How advocate marketing boosts lead to-revenue management
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Despite advances in lead to revenue management practices, many B2B marketers struggle to improve conversion rates at each stage of the buying process. They have dozens of digital tools and tactics to try at each of these stages, yet many B2B marketers fail to leverage their single biggest asset for igniting revenue growth - the passion of their customers, fans and evangelists. Join Forrester Analyst Lori Wizdo and Influitive CEO Mark Organ for their discussion on how mobilizing advocates can boost performance at every stage of the lead-to-revenue process: attract, capture, nurture, convert and expand.
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How advocate marketing boosts lead to-revenue management
- 1. How Advocate Marketing Boosts Lead-to- Revenue Management April 16, 2013 Featuring
- 2. 2 • Mark Organ, CEO & Co- Founder of Influitive • @influitive • @markorgan Your Presenters • Lori Wizdo, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research • @loriwizdo
- 3. 3 • For audio choose “Use Mic & Speakers” or “Use Telephone” in your Audio window • Submit your text question using the Questions pane • Note: A recording will be made available How to participate HOUSEKEEPING
- 4. 4 Advocate marketing captures their enthusiasm and turns it into a powerful force for igniting business growth. All companies have champions
- 5. Research Informs Our Insights •Consumer Technographics •B2B Social Technographics •Tech Marketing Navigator •Q4 2011 Marketing Organization and Investments •Q3 2012 B2B Marketing Tactics and Benchmarks Online Survey+ Countless other research panels •+ Endless Inquiries (over 100 in Q1) © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 6. 3% 8% 18% 16% 19% 13% 11% 7% 3% 0% 0-9% 10-19% 20-29% 30-39% 40-49% 50-59% 60-69% 70-79% 80-89% 90-100% What Percentage of Your Pipeline Is Marketing Sourced? The Pipeline is Half-Empty On average only 40% of B2B pipelines are marketing sourced Base: 216 marketing decision-makers at B2B companies in the US and Western Europe with 100 or more employees; Source: Q4 2012 US and Europe B2B Technology Marketing Tactics And Benchmarks Online Survey #L2RM © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 7. 300% Increase in sales leads? No Problem. We got this. © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 8. Kicking lead gen up a notch … Launch 22% more campaigns Get some Inbound working Increase leads dramatically Nurture each lead, -- 4-touches Score leads Promote leads to SaleS Sales accepts leads then … (a) Puts lead on „back burner‟ to close this Q‟s deals (b) Closes lead as „dead‟ when they don‟t want a Proposal or PoC (c) Creates 20% Opportunity & Task to call in 3 months © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 9. …. And Gets the Same Old Result © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 9 Marketing Team is working like demons Dramatic Increase in Traffic, Leads, MQL, SQL Minimal increase in marketing contribution to pipeline Limited contribution to revenue Relationship with Sales still not all that good © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 10. Success is not coming from putting more into this output machine! Average conversion ratios from Forrester’s Research MQL SQL Pipeline Won deal End-to- end All 32% (N = 211) 32% (N = 196) 28% (N = 201) 26% (N = 195) 0.75% Top- Performers 39% (N = 65) 37% (N = 58) 34% (N = 59) 32% (N = 58) 1.54% Base: Marketing decision-makers at B2B companies in the US and Western Europe with 100 or more employees; Source: Q4 2012 US and Europe B2B Technology Marketing Tactics And Benchmarks Online Survey You can’t get there from here! © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 11. It’s not just about scaling the old model! © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 12. Attract Capture Nurture Convert Expand B2B demand management tactics Content marketing (e.g. whitepapers, interactive widgets, infographics) Tele-prospecting Digital advertising (includes sponsorships and banner ads, but not pay per click) Tradeshows Email marketing Virtual events (e.g. virtual tradeshows) Company sponsored in-person events Radio, TV advertising Print advertising Analyst relations Pay per click advertising Webinars Social marketing Public relations Search engine optimization Industry trade/user groups (e.g. INETA, ASUG) We asked about the use of 16 tactics across 5 stages #L2RM © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 13. What are your top 4 tactics for building awareness? Attract Capture Nurture Convert Expand Top Tactics: Attract
- 14. The Funnel is not dead, but it … …Doesn‟t understand the balance of power has shifted from seller to buyer. © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 15. Buyers are in control. • Your sales people • Google • Your web site • Peers/colleagues • Experts • Your customers • Brand perception • Product info • Brand perception • Features/benefits • Alternatives • Comparisons • Brand perception • Features/benefits • Alternatives • Comparisons • Reputations • Customer opinions • Prices Sources of information What buyers know in advance Pre-Web Web 1.0 Social Web Information Scarcity Information OverloadAttention Abundance Attention Deficit © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 16. The Model Has Changed Classic Market interactions based on products New Market interactions based on business outcomes Scale with Campaigns Scale with Awareness Source: May 7, 2008, “Community Marketing: A New Discipline For Business Technology Marketers” Forrester report © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 17. “The fine art of being found.” Source: The New Yorker, October 3, 2011 © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 18. Top Tactics: Attract What are the four most effective tactics for this stage? Base: 328 marketing decision-makers at B2B companies in the US and Western Europe with 100 or more employees; Source: Q4 2012 Global B2B Technology Marketing Tactics And Benchmarks Online Survey 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% Tele-prospecting Pay per click advertising Content marketing Company sponsored in-person events Virtual events Webinars Analyst relations Industry trade/user groups Radio, TV advertising Search engine optimization Digital advertising Email marketing Public relations Tradeshows Social marketing Print advertising All respondents (N = 328) Top performers (N = 124) #L2RM © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 19. Business People are Active on Social (for Business!) 86% Engage in social activity while working. 32% Are content creators Base: 645 IT decision-makers at firms with 100 or more employees in the US and Western Europe Source: Q1 2011 US And European B2B Social Technographics® Online Survey For Business Technology Buyers *Source: North American Technographics® Online Benchmark Survey, Q2 2010 (US) 55% Cite online communities and forums as influencers on their decisions © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 20. “I don’t have time for social” © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 21. Advocate reviews ATTRACT buyers Fact: Referrals to Tech B2B sites from non- branded searches account for 78% of all search referrals. Peer testimonials/reviews of a product account for 60% of these.
- 22. 22 Advocate reviews attract buyers 262 reviews, follows, and shares, making it one of LinkedIn's most visited profiles in 2012.
- 23. What are your top five tactics for capture (lead origination)? Attract Capture Nurture Convert Expand Top Tactics: Capture
- 24. 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% Radio, TV advertising Virtual events Analyst relations Digital advertising Social marketing Industry trade/user groups Pay per click advertising Public relations Print advertising Webinars Tele-prospecting Content marketing Search engine optimization Company sponsored in-person events Email marketing Tradeshows All respondents (N = 328) Top performers (N = 124) Top Tactics: Capture What are the four most effective tactics for this stage? Base: 328 marketing decision-makers at B2B companies in the US and Western Europe with 100 or more employees; Source: Q4 2012 Global B2B Technology Marketing Tactics And Benchmarks Online Survey #L2RM © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 25. Advocates refer the best leads Fact: Evangelist spend 13% more than the average customer and refer business equal to 45% of the money they spend
- 26. 26 Advocates help you capture the BEST leads • 36 new leads • 25% conversion rate in same quarter • $100K in pipeline
- 27. Attract Capture Nurture Convert Expand What are the top five tactics for lead nurturing? Top Tactics: Nurture
- 28. Top Tactics: Nurture Base: 328 marketing decision-makers at B2B companies in the US and Western Europe with 100 or more employees; Source: Q4 2012 Global B2B Technology Marketing Tactics And Benchmarks Online Survey 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Pay per click advertising Digital advertising Print advertising Radio, TV advertising Virtual events Public relations Social marketing Search engine optimization Tele-prospecting Analyst relations Industry trade/user groups Tradeshows Webinars Content marketing Company sponsored in-person events Email marketing All respondents (N = 328) Top performers (N = 124) What are the four most effective tactics for this stage? #L2RM © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 29. Nothing nurtures better than customer success stories Fact: B2B marketers cite case studies (78%), followed by white papers (73%), and in-person events (72%) as the most effective content for lead nurturing.
- 30. 30 Ektron‟s advocates generated a huge increase in customer submissions for “Site of the Year” award. Advocates create the most compelling nurturing content
- 31. Top Tactics: Nurture Base: 328 marketing decision-makers at B2B companies in the US and Western Europe with 100 or more employees; Source: Q4 2012 Global B2B Technology Marketing Tactics And Benchmarks Online Survey 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Pay per click advertising Digital advertising Print advertising Radio, TV advertising Virtual events Public relations Social marketing Search engine optimization Tele-prospecting Analyst relations Industry trade/user groups Tradeshows Webinars Content marketing Company sponsored in-person events Email marketing All respondents (N = 328) Top performers (N = 124) What are the four most effective tactics for this stage? #L2RM © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 32. © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited B2B Marketers Are Missing the Mark.
- 33. Attract Capture Nurture Expand What are the top five tactics for lead conversion? Top Tactics: Convert Convert
- 34. The Answer was “Sales Enablement” “Sales enablement is a strategic, ongoing process that equips all client-facing employees with the ability to consistently and systematically have a valuable conversation with the right set of customer stakeholders at each stage of the customer's problem-solving life cycle to optimize the return of investment of the selling system." © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 35. You must understand buyer’s process
- 36. BT conversations are moving online © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 37. You must engage 37 © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 38. “I don’t have time for social” © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 39. Buyers need to make a choice and they go to peers for advice Fact: 74% of Tech B2B customers consider 3 or more companies when purchasing
- 40. #1 result on Google search Which is better for Ektron?
- 41. Attract Capture Nurture Convert Expand What are the top five tactics for building customer expansion? Top Tactics: Expand
- 42. Top Tactics: Expansion Base: 328 marketing decision-makers at B2B companies in the US and Western Europe with 100 or more employees; Source: Q4 2012 Global B2B Technology Marketing Tactics And Benchmarks Online Survey 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% Radio, TV advertising Pay per click advertising Analyst relations Tele-prospecting Print advertising Search engine optimization Virtual events Industry trade/user groups Digital advertising Public relations Content marketing Social marketing Webinars Company sponsored in-person events Tradeshows Email marketing All respondents (N = 328) Top performers (N = 124) What are the four most effective tactics for this stage? #L2RM © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 43. ‟s Return on Advocacy Professional Development Content Development Research Increased engagement leads to continued increase in valueWe nurture our advocates, grow our relationships with them, and learn from them.
- 44. Why Social is a Must for B2B Marketing B-to-B is really P(erson)-to-P(erson) selling Buying decisions are highly “trust” based. Peer influence (the highest influence) is shifting to social. Advocates helps you engage in the first 2/3rd of the buying journey – when they don’t talk to sales. Multiple stakeholders over long, complex buying cycle Advocates help you scale your outreach Why You Need an Army of Advocates © 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
- 45. 45 Webinars Testimonials Case studies Likes, retweets, shares Blog comments Media & analyst interviews Event speakers Net Promoter surveys Community Engagement Customer awards Loyalty programs Help desk & support Focus Groups Beta programs User Groups Product reviews Product launches ! Referrals References Customer advisory boards Roadshows Ambassador programs
- 46. 46
- 47. 47 • Mark Organ, CEO & Co- Founder of Influitive • @influitive • @markorgan • Influitive.com Questions? • Lori Wizdo, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research • @loriwizdo • Forrester.com
Editor's Notes
- So what is advocate marketing and why are we talking about it’s impact on Lead to revenue management? I’ll give you the definition, but as you know, a picture is worth a thousand words. And this picture, submitted to us by our customer Ektron, really shows it off. You can see that there are four gentlemen here proudly posing for a picture under their hand-carved sign which says “The Ektronauts” They are clearly power users of Ektrons web content management system. They love the product. But more than that, they are proudly declaring it to the world with a hand carved sign. Now as crazy as that may sound – every company has Ektronauts, people that believe passionately in their vendor’s mission, vision and products. They just need to be found and given a platform. Advocate marketing captures this enthusiasm of fans, evangelists and promoters – increasingly grouped together as "advocates" - and turns it into a powerful force for igniting business. For the B2B companies that we focus on at Influitive, advocate marketing not only generates more leads directly through referrals, but accelerates revenue generation through every other marketing and sales channel. It's this force-multiplier effect that makes advocate marketing so exciting, being embraced by forward-thinking marketing leaders. And now over to Lori Wizdo from Forrester, who is one of those forward-thinking marketing leaders, to provide her insights on Advocate Marketing.
- Source: Microsoft Clip Art
- Source: Google Study, “The evolving path of today’s tech B2B customer” Sept. 2012 Getting customers to talk about their positive experiences with your product isn't a nice to have - it's a key component of any demand gen plan. For b2b marketers, every day brings new opportunities to get customers talking about products in forums where they will be heard. We track a list of more than 2 dozen such sites right now – but that’s the tip of the iceberg. Every marketer on this webinar should know who their target audience is, and where they ‘hang out’ on the web to learn about your products and services. And then you need to drive your advocates there. Because it works.
- Here's how to mobilize advocates around the Attract stage: Xactly, a fast growing provider of sales compensation management software relies extensively on end user reviews to attract new buyers. That's why they have focused so much attention on advocate marketing over the last year. In fact, their sophisticated program called "FOX, friends of Xactly" that encourages happy customers to spread the word was the key reason for Xactly getting some prestigious industry awards. In 2012, after amassing more than 262 reviews, follows, and shares, LinkedIn names Xactly one of the top 12 business business profiles of 2012. AND Xactly was selected by salesforce.com customers for the Salesforce AppExchange Customer Choice Awards. Salesforce.com customers rely on testimonials and feedback from their peers to determine the most important solutions to power their businesses.
- Source: SatMetrix. B2B marketers focused on capturing high quality leads continue to leave a huge hole in their demand plans by ignoring the power of advocate marketing to drive referral business. In company after company we talk to, referrals are a forgotten tactic or a poorly used one at best. Yes everyone agrees that referred deals are higher quality, move faster through the buying process and make better customers. So why aren't there more (and better) referral programs.
- Here's how advocate marketing drives referrals. One customer example- one SaaS customer of ours, does it right (this is Act-On but cannot USE their name). They have perfected their referral programs, relying on it as a huge source of business. This client sells to SMB with a capital S and they have raving fans. So they introduced their referral program in Q1, and were astounded with the results. More than 36 qualified leads converted and an unbelievable 25% rate within 3 months of launch.But here’s how they did it. They were clever with their campaign. Instead of hitting up customers with a “do you know anyone” email out of the blue, they invited customers to join an exclusive community that offered perks and privileges for supporting the company through advocacy. And only after advocates contributed through meaningful online support were they asked for a possible referral. A few tactics that helped – 1 making the referral program competitive. Contributors could see how their suggestions elevated their rank within the program2. Suggesting potential names through Linked in – this is the same as prefilling a form – it makes it so much easier for the referrer. 3. Thanking the advocate and providing regular updates on the progress of their referred leads4. Immediately alerting the referred lead with the name of their referral
- Source:Optify study “B2B Content Marketing Trends – 2012 Survey Results”This really shouldn’t be that surprising. In 2011, Google introduced a term the “Zero Moment of Truth.” Coined by Google in their 2011 eBook “ZMOT”, the term refers to the moment in the purchase cycle between the stimulus (what alerts you of a product, like an ad) and first moment of truth (a term used by Proctor & Gamble to refer to the decision to purchase). The zero moment of truth (ZMOT) refers to the point in the buying cycle when the consumer researches a product, often before the seller even knows that they exist. The number of consumers researching a product online prior to purchase has been on the rise in recent years as the internet and mobile continue to advance. In 2011, the average shopper used 10.4 sources of information before making a purchase decision, compared to half as many sources in 2010 (ZMOT, 2011).While Google primarily used B2C references, the ZMOT has enormous implications for B2B. Lead nurturing exists primarily because B2B buyers haven’t reached the SMOT just yet. And when they do, they are going to want authentic customer opinions and reviews of products and services. And so, case studies driving the effectiveness of lead nurturing.
- So what do you do as a B2B marketer when you don’t have enough case studies. Here’s an idea.Ektron knows the value of customer-generated content. That's why they put such emphasis behind their annual Ektron site of the year awards at their annual conference. Awards are a great way to not only recognize a customer for having 'best in class' implementation of your product, but also to gather dozens of customer-generated testimonials and case studies - priceless content for nurturing programs and campaigns. Ektron systematically cultivated end user excitement for it's awards as part of its "inner circle" advocate marketing program - and generated a 500% increase in submissions in just one year!
- Source: Google Compete Tech B2B customer study Sept 2012 - http://www.google.com/think/research-studies/evolving-path-of-todays-tech-b2b-customer.html At the end of any buying cycle comes a decision. In most cases, that decision is based on a range of factors and may involve choosing between competitive products. Whey your next buyer reaches this stage, what are they likely to do? Hint: it’s not to call your sales rep. They’re going to open google (or Bing if Microsoft’s latest campaign has any impact) and type in your name and a competitors name. And they will likely end up at a discussion forum where techie’s trade advice, feedback and warnings.
- I’ve mentioned Ektron before – many of my examples of advocate marketing done right come from them because they are just so smart about it. Well, Ektron researched and understood this part of the buying process in depth. And they know that they are in a highly competitive market with a range of options to choose from. So they started typing in search terms to Google and thought about how advocates can help deliver the right search result high on the page. And what they came away with was really interesting. Rather than wait for customers to ask for reference calls, the smart marketers instead decided to force the discussion in a very public forum – on Quora. And they directed their advocates to that forum to have a very honest conversation about the strengths and weaknesses of web content management platforms. Ektron didn’t wait for their buyers to ask a sales engineer on the technical differences between Ektron and its competitors. They didn’t sponsor a white paper, or ask an analyst or consultant to weigh in. They asked their users to share their experiences in a very public way, and let Google index that discussion for the next buyer. That’s advocate marketing at its finest.
- Here's how advocate marketing helps you expand customer accounts: I'd like to focus on the SMART case study for our customer example, and their Return on Advocacy figure. SMART essentially grows their customer footprint through the agressive use of existing customers in an account (school district). They are part of a highly competitive program the essentially provides consulting, research and training services PRO BONO for SMART. In fact, each delivers more than $130K in value back to SMART through these services.
- That’s a great question, Lori,The most important thing a B2B marketer can do today to get started with advocate marketing is to recognize the fact that right now, your best customers are being bombarded with requests for help. In other words, isolated acts of advocacy are happening in a completely disconnected, uncordinated way. This not only minimizes the impact of advocacy, but overwhelms your most important asset – the advocates themselves. So my recommendation is first – to get started by auditing your organization to understand where this is happeningSecond, create the advocate marketing owner – this is a dedicated role, reporting directly to the head of marketing. It must live in marketing, though the right person for the job may come from other functions like customer services. Best in class organizations have created the role of advocate manager and centralized these asks in one department. Third, find your advocates. This is usually pretty easy to do. Talk to product teams about their beta programs and user groups. Ask customer service about their NPS programs and promoters. Canvas marketing for testimonials, presenters – even avid social promoters. These are all advocates in the making.
- As far as technical integration goes, that’s a no brainer. We know that modern marketers have already started building communities, organizing their social networks, investing in marketing automation and relying on SFDC as a hub for all customer interactions. That’s why new advocate marketing platforms provide integration to each of these resources. For example, all of the customers we work with rely on CRM system to manage customer records. So we recommend that your advocate actions are represented in the CRM system, logged as activities that can be used in pipeline reporting. This allows you to measure, for example, the impact of reference calls on pipeline, or just how you referral program boosts revenue. Similarly, integration with marketing automation systems like Eloqua, Marketo and Act-on allow you to invite advocates into a program through external email tools, or trigger invitations based on a net promoter score captured in a third party form. Finally, community sites are where your customers live, and so it makes sense to deliver requests of your advocates in platforms like Jive and Lithium, and recognize their contributions in these environments as well. .