I was speaking with a few colleagues the other day about the different benefits of social media as a whole, and blogging in particular.  The folks in the room had varying levels of social media involvement, from no involvement at all to heavy involvement.  Each of us discussed what we hope to get out of social media, why we blog or might consider it, and how businesses can benefit from blogging.  The discussion went on for some time, covering the wide ranging benefits from SEO opportunities to more frequent customer touch points and everything in between.  After a while, it quieted down a bit and somebody asked me if they had missed anything on the list.

Skip the First Meeting

While our blog serves many purposes, one of them I hadn’t heard mentioned by the group was one of the things that I find most useful.  Having a well planned blog and social media presence, with what we hope is interesting and insightful content, allows us to Skip the First Meeting.

So what do I mean when I say Skip the First Meeting?  Unfortunately, despite how well you may try to vet things ahead of time, inevitably in our business you run into an opportunity that 5 minutes into that first meeting, after you’ve sniffed each other and gotten a bit more of a sense of your businesses –  you both know isn’t a fit.  You don’t think alike, you don’t value the same things, really whatever those components may be.  Of course generally by this time somebody has ordered food, or driven out of their way, or fired up a PowerPoint or laser lights show, or something else entirely, and it’s too late to do anything but spend the next 45-60 minutes or more there despite you each knowing this isn’t going to work out.

Now, we often head this meeting off at the pass.  We’ll send a contact or prospect a link to our blog ahead of time, and also encourage them to connect with and follow us on social networks, and ask them to read through these pieces ahead of time before scheduling that first get together.  By doing this, we make much more efficient use of their time and ours.  We try to convey the idea here that we want to be involved in strategy and planning and believe in taking a holistic view of marketing, and that shines through in our posts.

When we discover the poor fit, we each save ourselves the time of an unproductive meeting where we just won’t be a fit for each other (although sometimes we do miss those laser light shows).  And just as importantly, for those that could be a fit, we’ve fast forwarded over the glossy part of the first meeting and are digging right into the important and meaningful parts that are usually saved for a second meeting.

So while there are probably 100s of reasons to blog and to get involved in social media, if it works for your business you may want to try to Skip the First Meeting.

About the Author: Will Davis is Managing Partner of Right Source Marketing.  Don’t hesitate to drop Will a comment on this post.  If you liked this post, follow @willdavis on Twitter for more commentary like this.

In my initial post on the B2B lead generation topic, I wrote:

This is the first in a series of posts that will address the creation and execution of a B2B lead generation program in a step-by-step manner.  We’ll post another tip each week, and when the series is complete we’ll compile all the tips into one document and distribute.

That was October 16^th, 2009.  Oops.

My apologies for the programming interruption, but we’re back on track.  For those that missed the first few posts in this series, here they are:

B2B Lead Generation Step #1: Start With the Right Mindset

B2B Lead Generation Step #2: Build a Strong Roster of Stakeholders

B2B Lead Generation Step #3: Identify the Metrics that Matter

Let’s get into the 4^th step, which involves messaging.  The good news is that we’re seeing a healthy shift to a metrics-focused mindset amongst B2B lead generation marketers.  While that mindset may elicit a “No duh Mike, lead generation is all about the numbers” response from some, the truth of the matter is that until a few years ago, the metrics-centric mindset wasn’t that prevalent.

That brings us to the bad news.  Somewhere along the way, many lead generation marketers forget about the importance of the core message and the value it brings to lead generation efforts.  While the message is only one of many moving parts in B2B lead generation, it’s a critical piece that must be addressed.

When messaging is ignored in the lead generation program building process, the most common cause is an impatient executive with a “no one cares about the message” attitude, and of course the program administrator/leader who accepts that attitude and proceeds to ignore the messaging component.

Given that the executive we’re referring to is often times a strong and influential stakeholder in the process, let’s figure out a way to address messaging without offering the impression that you want to overhaul every web page, press release, brochure, video and tweet ever created.

My guess is that there are hundreds if not thousands of approaches to message development.  I’ll offer up the two that work best in the circles we travel in.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you haven’t addressed the first two steps in the lead generation planning process – establishing the right mindset and building a strong roster of stakeholders – you may want to go back and review those before you read this.  After all, if you’re a smart lead generation marketer, you know (or you’ll find out) that process is critical.  Skip a step or ignore part of the process, and you can expect a weakened lead generation program.

Next up is identifying the metrics that matter.  Note I am using the phrase “that matter.”  Simple, but important.  Many marketers make 1 of 2 mistakes during this phase.  Either they don’t address metrics at all, or they identify a long list of metrics that don’t really matter or ones they’ll never ever track.

As an individual in charge of this program, you should discuss lead generation metrics with the person you report to, or the person that represents the most important stakeholder in the program.  Don’t be surprised if you get responses like some of these:

“I don’t care you how you do it or what the metrics are; we just need more leads for the sales team.  Focus on volume.”

“As long as we don’t spend over $XX,XXX, we’ll be ok.  Focus on using that budget wisely.”

“We just need to get our name out there more.  That will help our guys prospect, give them the confidence, and likely get some more deals closed.”

All of these examples represent what I call Metrics Avoidance Disorder (MAD), a common condition that affects approximately 75% of those asked to discuss marketing metrics.  Symptoms include:

• Cancellation or rescheduling of metrics-related meetings

• Desire to focus more on creative execution than metrics

• Making irrational statements regarding the expected results of a lead generation program

The good news is that there is a cure for MAD.  Persistence, the ability to educate key stakeholders, and some clear and concise reporting visuals can lead to MAD-free living.

Read the rest of this entry »

In last week’s post, we discussed the first step in the creation and execution of a lead generation program: establishing the right mindset.  This week, we’ll cover an equally important step: building your roster of stakeholders in the lead generation program.

Unfortunately, it’s far too common that this step looks a lot like the following within small or mid-sized organizations:

[VP Marketing and CEO/CFO are wrapping up a marketing/budget meeting]

CEO: OK.  Things seem to be stabilizing.  You guys should have an additional 50k to spend on lead generation next quarter.

VP Marketing: Great.  I think we can do some impactful things with that money.

CEO: Excellent.  Like what?

VP Marketing: Good question.  Let me bring this back to my team, and we’ll identify a plan of attack.

CEO: OK.

[VP Marketing walks down the hall, stops by the cubicle of his Marketing Manager]

VP Marketing: So…good news.  Rick agreed to give us an additional 50k to spend on lead generation programs next quarter.

Marketing Manager: Great.  That will help a lot.

VP Marketing: Yeah, that’s what I said too.  Anyway, what do you think we should do with it?

Marketing Manager: Good question.  Let me call our pr agency and see if they have any ideas.  Oh, and I’ll check in with Ralph who handles our search engine marketing, see if he thinks he can expand the program with a larger budget.  And last but not least, I’ll check in with those guys from Socially Insane Marketing to see if they think some increased social media activity will drive some leads.

VP Marketing: Sounds good.  After you talk to those guys, let’s put together a 1-2 page plan and we’ll send it over to Rick, and we should be good to go.

Marketing Manager: Sounds like a plan.  I’m on it.  We should able to crush it with an additional 50k.

VP Marketing: Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking.  This is gonna be fun.

[VP Marketing wanders back to his office to see if today's press release is 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd ranked in Google News when searching for the company's name.  Marketing Manager checks on the company's Facebook fan page and is pleasantly surprised to see that the company now has 37 fans, up from 33.]

OK.  So injected a little humor into that dialogue, but it’s not that far from the truth in some organizations.  The VP of Marketing and Marketing Manager are off to figure out what to do with their additional 50k in lead generation dollars, and the only stakeholder they’re worried about is the CEO.  Now, we’re all concerned about anything that ends up with CEO-level exposure, but this is NOT the right way to build your roster of stakeholders when creating a lead generation campaign.

Even though we’re just in the initial stages of this new endeavor, I am a big believer in over communication.  As the person that generally serves as the spokesperson for the marketing department, the VP Marketing ought to at least let the following types know about the potential of new lead generation programs:

• The CEO, if for no other reason than exposure to the fact that you’re moving on a new idea.

• The CFO/Controller, because he/she may be the one that signs the checks or at least authorizes them.

• The entire marketing team, because any good lead generation program is multi-faceted and ought to involve input from and integration with other efforts.

• The VP/Director of Sales, because leads are, well…kind of important to that person.

• The sales team that might be handling those leads, or at least the manager of that team, because they will need to adjust to new leads, leads from new sources, new qualification procedures, etc.

• The external agencies/consultants, because they’re typically more than willing to help brainstorm new ideas to spend more money.

There are other possible stakeholders, but I think you get the point.

I know what the VPs of Marketing out there are saying right now.  Mike, you want me to allow that many cooks into my kitchen?  That’s a disaster waiting to happen, and you’re insane.

That’s a fair statement, but that’s not what I am recommending.  I am recommending that you identify these people as stakeholders and share your initial goals and plans with them.  What’s the primary reason to do that?  So that they don’t become cooks in your kitchen later on!

Explain to these stakeholders that you are expanding the company’s lead generation program.  Explain the process you’re going to go through to create the plan.  Explain how you intend to execute on the plan.  Explain to these people the types of help/support you might need from them.  Explain to them how they can submit any ideas now, as opposed to later.  Explain to them the format you need those ideas submitted.  Explain how you intend to keep them in the loop throughout the process.

In other words, over communicate now so that you don’t have to later.

About the Author: Mike Sweeney is Managing Partner of Right Source Marketing. Don’t hesitate to drop Mike a comment on this post.  Follow Mike on Twitter for more marketing commentary.

This is the first in a series of posts that will address the creation and execution of a B2B lead generation program in a step-by-step manner.  We’ll post another tip each week, and when the series is complete we’ll compile all the tips into one document and distribute.

The first step to creating and executing a B2B lead generation program is to establish the right mindset.  Regardless of your level of expertise, it goes without saying that you need a positive attitude about what you’re about to create, or else the program will fail on the runway or earlier.

Assuming you’ve established this positive attitude, we typically recommend that you embrace the lead generation mindset that is illustrated in the visual above.  We call it the Marketing Wheel for obvious reasons.  Each circle on the outside of the wheel represents a marketing vehicle (we interchangeably call them “buckets”) that you may or may not be actively using to create, execute or manage your lead generation campaigns.  Regardless of whether you’re actively using each of these vehicles, the point we’re making is simple: there are A LOT of different vehicles to consider when launching a lead generation program.  Whether you like it or not, many of these vehicles can impact your lead generation program even if you’re ignoring them from a time and money standpoint.

So where do you start?  Simple.  Brainstorm your list of vehicles or buckets.  Consider every vehicle – direct mail, email, search marketing, website, social media…the list goes on and on.  Now you have your master list.

We’ll go further with what to do with the list in a future tip, because we’re still focused on establishing the right mindset first.   You have however, taken part of the first step in building a lead generation program – you’ve identified the potential lead generation vehicles.

That brings us to core part of the mindset, and this requires some long-term thinking.  Every lead generation program should include the following concrete steps:

• Identify the strategy and tactics
• Diversify the tactics
• Execute the tactics
• Track the tactics
• Reallocate time and money towards the tactics

If this were a class, many of you would be raising your hands screaming, “What about setting up metrics for the campaign?” or “In which step do we figure out who and how we respond to leads?”  Fair questions, all of which for the moment should be considered in the strategy phase, which will be discussed in the next tip.

For now though, embrace the mindset.  You’re creating a lead generation program that is not unlike a stock portfolio.  You need to put your time and money into a few vehicles in order to diversify, monitor performance and then decide at some regular interval where to reallocate.

About the Author: Mike Sweeney is Managing Partner of Right Source Marketing. Don’t hesitate to drop Mike a comment on this post.  Follow Mike on Twitter for more marketing commentary.