Lead Generation Strategy Outlook Report

What lead generation success will look like in the year ahead and how marketers plan to achieve it

Client Connection Research™ conducted by Ascend2 in partnership with Research Underwriters

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Lead Generation Strategy Outlook Report Client Connection Research™ conducted by Ascend2 in partnership with Research Underwriters.

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Lead Generation Strategy Outlook Report

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Table of Contents

Lead generation is the lifeblood of marketing 4

Distinguishing between Superior and Inferior Strategies 5

Viewing lead generation survey results from 30,000 feet 12

The sales cycle and its impact on strategies and tactics 19

Strategies and tactics for type of products or services sold 26

How company size influences strategies and tactics 33

Actionable advice for developing a Superior Strategy 40

Survey methodologies 42

About Ascend2 44

Lead Generation Strategy Outlook Report

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Lead generation is the lifeblood of marketing

Nothing pumps new life into a stagnant sales program like a boost in the quantity and quality of leads generated. That’s why lead generation is the lifeblood of marketing. During the week of April 1, 2013, Ascend2 in partnership with Research Underwriters completed survey interviews with 435 business leaders, marketing executives and practitioners from around the world. We would like to thank these busy professionals for sharing their valuable insights on lead generation with you.

This report features a methodology that distinguishes companies with a superior strategy for accomplishing marketing objectives from those having an inferior strategy. It includes actionable advice on using this research to develop a superior strategy beginning with a SWOT analysis of your company’s marketing program.

This Client Connection Research™ has been produced for your use. The charts may be used in your own strategy planning and presentation materials, blog content and social media posts, credited as published.

Sergio Balegno Chief Strategy Officer Ascend2 800-762-1595 ext 701 sergio@ascend2.com

PS: This report may be rebranded for marketing agencies, consultancies and marketing automation firms to license as marketing content. Learn more about this Research Underwriter Program at Ascend2.com.

Distinguishing between Superior and Inferior Strategies

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In this section, the disparity between companies with a Superior Strategy for lead generation and their Inferior Strategy counterparts is clear. These benchmarks are provided to show you what social marketing success looks like, and how those companies with a Superior Strategy plan to achieve it.

Success is the difference between a Superior Strategy and an Inferior Strategy for generating leads.

Determining which lead generation strategies are worth emulating requires identifying characteristics of the most successful marketing organizations. Performance criteria, based on the success of a lead generation strategy, is used to differentiate between companies with a Superior Strategy and those with an Inferior Strategy.

The highest performers (18% of respondents rated Very Successful) are identified in this section as having a Superior Strategy. The lowest performers (11% of respondents rated Not Successful) are identified as having an Inferior Strategy.

In the following charts, marketers rating their company’s lead generation strategy as only Somewhat Successful (71%) are not represented.

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Superior strategies focus on converting more leads to customers by improving the quality of leads generated.

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The obstacles to success are much more challenging for companies with an inferior strategy.

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The same tactics top the list for effectiveness whether you have a superior or inferior lead generation strategy.

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Companies with an inferior lead generation strategy are much more likely to have difficulty executing tactics.

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Segmentation enables the targeting and nurturing of higher quality leads that are more likely to convert, a distinct characteristic of a superior strategy.

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Viewing lead generation survey results from 30,000 feet

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The charts in this section represent the aggregate of all responses. The data has not been segmented, as it has in all other sections of this report, so results represent the overall “average”. It is a view of the lead generation landscape from 30,000 feet.

Generating a sufficient quantity and quality of sales leads that will convert to customers is a universal goal.

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Generating the level of lead quality expected by sales is consistently the most challenging obstacle to success.

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Email is universally the most effective stand-alone tactic however the integration of inbound tactics (SEO, content and social media) is rapidly gaining popularity.

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While gaining in popularity, inbound tactics (SEO, content and social media) remain among the most difficult tactics to execute.

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There is no correlation between the degree of difficulty and the effectiveness of lead generation tactics.

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Creating and maintaining lead segmentation fields is no easy task but well worth the time, effort and expense.

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The sales cycle and its impact on strategies and tactics

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The charts in this section break out survey results by type of sales cycle. For the purpose of this survey, there were two sales cycle types which were defined as:

Long and complex sales cycle involving multiple decision-makers

Short and direct sales cycle involving one or two decision-makers

There were twice as many responses from marketers with a complex sales cycle (62%) than a direct sales cycle (31%), however, the results in this section are weighted equally.

Lead generation success is comparable in companies with complex and direct sales cycles.

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Complex sales goals are more focused on lead quality, while direct sales is pursuing lead quantity. Both are hoping to convert more leads to customers.

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A majority of companies with complex and direct sales cycles are not producing the quality of leads expected.

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Paid and highly targetable outbound tactics like paid search, online ads, and direct mail are more effective for direct marketers than are inbound tactics.

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Social media and content marketing are most difficult for the complex sale. While email is not a difficult tactic, it is more difficult in the direct sales environment.

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Marketing databases are much smaller in complex sales, making data segmentation easier to manage and more prevalent than it is for direct marketers.

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Strategies and tactics for type of products or services sold

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The chart breakouts in this section are by the primary type of products or services the responding company sells. The survey was segmented by three type of products or services sold; Business, Consumer or Marketing Services. The following charts represent sellers of Business Products or Services and Consumer Products or Services, but do not represent responses from providers of Marketing Services.

Consumer marketers are less likely than business marketers to straddle the fence between very successful and not successful when it comes to lead generation.

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One notable point in this chart is business marketers are about twice as likely to set a goal for automating lead generation processes than consumer marketers.

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There isn’t much disparity between the lead generation challenges facing business and consumer marketers.

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Search – whether organic or paid – has a significantly different effect on lead generation results for business and consumer marketers.

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Mobile marketing stands out as the most difficult tactic for consumer marketers to execute, while business marketers are wrestling more with content marketing.

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With fewer contacts to manage in their databases, business marketers are more likely to get granular with segmentation fields enabling more targeted campaigns.

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How company size influences strategies and tactics

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The charts in this section break out survey results by size of the respondent’s company. The three segments broken out in this section include:

Small companies: 10 to 100 employees

Medium companies: 101 to 1,000 employees

Large companies: More than 1,000 employees

Micro companies with fewer than 10 employees are not represented in this section.

The smaller the company, the more positive the attitude about their lead generation success.

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Smaller companies will target both lead quantity and quality, and larger companies will focus more on quality.

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Optimizing visitor-to-lead-to-customer conversion rates are more science than art, and a bigger challenge for medium and larger companies to overcome.

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Search tactics – both organic and paid – are more effective for medium and larger companies.

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Two of the newest tactical channels – social media and mobile marketing – are significantly more difficult for medium size companies to execute.

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There is little difference in the lead segmentation status in marketing databases for companies of all sizes.

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Actionable advice for developing a Superior Strategy

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A Superior Strategy is the goal, and developing one begins with a lead generation SWOT analysis

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This research was conducted to help marketers develop a Superior Strategy for effectively achieving their lead generation objectives. The process begins with a SWOT analysis of your company’s lead generation program by applying the questions asked in this survey, then comparing your analysis to the lead generation strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of companies with a Superior Strategy (shown here).

Tact

ical

Strengths Weaknesses Most Effective Tactics Used Most Difficult Tactics to Execute

1. Email marketing 2. Search engine optimization 3. Content marketing 4. Paid search or online ads 5. Online events (webinars etc.)

1. Social media marketing 2. Content marketing 3. Offline events (tradeshows etc.) 4. Mobile marketing 5. Search engine optimization

Stra

tegi

c

Opportunities Threats Most Important Objectives to Achieve Most Challenging Obstacles to Overcome

1. Convert more leads to customers 2. Improve the QUALITY of sales leads 3. Convert more website visitors to leads 4. Automate more lead generation processes 5. Increase the QUANTITY of sales leads

1. Optimizing lead-to-customer conversions 2. Generating expected QUALITY of leads 3. Generating projected QUANTITY of leads 4. Lead generation budget limitations 5. Optimizing visitor-to-lead conversion rate

Survey methodologies

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Ascend2’s Client Connection Research™ surveys are conducted online from a panel of more than 30,000 US and international marketing decision-makers and practitioners representing a range of roles, company sizes, regions and industry segments. Survey findings are examined in a quantitative context by experienced analysts and reported objectively.

An important goal of Client Connection Research™ is differentiating the performance of companies with a Superior Strategy from those with an Inferior Strategy. To identify these groups, performance criteria is used based on the success of a company’s marketing program in accomplishing business objectives. This model for segmenting Superior Strategy is then used to analyze and present for comparison marketing performance in the form of charts and a Marketing Program SWOT Analysis by topic and, for Research Underwriters, by individual prospects. The questionnaire is standardized to incorporate these methodologies across all studies while maintaining the proven 3-Minute Survey format.

Survey respondent and company demographics

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About Ascend2

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Connecting Agencies to Clients with the Power of Research

Ascend2 partners with marketing agencies, consultancies and marketing automation firms to accelerate new business growth. An integrated research, content creation and lead generation process delivers the inside track on prospective clients’ real-life strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and will position your marketing firm as a thought-leader for solving a client's specific challenges. Learn more at www.Ascend2.com

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