by Henry Bruce, The Rock Annand Group

1. +
Create a Winning Lead Nurturing
Strategy in 90 Days
Henry Bruce, President
The Rock Annand Group
September 29, 2012
#B2BCamp
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential
@hebruce

2. Let’s be social today …
#B2Bcamp
@hebruce
Wifi:
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential 2

3. Some interesting stats to consider …
■ 70% of buy cycle complete before sales is engaged
■ Only 10 - 25% of new lead inquiries are “sales-ready”
■ 3 out of 4 sales opportunities come from leads that
are NOT sales-ready
■ 65% of B2B marketers have not established lead
nurturing
Sources: Forrester, Gartner, Gleanster, Forrester, Marketing Sherpa, Sirius Decisions
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential 3

4. Lead Nurturing Driven Results
■ Lead management practices drive 10+% increase in
revenues in 6-9 months
■ Good lead nurturers generate 50% more sales ready
leads at 33% less costs
■ Mature lead management teams have 9+% higher
sales quota achievement rate
■ Lead nurturing emails have 4-10x response rate vs.
“batch and blast” emails.
■ Nurtured leads drive 20% increase in sales opps
Sources: CSO Insights, DemandGen Report, Forrester, Gartner
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential 4

5. #1 Sales & Marketing Challenge
Generating Qualified Opportunities
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential

6. #1 Sales & Marketing Challenge
Generating Qualified Opportunities
75% to 90%
of the time,
cost & effort
10% to 25%
qualified
leads
0.3% to 1.3% Closed Sales
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential

7. #2 Sales & Marketing Challenge
Producing & Delivering Compelling Content
The Buyer Cycle
Building Buyer Centric Sales Engine for NY Tech 7

8. #2 Sales & Marketing Challenge
Producing & Delivering Compelling Content
How Buyers Spend Time:
■ 23% in discussion with
colleagues
■ 19% searching the web
■ 19% with educational content
■ 18% reviewing promot’l content
■ 21% with sales team interaction
IDC Webinar: 2012 Sales Enablement Strategy: Content is King so Why Does Sales Feel Like a Jester?
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential 8

9. #2 Sales & Marketing Challenge
Producing & Delivering Compelling Content
How Buyers Spend Time: Buyers Top Complaints:
■ 23% in discussion with ■ 33% - too much content that’s useless
colleagues ■ 29% - content not relevant
■ 19% searching the web ■ 24% - content does not meet needs of
■ 19% with educational content all stakeholders
■ 18% reviewing promot’l content ■ 23% - not enough educational content
■ 21% with sales team interaction ■ Other complaints:
 Content too long
 Not enough video/audio
 Content hard to share with others
IDC Webinar: 2012 Sales Enablement Strategy: Content is King so Why Does Sales Feel Like a Jester?
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential 9

10. Demonstrate Thought Leadership
Where Do You Start?
■ Focus on your buyer’s problems … NOT products
 Start with the primary problem you solve
■ Break the problem down into 3-4 main themes
 Why multiple themes? Buyers each have their “hot-buttons”.
■ For example: eSignature Process Automation
 Audience: Financial Services (banks, lenders, debt services)
 Problem: Customer service expectations and regulatory
compliance strain operational efficiency and increase costs
 Themes: Focus on business process areas
• Automated account opening
• Loan origination and consolidation
• Debt consolidation
• Customer account management
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential 10

11. Program Fundamentals:
Focus on 1 Theme for First 90 Days
■ Develop one good content piece
 Usually involves re-purposing existing content
 Focus on problem as it relates to the buyer
 Present solution as it relates to you … BUT don’t mention your product
 Relate a client case study … Highlight results they achieved
 No more than 1500 words, ideally 800-1000 words
■ Develop 90 day campaign focused on that theme:
 1st Cycle: Promote the content (email, BLOG post, tweet)
 2nd Cycle: Webinar on the topic/theme (ideally with client)
 3rd Cycle: Recap with content, webinar and client case study
 Create a separate landing page for all program components
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential 11

12. Program Fundamentals:
Focus for Next Two Quarters
■ Repeat the campaign cycle for theme #2 in Q2, theme #3 in Q3, etc.
■ Other TIPS:
 Optimize for search for each campaign
 If permission-based contacts is a problem, consider using reputable
3rd party publishers, analysts
 Drive themes to other media channels
• LinkedIn, Twitter, Syndicated sites, guest blog posts
 Re-purpose into other format … Blog posts, Voice-over slides, Video
 Establish “Welcome Campaign” for Inbound leads:
• Qualify interest. Where are they in Buy Cycle?
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential 12

13. Program Fundamentals:
Create Content for Each Stage of Buy Cycle
Buyer wants to: Define Problem Evaluate Decide &
Solutions Commit
Content should Education & Solutions & Credentials &
focus on: Thought Product Decision Criteria
Leadership Suitability
Some content  Problem  Differentiators  How to buy
definition/themes business case
examples:  Solution
 Whitepapers/ comparisons  Testimonials
webinars  3rd party product  In depth case/use
 3rd Party coverage reviews studies
 Case studies  Implementation  ROI/TCO analysis
 Solution plans
approaches  Product roadmap
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential 13

14. Summary and Take Aways
■ Focus on lead quality NOT quantity
■ Demonstrate thought leadership to gain credibility
■ Focus beyond the immediate quarter
■ Establish a platform that builds your “followers”
■ Test and measure everything ,,,
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential 14

15. henry@rockannandgroup.com
203-870-9076
Twitter: @hebruce
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/henrybruce
Blog: www.rockannandgroup.com/blog
T hank you … Questions??
c2012 Rock Annand Group Confidential