- Nurture vs. capture - Deliberate marketing doesn’t involve capturing any and all leads, then tossing them over the fence to sales. It is about engaging with prospects, understanding their needs and scoring them based on their interests and behaviour to determine their stage in the buying cycle. It’s s about nurturing them with targeted communications and offers until they are ready to engage with sales. With a deliberate marketing approach you can ensure your leads receive the proper follow up and that buyers are not discarded simply because they are not ready to make a purchase immediately.
- ROI vs. response - A recent survey of the b-to-b marketing organisations by the analyst at Sirius Decisions determined that the marketing departments of high performing companies significantly influenced or contributed at least 30% of the opportunities in the pipeline. Deliberate marketing results have shown that virtually any marketing organisation can achieve this. It focuses b-to-b marketers on business objectives such as adding opportunities to the pipeline, increasing revenues, acquiring new customers, and maximising the return on marketing programs.
No longer is time spent worrying about meeting or exceeding a 2% response rate. Deliberate marketers value lead quality over lead quantity, and they are motivated to move qualified buyers through the pipeline as efficiently and quickly as possible.
Putting an end to billions of marketing waste - Forrester estimates that b-to-b marketers spent more than $77 billion on demand generation programs in 2005. Factor in a 2% response rate and data that shows 70% of leads ignored by sales, and that results in massive waste of billions of marketing dollars. Deliberate marketing techniques can help eliminate that waste by empowering marketers to move buyers through the marketing and sales funnel faster and more efficiently and demonstrate greater accountability for their marketing investment.
Posted on 19th March 2007
