Top trends for 2007: Marketers’ influence grows even as customers demand more control of the message
December 19th, 2006By Kate Maddox
As b-to-b marketers prepare for the new year, they are looking at a business climate in which marketing enjoys more influence than ever yet faces significant challenges, such as proving ROI and implementing new technologies.
The reach of the Internet has changed everything. Users are just as interested in creating content as they are in watching it. Campaigns must be developed with an eye toward global expansion. And in a flooded media environment, marketers must truly understand their target audience’s behavior and interests to cut through the clutter.
Following is a look at the top 10 marketing trends for 2007, based on interviews with marketers, ad agencies, media companies, analysts and industry experts. Read the rest of this entry »
Do You Have Enough Prospects To Make Your Numbers?
December 7th, 2006By Lori Feldman
Several years ago I worked with a CPA who wanted 20 new clients. We came up with a great direct marketing campaign that brought in 10 leads per 1,000 letters. His closing rate was 10%, so after his first few clients came on board, we calculated that acquiring new clients was costing him between $500 and $600. He liked the numbers (one client was worth about $8,000/year), but progress was slow. We advised him to open the spigot and mail 5,000 at a time, instead of the 1,000 he was sending. It worked, and he acquired the new clients he was looking for sooner rather than later.
I do quite a bit of public speaking on direct marketing. One question I like to ask my audience is “How large is your database?” I get answers anywhere from 100 to 250,000. I worry about companies who don’t have at least 2,500 names in their databases. Unless they’re selling high six-figure products or services or have a closing rate near 100%, they don’t have enough prospects to meet their numbers.
Database marketing is all about up-selling and cross-selling your existing customers and targeting prospects to find qualified buyers who are ready to buy now. It’s a numbers game. The more you put into the funnel, the more orders that come out at the other end. Here’s the formula for calculating how many leads you’ll need this year:
Annual projected sales / average order size / sales close percentage rate.
Let’s say your annual sales quota is $750,000. An average order is $1,000. You’re a pretty good sales person so let’s say your closing rate is 40%. Using the formula above ($750,000 / $500 / 40%), you’ll need 3,750 new leads, or 313 new leads per month. If you’re relying on traditional prospecting like shoe leather (networking, clipping “prospects” from the paper, telemarketing), you’re not going to get “there” in time! The fastest way to build a client base is to build a database of qualified prospects. Consider these shortcuts:
1. Buy a targeted prospect mailing list. Review your top 20 customers and figure out the demographics that make them ideal customers for your business. Then buy lists of these prospects. There are 40,000 different prospect lists on the market; you’ll need to find the best 3 to 4 that fit your “profile.” You may find it faster and cheaper to have a mailing list broker help you find these needles in the haystack.
2. Capture targeted leads off the Internet. Rather than cut and paste, you can use data capture software to compile your own chamber lists, membership lists, yellow pages listings, and email signatures in an Excel-spreadsheet-like format, which can then be downloaded into ACT! or any database.
3. HP, the printer company, did a study that showed 80% of a buyer’s sales decision is made by the time he calls you. Consequently, your goal is to make prospects call you. With enough prospects, you can start a drip-marketing campaign to educate and qualify them. Use direct mail letters and postcards to drive prospects to your website, where you can then capture their opt-in email addresses to start email marketing campaigns.
Do the math! Start building and marketing to your prospect database now, and you’ll meet your numbers by year-end.
Lori Feldman teaches small businesses and sales executives how to make more money with customers they already hav. She is the Database Diva of Aviva, a database marketing and ACT! Software Certified Consulting firm. She has been a mailing list broker for 20 years and is a recipient of the Direct Marketer of the Year award from the the Direct Marketing Assn. of St. Louis. Reach her at http://www.theDatabaseDiva.com
Internet Lead Generation For Insurance Agents
November 22nd, 2006By Brian Maroevich
Insurance agents have two sources of leads when it comes to Internet lead generation. An agent can buy leads from an Internet lead generation company, or they can build a lead generation web site and create their own leads.
Buying Leads
It’s important to buy leads from a company that has experience generating Internet insurance leads. New Internet lead generation companies have a tendency to rely upon questionable marketing tactics, and this can affect the quality of your leads.
Internet insurance leads can range from $5-$30 each, depending on what kind of lead it is (life insurance, annuity, auto, etc.), and whether it’s an exclusive lead or not. An agent should verify if the leads are exclusive because some lead generation companies sell the same leads to multiple agents.
Also, legitimate Internet lead generation companies will credit you back for bad leads. You should be able to call into the lead generation company and speak with a service representative on the phone in case you need to discuss a bad lead so that you can get credited for it. Read the rest of this entry »
Lead Generation And The Free Report: What Should It Really Contain?
November 22nd, 2006By Kenneth Edwards
Lead generation is a simple process that, in it’s essence, contains two parts.
The first part is running an ad, article, or some kind of advertising or direct response marketing piece, that gets the attention of the readers and gets them to take action. Actions like going to your website or calling your 800 number.
The second part is a response mechanism that captures the contact information of the prospect.
If it is online, you will be using an autoresponder to capture the contact information and if it is offline, you should be using an 800 number with a recorded message. Read the rest of this entry »
Three Steps to Qualify Your Sales Leads
November 17th, 2006You can’t buy more time no matter how wealthy you become. However, you can become wealthy by managing your time more wisely. Properly qualifying your sales leads is one of the easiest ways to gain control of your valuable time and start generating more wealth for you and your firm. There are three basic steps to properly qualifying leads. Read the rest of this entry »
Why Thanksgiving Is The Best Time To Mail…
November 12th, 2006Are you sending your prospects a greeting card this Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is the best time to mail during the Holiday season for two reasons:
1. At Christmas, people are hit with more greeting letters and promotions than any other time of the year. As a result, your marketing message gets substantially diluted.
2. At Thanksgiving, very few marketers are sending direct mail (compared to Christmas). But ironically, it’s the biggest shopping season of the year!
What are you doing to keep in touch with your clients and prospects this Holiday season?
Photography Business: How To Generate Leads
November 7th, 2006Guest Article:
Sending out a postcard to a mailing list can be risky business. Whether you send out 1,000 or 10,000 postcards, statistics show the most response you can expect is 1 to 2 percent. And that’s being generous.
There is a way to increase your odds, and have better luck with your mailings. In fact, I’ve seen response rates in the area of 10 percent and more, simply by changing a few things with your mailing.
Start with your message. As a photographer, you’re probably use to showing images and using a small amount of text. Photographs are important, but it’s also important to communicate with your readers.
Your prospects need to understand why you are contacting them. What is the purpose of this postcard? If you can define your purpose in a sentence or two, it becomes easier to communicate that message on your postcard.
Build your postcard around that message. Use several photographs to showcase your ideas, and use your copy to describe your offer. If you have trouble creating a dynamic postcard yourself, use a graphic artist. Your local printer can recommend some to you if you don’t have a good one in your files.
You may also want to work with a marketer or copywriter if you aren’t sure of how to word your message in an effective manner. A copywriter can create motivating text that drives your prospect to take action.
All good mailings have two things in common. First, they ask the reader to take action. You can do this in a number of ways.
Postcard Design That Generates Leads
November 2nd, 2006Postcard Lead Generation.
Generating leads with postcards is worth testing in both the business to business and consumer marketplace. This post is going to provide a few tips on postcard design. I’ll cover a few tips on researching your market later…
The basics of postcard marketing, which will have the best chance of success in generating leads is to be sure that your postcard design is in line with the rules of direct response marketing.
An effective headline. A headline that says ABC Industies (in other words your company name), is not a headline. But a headline that conveys a benefit, or basically makes a compelling reason to read your postcard is deamed effective.
The body copy of your postcard must also be compelling and keep your reader interested.
Ultimately you must make an offer. Your offer is the key to gettting a response from your propsect, so make sure it’s good. Offer a free newsletter subscription, report, or gift for responding.
These are the bare bone basics of an effective lead generation postcard. I’ll cover more tips and advanced strategies in the near future.
Why Lead Generation Gets Low Priority
October 26th, 2006MarketingSherpa’s 3rd annual East Coast Demand Generation Summit was this week. The article summarized the points of interest, and you might be able to scrape up a few marketing nuggets to use in your business. I found the first section intriquing, and disturbing. It was basically covering the reasons why CFO’s don’t ‘get it’ when it comes to lead generation, and bascially, how to keep your job. It reminds me how lucky I am that I don’t have to deal with CFO’s, CEO’s, and kiss their toes. But if you do, have a read.
Business And Consumer Lead Generation
October 25th, 2006
BetterLeadsBiggerProfits.com is a Blog that caters to sales professionals, small businesses, and large businesses that want to get started on a lead generation campaign, or improve their current lead generation program.
I will cover lead generation strategies and provide tips on how to generate leads for all kinds of businesses. And I will cover both online and offline strategies as well.
Who am I, and why should you care?
My name is Brian Maroevich, and I have been a direct marketing entrepreneur for almost 15 years. I have spent many years in sales, with accomplishments that may impress you, but I don’t want to show off too much 
I own several profitable websites, several of which are geared toward generating leads, and close them. All on autopilot. My wife and I also own 3 retail stores, which are very successful.
But that’s not all! I am also a self published author and have written courses on direct marketing and prospecting. You can see one example of my work at www.amazingprospectingletters.com. I have consulted with business owners and sales pro’s over the years, and have helped them significantly increase their profits….
This is my introductory post, and I look forward to teaching you a few lead generation tips and secrets that will help you get more appointments, and close more sales!