The document discusses the challenges brands face in the conversion funnel, focusing on the importance of successfully contacting consumers, which many brands struggle to achieve. It highlights the disconnection between marketing and sales regarding lead quality and conversion definitions, leading to inefficiencies in converting leads into customers. Finally, it emphasizes the necessity of aligning marketing efforts with post-conversion strategies to enhance consumer engagement and build lasting relationships.

1. W E L C O M E !
Optimizing to Connect vs. Optimizing to Convert
The first milestone in the conversion funnel is successfully contacting the consumer, yet most brands have a contact rate of
less than 50%. That means one-half of what you spend on marketing never even reaches the consumer’s attention.
Organizations have been focusing on increasing contact rates for years, but what techniques really work?
1

2. VP - Warschawski
Warschawski is a full-service marketing communications agency
headquartered in Baltimore, MD with offices in NYC and
Washington, DC

3. HELLO,
LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF…
I’m Sam. I have a fairly non-traditional background in finance, but I currently manage all
digital marketing & data analytics initiatives & accounts for Warschawski. In my spare time,
I’m on the faculty at Betamore Academy, Cabrini University & Johns Hopkins, where I teach
graduate level courses on a variety of topics
Most importantly: Eagles, Flyers & Yankees fan.
STRATEGY DIGITAL
MEASUREME
NT
LinkedIn
/in/samruchlewicz
Twitter
@samruchlewicz
E-mail
Sam.ruchlewicz@warschawski.com

4. THE “CONVERSION” FEELING
It’s pretty fantastic, isn’t it? Like hitting a home run in Game 7 of the World Series.

5. 5
THAT CONVERSION FEELING
What is the world is going on? How is it that the same thing (a lead submission or free trial activation
or whatever) elicits widely different responses from groups that should all be on the same page?
We all know the feeling when the leads are rolling in – life is great. We’re
rock stars. Amazing.
MARKETING’S VIEW
But somehow, that feeling gets lost by the time the leads are passed
along to sales or operations or customer support.
SALES/C-SUITE VIEW

6. M A R K E T I N G & S A L E S
P R O C E S S
6
We all want to find, captivate and convert
new potential residents, customers,
clients in order to either sustain or grow
our businesses. Pretty simple. Digital
presents an incredible opportunity, but
traditional channels still work, too.
REACH NEW
PROSPECTS
The primary objective of step #1 is for brands
to engage in a meaningful way with their
target audiences, with the intention of
convincing some of them to make contact
and begin a relationship
INSPIRE ACTIVITY
All of that activity – from reaching new
audiences to inspiring current
customers – should then have a
measurable impact on your bottom line.
That, in turn, should fuel continued
growth and (wait for it) more
marketing/outreach/sales activity
PROFITABILITY!
Unlike any other marketing tactic, social
media allows brands to communicate with
users on a personal level at scale – providing
an unmatched opportunity to be an active
participant in the conversation
CONNECT & SELL

7. 7
MULTI-TASK
Customers frequently
jump around different
digital properties –
seemingly at random
INSTANT GRATIFICATION
Does this one even
need an explanation?
We’re the society that
invented Prime Now
CROSS-
DEVICEMost US consumers
browses the internet
from 3+ devices
IN CONTROL
Today’s customer is
firmly in control – and
they know it
VALUE-
CENTRICCustomers are focused
on value – what have
you done to help them?
TRUST
ISSUESOne consequence of all
of the above: customers
don’t trust you.
TODAY’S
CUSTOMER
As much as we’d all like it, today’s customer does not follow a
nice, neat, linear pathway from introduction through
conversion. They’re all over the place.
NON-LINEAR DECISION
MAKING
All of that results in seemingly random outcomes – until you
realize that today’s customers are just different than
yesterday’s. They are informed and empowered. And they
expect you to treat them as such.
SEEMINGLY RANDOM
OUTCOMES

8. 8
TRANSPARENCY
Today’s customer is highly informed and expects you to be open and
honest with them – not “sell” them on your product or service
SIMPLICITY
We’re all used to doing different things on different devices in different
places all the time – but regardless of that, we expect the process to be
simple, easy & intuitive. And we’re not happy when it’s not.
CONVENIENCE
Customers expect information to be at their fingertips – all the time. And
them more information they have, the better. Withhold it at your own peril
PERSONALIZATION
We expect brands to remember what we’ve done before and show us
timely, relevant information/offers – not spam us with the same old stuff
CUSTOMER
EXPECTATIONS
Customers today expect more from you than ever before
– and those expectations aren’t being created by your
competitors or your peer group. They are being created
by some of the most sophisticated companies in the
world. The old excuse that “we’re great relative to our
industry” no longer holds any water.

9. 9
LET’S TALK ABOUT
CONVERSIONS
MARKETING
“Conversions” mean very different things to different people. To marketing teams, a conversion is
achieved when the prospect completes the lead form on a website, starts an online chat or makes
contact through a phone number; for sales, a conversion happens when a contract is signed or the
deal is closed. Same term. Different meanings.
SALES

10. H O W I T U S U A L L Y W O R K S
10
CPI CTR CVR
TTC WIN
RATE
DEAL
SIZE
CHURN NPS LTV
MARKETING
SALES
OPERATIONS
Conversion Rate Optimization
(In control)
Post-Conversion Optimization
(out of control)
Blame When Things Go Wrong
Credit
For
Good
Things
Credit
For
Good
Things

11. C U S T O M E R I N T E R A C T I O N S
11
Social
PR
Social
E-Mail
SEO
SEO
Aff.
Aff.
E-Mail
SEO
SEM
SEM
SEM
SEM
PR
PR
PR
Display
Display
RT
RT
RT
RT
Aff.
PR
SALES
Site
Site
Site
Site
CHAT
Inf.
CRO
Initial
Research
Tour &
Sales
Disengaged
Abandoned
Move In - Sale
Closed

12. M A R K E T I N G B U D G E T
A L L O C A T I O N S
12
The average marketing organization – spends between 80-95% of marketing dollars on the customer journey from
introduction to conversion. That leaves precious little – ~12.5% on average – for post-conversion marketing and
optimization efforts, including connecting with individuals who have converted
Data provided by IBM Think Marketing CMO Survey
MONEY TALKS
16%
20%
High-Level Branded
Awareness/Discov
ery
Consideration
Learn Convert/Form
Convince
Connect
Conversion
15% 21%
5%
Advocate
Sale

13. Discovery
25%
Consideration
31%
Conversion
21%
Post-Conversion
12%
L E T ’ S S I M P L I F Y T H A T
13
DISCOVERY
Proactive efforts to position the company,
organization, brand, etc. in front of an
audience who has a relatively high
probability of being interested in the service,
should a trigger or need arise
POST-CONVERSION
All of the marketing and engagement that
happens after those individuals buy the
product or submit the contact form on the
website (or third party referral site)
CONVERSION
All of the efforts that we put into convincing
those individuals who might be viable
customers to give us their information
CONSIDERATION
Content, guides, how-to posts, quizzes,
media, PR, thought leadership, etc. – all of
which is designed to get potential prospects
to believe that you are a viable option

14. T H E N U M B E R S G A M E
14
HAPPY &
LOYAL
CLOSED SALE
R-W-A
SQLs
MQLs
LEADS
The total number of non-junk leads
generated by various efforts
LEADS GENERATED
Leads that meet whatever sales
qualifications (SQLs) set by the client
SALES QUALIFIED
(SQLs)
Prospects that are closed into customers
CLOSED SALE
Leads that meet whatever marketing
qualifications (MQLs) set by the client
MARKETING QUALIFIED
(MQLs)
Prospects that are ready, willing & able to
make a purchase/sign up/whatever
READY, WILLING & ABLE
Happy, loyal, thrilled customers
HAPPY & LOYAL

15. 15
MORE TO
THE POINT
LEADS * CLOSE RATE = # GOOD
OUCOMES

16. WHEN YOU’RE A HAMMER, THE WHOLE WORLD IS A NAIL
If a customer/client wants more happy/loyal customers, the task for marketing is pretty clear: generate more leads.

17. 1 2 3
H O W D O W E D O T H A T ?
17
Request budget increases, with a goal
of maintaining (or even increasing)
target CPAs/CPLs – because THAT
goes well
MORE MONEY,
PLEASE!
MORE
MONEY
Reduce CPCs? Increase CTRs?
Change up CTAs or Imagery or Copy?
Increase page CVRs? Check, check &
check.
INTRODUCING CRO
MORE
EFFICIENT
Deep down, at places you don’t talk
about at parties, this is what we’re
actually doing most of the time. And I’m
a fan of aggregation of marginal gains
WHAT HAPPENS
HOPE &
PRAY

18. 18
D O E S A N Y O F T H A T W O R K ?
Getting additional budgets approved? Good luck with most clients/companies – even if you are
generating leads at an attractive cost & sustainable rate. CRO? Sure, maybe you increase your
conversion rate by a percentage point or two – but even brilliant execution here isn’t going to create
awe-inspiring results for your stakeholders.
NOPE. NO IT DOES NOT.

19. THE SITUATION

20. THIS IS A
STORY
ABOUT A
CLIENT,
A CASE &
A BUNCH OF
CONVERSIO
NS

21. T H E D E T A I L S
21
On the face of it, this is a pretty standard engagement as far as marketing goes – the audience is defined,
the budget is sufficient & we’re not asking prospects to do anything crazy. But just because this begins
nicely doesn’t mean that everything goes according to plan…
Nationally-recognized plaintiffs’
attorney focusing on class action
matters – high profile case
LAW FIRM CLIENT
The goal was simple: generate X
leads, which the firm believed
would result in Y clients
B2C LEAD GEN
The audience for the campaign
was clearly defined & easy to
target – no confusion here!
DEFINED
AUDIENCE
Budget was more than adequate
to achieve the goal, time was of
the essence
TIME + BUDGET

22. 22
PREDICTION VS. REALITY
In this particular case – and in many like it – it turns out the traditional “marketing & sales” process
doesn’t map onto reality. Not even close.
And we exceeded the lead target by nearly 78% & lead quality target by 60%
Leads Submitted (less) Invalid Leads (less) Not Reachable (less) Not
Qualified/Interested
(less) Willing to Sign
Up
(less) Returned Intake Closed
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Prediction Reality
PercentageofLeads
That’s not what’s supposed to
happen here, now is it? They
are qualified prospects who
already submitted a form
UM, WHAT?
AGAIN? Seriously?
This is why I have trust issues
DE JA VU

23. THIS CAN’T BE REAL
LIFE
Surely this is a freak accident. An series of unfortunate events.
A confluence of black swans that resulted to this absolutely insane outcome.

24. SO I CONDUCTED AN EXPERIMENT
Using a different, but hyper-competitive industry as my guinea pig. And….

25. 25
30 Facilities Contacted
All via their contact form, all with a similar message
(looking for a friend, only contact via e-mail with info)
18 Responded Promptly
That’s the number of e-mails I received within 1 day after
requesting a brochure from 30 facilities
10
Delivered on
Promises/CommitmentsThis isn’t that difficult – if you say you’re going to send a
brochure on the landing page, actually do it.
3 Actually did it well
Organizations who promptly followed up with relevant
content and engaged me through some type of post-
conversion marketing
A N E X P E R I M E N T
To see if this result was, in fact, real life, I contacted 30 Active Adult &
Assisted Living facilities across the US in preparation for this presentation
today – and what I found out.

26. 26
YIKES!
Seriously – 40% of requests for additional information did not
manage to follow-up with an e-mail within 24 hours. 66% of
communities contacted couldn’t be bothered to send the
information promised in a timely fashion. Only 10% managed to
do a good job of post-conversion marketing.

27. 27
I N I T I A L R E A C T I O N S
So, I did the next logical thing: I asked a ton of people in the marketing & sales industries what they
thought was going wrong here.
THIS IS NOT GOOD. IN FACT, THIS IS QUITE BAD.

28. 28
“Sales has no idea how to convert
leads – we’re getting them good ones,
but they don’t ever seem to follow-up
more than once!”
“Why are WE getting blamed for THEM
not converting leads? The leads met
the criteria. They didn’t close them.
Hell, they didn’t even call them!”
“Marketing is sending over way too
many non-qualified leads. I have no
idea what to do with them!"
”It’s impossible to ever get in touch with
the people who submit these leads to
marketing! We’re spending 75% of our
time on people who don’t answer the
phone!”
H I G H L I G H T S
These stories aren’t unique – in fact, a recent HubSpot survey found that 55% of marketers don’t believe their
current marketing tactics are effective. And if MARKETERS don’t think marketing is effective, imagine how non-
marketers (like sales and executive teams) feel about marketing.
MARKETING SALES

29. 1 2 3
M I S - A L I G N E D I N C E N T I V E S
29
Most marketing organizations are
evaluated based on the quantity of
leads generated – which tends to be a
poor proxy for qualified leads. So
instead of focusing on qualifying and
nurturing leads, they’re incented to
maximize volume, quality be damned
LEADS GENERATED
MARKETING
Conversely, sales organizations tend to
be evaluated based on the number of
closed deals – which gives them a
strong incentive to focus efforts on
those leads who are “hot” – and
disregard everyone else
CUSTOMERS CLOSED
SALES
At the end of the day, well-run
organizations tend to care about long-
term stability and profitability – which
requires both (a) a high volume of
qualified leads and (b) a sales team
that cultivates AND closes those leads.
PROFITABILITY
ORGANIZATI
ON

30. 30
LEAD-TO-CUSTOMER
LIFECYCLE
All key stakeholders in the marketing & sales process tend to be on different pages about their
goals/objectives – from marketing (generate more leads) to sales (get those “perfect” leads who can
close quickly) to management (minimize churn, maximize LTV)
Initial Contact Invalid Leads Not Interested Not Qualified Prefers You Willing to Buy Found Someone
Else
Closed Happy & Loyal
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Marketing is incented to
generate – and pass along –
as many lead as possible
MARKETING’S GOAL
Sales wants leads that have
been pre-qualified, prefer
their company and can be
closed as quickly as
possible
SALES TEAM’S
GOAL
Management wants happy,
loyal customers who aren’t
going to churn
C-SUITE GOAL
PercentageofLeads

31. 31
LATTE PROBLEM
M A R K E T I N G H A S A
Our reflexive reaction when this is
brought to our attention is to do the
thing we’re most comfortable doing:
generate more leads (CRO or Budget)
WRONG FOCUS
But…this is the equivalent of trying to
become a millionaire by cutting coffee
(hence the latte). It sounds good in
theory, but the math doesn’t add up
INEFFICIENT
Despite the fact that it doesn’t usually
produce the desired outcomes, we still
resort to “staying in our lane” -- which
continues the problem
UBITIQUIOUS

32. H O W T H E M A T H W O R K S
32
So, for every lead generated, we’re only really getting a 40% chance for a closed deal (if that – see above). And in
our above example, a 10% increase in leads only results in ~40 new closed deals, while a 10% reduction in drop-off
results in ~100 new closed deals.
*Figures cited are for example purposes only – exact lead numbers are NOT included
WHERE THINGS GO WRONG
L E A D S * ( 1 - D R O P O F F ) =
C L O S E D
How Marketing Usually
Solves The Problem
Post-Conversion Marketing Solves
The Problem By Reducing
(1 - 0.60)(1,000) (400)

33. NOW WHAT?In short: antiquated process + increasing customer expectations = recipe for
disaster

34. LET’S MAKE
THAT HAPPEN

35. 1 2
3 4
35
Before we start implementing any
solutions, the first step is to make sure
that we have the capability to know if
something is actually working. Aligned
metrics, shared reporting & properly
allocated budgets.
BASICS &
ALIGNMENT
Why put off until tomorrow what we can
do today? The landing & thank-you
pages your prospects see following a
conversion are your first chance to
better understand their needs – and
challenges. Are you taking advantage
of them to their full potential?
THANK YOU
PAGES
How well do you understand the real
problems your customers are facing?
The fastest way to close a sale is to
actually understand & address their
challenges through personalized contact
ONIONIZE
Once you’ve solved #1-#3, designing and
implementing initiatives to actually target,
captivate and convert your prospects into
customers isn’t that complicated – but you
need the plan first
GUIDE &
NUTURE
OPTIMIZING
TO CONNECT

36. F I R S T T H I N G S F I R S T
36
TTC WIN
RATE
DEAL
SIZE
CHURN NPS LTV
SALES
OPERATIONS
Same
goal
On-going
communication &
collaboration On-going
communication &
collaboration
BRAND & LEAD GEN
MARKETING
LEAD NURTURE &
SALES SUPPORT
LOYALTY & REFERRAL
MARKETING
MilestoneMilestone

37. Discovery
25%
Consideration
31%
Conversion
21%
Post-
Conversion
12%
B U D G E T R E - A L L O C A T I O N
37
Discovery
20%
Consideration
25%
Conversion
25%
Post-
Conversion
30%
BEFORE AFTER
Increased budgets for post-conversion marketing, which were used to keep the client top-of-mind via paid search,
paid social & programmatic display campaigns. In addition, budget supported the creation of comprehensive e-mail
campaigns & marketing automation workflows to ensure audiences were up to date

38. 1
2
3
4
5
38
BEGIN AT THE
END
Every touchpoint following an on-site conversion should be as
personalized, relevant and timely as possible.
BE BRILLIANT
AT THE BASICS
START AT THE
THANK-YOU
PAGE
CUSTOM
AUDIENCES &
SEQUENTIAL
MESSAGING
AN
OUTSTANDING
POST-
CONVERSION
EXPERIENCE
CLOSED SALE

39. STRATEGIES

40. H O W T H I S W O R K S
40
The visitor submits the lead form on
your website – which means you’ve
made it past the first threshold. But
odds are that you haven’t answered all
of their questions
INITIAL INQUIRY
This is why we need to immediately re-
engage your prospect – starting with
the thank-you page and continuing
through online and off-line digital
advertising
RE-ENGAGE
At the end of the day, this is what we’re
all after – the opportunity to connect
with and ultimately close the deal. But
success here is determined by how well
we engage and nurture leads
CLOSE THE DEAL
Once we have them back on the site,
where are they going? What questions
do they have? What links do they
follow? What information do they
request? These are the questions that
can help your sales team connect and
ultimately close the prospect
INFORM &
EDUCATE

41. 41
BE BRILLIANT AT THE
BASICS
Everything else we’ll be talking about today – from the tried-and-true
post-conversion methods to cutting edge techniques– only work if your
existing sales process and sales team are doing the basics
Find the Quick No’s – If someone is not a bona-fide prospect, either return
them for additional nurturing or move along. Build audiences to exclude based
on these “quick no’s” – if you have sufficient volume
Respond Quickly – odds of qualifying a lead decrease 400% if you don’t
follow-up within 10 minutes of inquiry. E-mail auto-responder + search
audiences!
Be Persistent – This is one aspect of what we’ll be talking about – contacting a
prospect up to 10 times increases odds of qualifying by 70%+

42. THANK-YOU
PAGES
42
What better time than the present to take
advantage of the momentum built and the good
will you’ve created through marketing and
advertising efforts?
Most companies have “blah” thank-you pages
that provide little-to-no direction to the prospect.
These miss an incredible opportunity to engage
with the prospect and understand more about
their challenges, issues, etc.

43. 1
2
3
43
WHY IS THIS
GOOD?
The thank you page is the “impulse zone” for
your website – anyone that makes it here has
already made the commitment to get more
information.
Your job here is to continue the
conversation, set expectations and better
understand the needs/challenges of your
prospect
Immediate, Attention-Grabbing &
Highly Relevant Call to Action that
continues the conversation & drives
activity/engagement with your brand
Additional Resources Relevant Provided
– along with Relevant CTAs to continue the
conversation and drive engagement
Encouraging Sharing & Referrals – there are
others involved in this process, so providing an
easy way for them to communicate helps them
AND you

44. 44
MORE GOOD THANK YOU
PAGES
Notice some similarities?

45. WHAT’ WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
This is one of the better thank-you pages I saw during my experiment. Think about that.
You have an interested prospect just waiting to hear from you. They’ve completed a form.
Your entire goal should be to keep this conversation going AND to gather additional information on the customer.
What problems/challenges are they facing? What are they looking for? What are they not?

46. 46
NOT SO GOOD THANK YOU
PAGES
We can do better than this, right?

47. 47
MORE BAD THANK YOU
PAGES
We can do better than this, right?

48. O N I O N I Z E
48
THE ISSUE
WHAT THEY
KNOW
WHAT THEY
FEEL
WHAT THEY
THINK
WHAT
HAPPENED
SAY
What the prospect – who doesn’t trust us –
was willing to tell us on a lead form
WHAT THE LEAD FORM
SAYS
The problem your prospect thinks he/she
needs to solve by contacting you
PERCEIVED PROBLEM #1
The facts/information that the prospect has
already gathered (correct or otherwise) that
are informing their actions now
EXISTING INFORMATION
What’s causing the prospect to consider
your solution at this moment in time
DRIVER/TRIGGER
The other challenge, problem or constraint
impacting the decision - a “gut feeling”
PERCIEVED PROBLEM #2
The “key” that will help us actually convert
this prospect into a closed deal – if we
address it in our communications with them
THE REAL PROBLEM

49. 49
JUST ASK
Obvious? Yes. Effective? Absolutely.
GET TO THE
PROBLEM
There are (literally) dozens of ways for marketers
and sales teams to more effectively and efficiently
understand the challenges the prospect is facing –
and address them
SURVEYS/QUIZZES
Sounds strange, but these work in a variety of situations
– including understanding challenges and determining
customer-solution fit
CHATS & BEHAVIORAL
Most customers don’t browse through your website for the
fun of it – they’re looking for answers. By interpreting their
behaviors, you can deduce their issues/challenges. Chats
can be a lifesaver here – and reduce friction from lead-to-
sale
PREDICTIVE
The most advanced way out there – this one uses ML,
along with one or more of the above three methods to
predict what challenges the prospect is likely to be facing

50. 50
ONLINE CHATS
Online chat features – whether automated or manned by
humans – can be incredibly useful in re-engaging prospects
and helping you understand their challenges – and there are
plenty of products out there to help you with this. Some are
subscription-based, others are DIY.

51. M A R K E T I N G S O P H I S T I C A T I O N
51
INTENT-
DRIVEN
1-TO-1
TARGET MARKETING
MASS MARKETING
One-to-One: organizations that deliver an
exceptional experience, completely
personalized to the user/prospect
One-to-Few: Automated, cross-channel
marketing designed to deliver the right offer to
the right person at the right time
One-to-Many: Where the vast majority of
marketing organizations are today – some
segmentation, but little personalization
One-To-All: One-size-fits all approach to
marketing across channels; focused on
company solution

52. G U I D E & N U R T U R E
52
CUSTOM
AUDIENCES
SEQUENTIAL ADS BETTER E-MAILS SMART CONTENT
How many of you have created
targeted, rule-based custom
audiences and/or retargeting
audiences across platforms to
provide converters with timely,
relevant information?
Why stop with simply
segmenting your audience?
Sequential ads allow you to tell
an engaging story to each
segment, boosting relevance
and improving outcomes
After someone has completed a
form, what happens next? Are
there drip campaigns to inform
him/her? Are these triggered by
behaviors? Is there a set
process to automate this?
Content is still king – and won’t be
giving up the throne anytime soon.
Are you working with your
colleagues in sales/marketing to
ensure that the content developed
addresses real needs?

53. 53
G U I D E & N U R T U R E
This should be automatic – and yet it is one of the most under-utilized features across-the-board in the
digital marketing ecosystem. These tools allow you to create audiences based on a combination of on-
site activity, demographics (location, age, etc.), interests/behaviors and more – allowing you to
personalize the user experience at every step of the process. And tailoring campaigns specifically to
those who have already converted can boost lead-to-sale rates by 50% (or more).
TARGETED CUSTOM AUDIENCES &
REMARKETING/RLSA

54. C U S T O M A U D I E N C E S
54
SPECIFIC
PRODUCT
GENERAL
PRICING
PREFERENCES AMENITIES
Ads can be geo-located around
specific communities, as well as
incorporating preferences and
behaviors that may indicate
interest in specific communities
Some customers are more price-
conscious than others – and
overcoming this barrier (real or
perceived) can expedite the sale
Likewise, there are certainly
customers who will be making a
decision based on the
community “lifestyle”
And there are always consumers
who are focused on whether or
not a community has a specific
amenity – whether it be a health
club or tennis court or something
else entirely
ALL CONVERTERS

55. H O W I T W O R K S
55
ACTION REMOVE ENROLL
TAILOR GUIDE REPEAT
Visitor takes an action
(such as a conversion) on
your website or on a
social media page (lead
form)
The lead is automatically
removed from all
prospective/conversion-
oriented advertising
The lead is immediately
enrolled in a tailored post-
conversion campaign
Content delivered to this
audience can be tailored
to their specific challenge
based on their behaviors
Ads shown to this group
are designed to guide
them through the final
part of the sales process
This process can be
repeated for other groups
(residents) as well
The best marketing organizations in the world are
focused on delivering truly exceptional, personalized
experiences at every touchpoint from first
introduction through the end of the customer
relationship. Is yours?

56. T E L L A S T O R Y
56
While there are clear advantages to segmenting your audience and targeting them with relevant
messaging, why stop there? There is compelling evidence that prospects want to be told a story – and
sequential advertising allows you to do exactly that. These ads can be combined with segmented audience
targeting to deliver exceptional, truly personalized experiences to prospects and leads.
The first message of the
sequence helps to paint a picture
of what the prospect could be with
you
ASPIRATIONAL
This is where we can showcase
what others think of your
brand/product – humanizing it
EMPATHETIC
Explain to prospects why your
brand or community is different –
the benefits of choosing you
INFORMATIVE
The final step in the chain,
encouraging the prospect to take
the next step in the process
TAKE THE NEXT
STEP

57. S E Q U E N T I A L A D S
57
Segmented sequential ads allow you to tell a story relevant to
prospects/leads at various intent levels and/or with various challenges
TELL A STORY
No one likes seeing the same ad over and over and over again. We like it
even less when the ad or the CTA is no longer relevant to us
AVOID REPETITION
Ultimately, this is what we all care about – better results. And sequential,
targeted ads deliver exactly that. Refinery29, for example, experienced a
56% higher increase in subscriptions using this technique
BETTER OUTCOMES

58. 1 2 3
T H E A D V A N T A G E S
58
Custom Audiences and/or Remarketing
Audiences, when combined with
Sequential Ads, allow you to deliver
personalized experiences to each
lead/prospect based on their
challenges, needs, intent, etc.
PERSONALIZED
PERSONALIZ
ED
Individually, each of these tactics is
incredibly effective; when combined,
they can have dramatic impacts on
conversion and contact rates – with
increases ranging from 350% to 810%
INCREDIBLY
EFFECTIVE
EFFECTIVE
One of the unrealized advantages of
these strategies is that they are more
effective across-the-board, which
results in lower costs AND helps reduce
wasted advertising spend – providing
superior returns on your marketing
investment
COST-EFFICIENT
EFFICIENT

59. E N G A G I N G T O D A Y ’ S C U S T O M E R
59
AS REAL
PEOPLE
EVERYWHE
RE THEY
ARE
WITH
RELEVANT
CONTENT
CONTINUOUS
LY OVER
TIME
BASED ON
THEIR
ACTIONS
ALL FOCUSED
ON AN
OUTCOME
No one likes
random,
mechanized
messages that
make them feel like
just another person.
Customers browse
the internet from 3+
devices – and
expect that content
delivered to each
will be consistent
and tailored to them
Generic messages
don’t work for
today’s consumers
– they expect
content that is
relevant to them
Once is never
enough –
customers are
online all the time –
and your post-
conversion
marketing needs to
be as well
Determining what
content is relevant
is easy - if you
segment and target
based on the user’s
actions – intent
data rules the day!
If you want
something, ask for
it. Just make sure
you’re asking for
the right thing – if a
customer has
already completed
a lead form, don’t
ask again!

60. N E X T L E V E L E - M A I L S
60
TRIGGERED SEGMENTED TIMELY INTERACTIVE
No one likes random e-mail
blasts sent to them at random
times. It’s annoying and intrusive
and tends to result in bad things
(like them unsubscribing).
Triggered e-mails, on the other
hand, provide prospects with
relevant information immediately
after they’ve asked for it. Much
better.
Whether you segment based on
user behavior, actions or using a
predictive/ML solution, the end
goal should be the same: to
make sure each e-mail delivered
to recipients is as personalized
and relevant to them as possible.
As mentioned before, e-mails
should be timely – and this
doesn’t simply mean triggered or
relevant. Set expectations when
someone signs up and deliver on
them every time.
E-mail doesn’t have to be boring
anymore – features such as
hover-over animations, rotating
feature carousels, video, etc.
reduce friction and tend to
increase positive outcomes
E-mail is one of the oldest digital marketing tactics out there – and if done well, it still can be one of the
most effective and efficient. But how many organizations have really evolved their e-mail game to meet
the needs and exceed the expectations of today’s customer?

61. S M A R T C O N T E N T
61
Generic content – the boring stuff that tries to appeal to everyone – doesn’t work nearly as well as it
used to. Today’s consumers – even Gen X & Baby Boomers – expect more from brands. They expect
content that addresses their specific concerns and challenges; content that provides real-life examples;
content that delivers more to them than generic messaging and lofty promises
CONTENT IS STILL KING – BUT THE KINGDOM IS
EVOLVING
434
Percent more Google-indexed pages than companies with
legacy content strategies
78
Percent of users believe that organizations who provide
custom content are interested in creating a relationship
60
Percent increase in time on site and/or site engagement vs.
companies with a standard blog/content strategy
20
Percent higher conversion rate for companies using smart
content strategies vs. those with legacy content strategies

62. W H A T I S S M A R T C O N T E N T ?
62
Smart content is created in “blocks” – think images, infographic segments, paragraphs,
quick bites, quotes, etc. – instead of as a full piece. This allows content to scale effortlessly
and your team to focus on creating high-quality blocks (instead of full articles). These
“blocks” are tagged and can be arranged (or assembled) by your website
THINK “LEGOS”
The clear advantage of Smart Content is that it is easily intelligible to machines – allowing
them to quickly assemble blocks of content into full pieces/pages based on any number of
factors, from the behaviors of the user to their language, previous interactions, device and
demographics
CREATED BY HUMANS; ASSEMBLED BY
MACHINES
All of this allows you to deliver truly personalized, highly relevant on-site experiences to
visitors above and beyond what traditional blog posts or landing pages can achieve
TRULY PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCES

63. DID IT WORK?

64. 64
YOU BET IT WORKS
Implementing post-conversion marketing using the tactics outlined above resulted in substantial
increases in sign-up rates for leads – and addressed the two major pain points found during the
Leads Submitted (less) Invalid Leads (less) Not Reachable (less) Not
Qualified/Interested
(less) Willing to Sign
Up
(less) Returned Intake Closed
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
After Changes
Initial
PercentageofLeads
Continuous Engagement
Increases Post-Conversion
Contact Rates, Dramatically
Increase Conversion Prob.
MUCH BETTER
E-Mail Reminders + Regular
Social Media, Search & Display
Ads To This Audience Pays Off!
NO DROP

65. 65
KEY
TAKEAWAYS
5

66. BE BRILLIANT AT THE BASICS
ALL THE SOPHISTICATION
DOESN’T HELP IF THE PROCESS
IS BROKEN
1

67. CUSTOMERS ARE CHANGING
AND YOUR POST-CONVERSION
MARKETING MUST DO SO AS
WELL
2

68. MAKE THE POST-CONVERSION
EXPERIENCE REMARKABLE
IT IS A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY!
3

69. ONE SIZE DOESN’T FIT ALL
YOU CAN – AND SHOULD – FIND
OUT WHAT WILL MOVE THINGS
FORWARD
4

70. FOCUS ON END TO END
OUTCOMES
SALES & MARKETING WORKING
TOGETHER IS A POWERFUL
THING
5

71. GO FORWARD!THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME – NOW IT’S YOUR TURN TO BE
AWESOME

72. T H E P R O B L E M
There are simply too many marketing “metrics” being thrown around – and there is too little emphasis on identifying
and solving for the ones that actually matter to the bottom line. And unless you have clarity of your goals, there is
simply no way that you’ll be able to quantify the value of your marketing and sales efforts – let alone justify the
budgets supporting them - to C-Suite executives
ENGAGEMENT
RATE
What does this even mean? LEADS
What’s the difference
between MQL & SQL?
How do you tell?
REACH
Who here knows that this
is a calculated metric?
UNIQUE
VISITORS
C PM
SENTIMENT
FOLLOWER
S
72
IMPRESSIO
NS
CPL
CPV
C LIC KS CALLS
SHARES

73. T H R E E B I G Q U E S T I O N S
73
HELP THE
BUSINESS?
HOW DO
YOU KNOW?
IS IT WORTH
IT?
WHAT ROLE DOES (BLANK)
PLAY?
For humans, sales and marketing can be connectors,
an educators, an entertainers, etc. For business, the
role both play is likely to be different – are they
converters, informers, engagers?
WHAT IS SUCCESS?
Marketing, sales, whatever is an
investment – and it should be expected to
produce a tangible, bottom-line return. So,
how do you know this is time/resources
well spent? What does success look like?
How does that success help your bottom
line?
WHAT‘S WORKING?
This is one of those questions most people
don’t both to ask – everyone assumes that
since people are on (insert channel here),
businesses should follow suit

74. T H I N G S W E C A R E A B O U T
74
AWARENESS TRUST THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP
PERCEPTION
CREDBIILITY CUSTOMERS SALES PROFIT

75. 75
PREFERENCE DEAL SIZE DEAL VELOCITY LIFETIME VALUE
We all want to be first in the
minds of our customers – the
first thing they think of when the
problem we solve (or any
problem, really) comes to mind
Larger deals – in both the B2B
and B2C markets – tend to be
more profitable
Who here wouldn’t like to close
deals 20%, 30%, 40% faster
than they do today? Faster
closed deals = more time for
sales
At the end of the day, this is the
golden number – the thing that
informs the overall profitability
of the organization
WHICH DRIVE

76. 76
& W H A T M A T T E R S
(PEOPLE & PROFIT)

77. 77
H O W I T S H O U L D
B E
Marketing & Sales alignment doesn’t need to be a foreign
concept. Marketing shouldn’t be something that “just has
value” and Sales shouldn’t be the thing that gets all of the
credit for a successful outcome – ask “How Do You Know”
P R I O R I T Y 1
P R I O R I T Y 2
P R I O R I T Y 3
SHARED GOALS
ALIGNED METRICS
PROFITABLE
REALITY
What do we expect sales & marketing to do?
With benchmarks that allow us to see who is meeting our goals
The thing we’re all looking to find

78. 78
1
2
3
4
END-TO-END
CONVERSION
The top-level view on how effective (or ineffective) our
marketing and sales organization is doing to convert leads into
money through the door
RAW LEAD TO MQL
A sub-set of the #1 calculation – tells us how many of
the leads being generated by marketing are viable
CLOSE-TO-
OPPORTUNITY
Another sub-set of the #1 calculation – this one tells us
how effective the sales team is at closing viable leads
TEV TO SALES
Total Economic Value to Sales – this helps us understand how
much economic value we need to drive to create $1 in actual,
in-the-bank revenue
P R E D I C T I V
E M E T R I C S
Since I’m sure you’re all here to know the answer to
this one

79. O T H E R H E L P F U L M E T R I C S
79
BRAND
PERCEPTION
PERMANENCE II PURCHASE
PROB.
ECONOMIC
VALUEDoes your story create an
emotional connection with your
brand? Do those people who
hear/see/experience it tend to
think of your brand more
favorably after the story?
The average individual sees
upwards of 5,000 brand
messages a day – so how long
does that story remain in their
mind? How memorable is it?
Memorability drives preference
Does your content inspire
action? Do the individuals who
see/hear/experience your ads
exhibit a higher propensity to
purchase than those that don’t?
The holy grail - the true value of
your story to your company,
broken down in bottom-line
terms. In other words, is this
a profitable endeavor?

80. OBSESS ABOUT
INTENT
You can’t judge every visitor by a transaction or every new customer by their
LTV – that’s not materially different from judging a fish by its ability to climb a
tree.
Stories should be designed to meet people where they are and take them to
where they want to go – which is why we need to measure every stage of the
process and obsess about intent.

81. A C Q U I S I T I O
N
B E H AV I O R
O U T C O M E S
SEE THINK DO CARE
MARGINAL INCREASE
IN SEARCH
I.I. BRAND
RECALL
CONVERSION RATE
AMPLIFICATION
APPLAUSE
CONVERSATION
MICRO- CONVERSION
LOYALTY
RATIO
LTV PER CUSTOMER
PROFIT
PER PLACEMENT &
USER
MICRO- CONVERSION
SITE ENGAGEMENT
REPEAT VISITORS PER
PLACEMENT VIRAL COEFFICIENT
81

82. L O T S O F Q U E S T I O N S
82
Smart Content allows you to answer the relevant questions – all on one page – using what you already
know about your leads. And as you can see – potential leads have a LOT of questions.

83. U N D E R S T A N D I N G I N T E N T
83
The most common query on the internet –
people who have a problem or challenge and
are now looking for answers, solutions, etc.
I WANT TO KNOW
Most of these are navigational queries (which
is why branded SEM is vital) – people who
know of your brand and (for whatever reason)
are now searching for it
I WANT TO GO
Everyone’s favorite – the people who are
informed, engaged and want to make a
purchase (whatever that may be)
I WANT TO BUY
These re individuals who are engaged,
informed and looking to take the next step –
whether that’s registering for an open house,
scheduling a tour or something else entirely
I WANT TO DO

84. HOW DO YOU
KNOW?
The four words that will forever change your life as a marketer, social media
guru, analytics junkie, brand evangelist, whatever.

85. 85
TRIGGER SEE THINK DO CARE
Most people don’t wake
up one morning and
wonder about moving
into an Active Adult or
Senior Care facility; this
journey is triggered by
something – a doctor’s
recommendation, a
medical condition, etc.
The first step in any
“funnel” – the awareness
portion. The people who
may be interested in your
product/service some day
who we’d like to engage
and inform
Those individuals who
may be interested in your
product/service who have
some commercial intent –
that is, they’re
considering buying and
need some information.
The “ready to buy”
prospects who are ready
for action – lots of
commercial intent. Urgent
and immediate. Sales-
ready.
Your current prospects or
customers who have
already submitted a lead
form
CUSTOMER JOURNEY 101

86. POST-
CONVERSION
MARKETING

87. THE (BIG)
PROBLEM SOUND FAMILIAR?
Marketing Team: Traffic is up across every channel! CTR is up,
CPC is down for our paid search campaigns, overall digital
marketing efforts are a HUGE SUCCESS! Lots of ROI!
Executives: Great! But how does this impact our expected
earnings for Q2?
Sales Team: Well, we contacted 92 leads sent from marketing last
week
Executives: …..

88. Everyone loves to be “popular” – and marketers are no different.
Whether it’s page “likes” or the dreaded following-to-follower ratio.
The problem is that being popular doesn’t pay the bills.
POPULAR
Every marketer’s dream – the ability to quantify the impact they are
having on the company’s bottom line (and in doing so, justify their
continued existence)
PROFITABLE

89. 89
According to research from Forrester, anywhere from 57% to 70%
of the buyer’s process is complete before they will ever make direct
contact with the organization.
Put another way: if they contact you, they’re already on third
base.
7 0 %

90. H O W T H E P R O B L E M S T A R T S
90
Someone – usually in the sales, marketing or the C-
Suite – insists that the company start doing this
“internet marketing thing” because “everyone else is
doing it” and “it will drive more leads for sales.”
THE DRIVER
Everyone jumps. We hire an agency or
in-house digital marketing “expert.” Ads
are pretty. Leads are gained. Things
are good.
WE GO ONLINE!
No one has good answers to the good
questions – and no one knows where to get
them. Things are decidedly NOT good.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
The problems peak the attention of a HiPPO – who
starts asking questions about the new marketing
program. Why are we doing it? How has it helped us?
Should we be doing more? Doing less? Where does it
fit in our sales & marketing strategy? What is
happening?
KPI ALIGNMENT
Excitement fades. Lead volumes slow while
expenses soar. Complaints or customer
service issues may start to be posted. No
one is sure of who owns what, or what this
new marketing initiative is supposed to do.
UH-OH

91. 91
WHO
CARES?
What is the value of a lead or a follower to your business? How
does the number of ‘likes’ on a recent post help you achieve your
goals on social media? And most importantly, how is sales and/or
marketing helping you achieve your company’s bottom-line goals?

92. 92
ORGANIZATI
ON
SOCIAL
SALES
TRADITION
AL
DIGITAL WEBSITE
EMAIL
Sales has been around for as long as people have
been buying things – and will likely remain for a long
time
TV, Radio, Print, Direct Mail, OOH – most
organizations, especially those in the Senior
Care space, are still investing heavily in
traditional tactics/channels
The “old guard” of digital tactics and still the
“hub” for most conversion activity – an “owned”
channel where you can promote anything you
want – all the time
Everyone’s new favorite advertising channel –
social media brings all of the advantages of a
display/programmatic channel, with the added
benefit enhanced behavioral targeting
SEM/SEO/PPC/Display/Video – call it whatever
you’d like, but digital advertising today
encompasses just about everything.
Another “oldie but goodie” that most organizations
use to nurture leads into prospects and eventually,
customers
TOUCHPOINT &
CHANNELS

93. THE PROBLEM

94. 94
ALL
GOOD?
Houston (well, Philadelphia), we have a problem. That process
doesn’t always work the way we’d like – and even if it did, it
isn’t the most efficient way of doing things. For all of those
dollars spent converting a stranger into a prospect, only 50%
will ever actually connect with your organization (and less will
actually sign a contract) – meaning that (roughly) 50% of that
entire spend was wasted.