The B2B Lead » Leigh Anne Reynolds

Increasing Engagement in User Communities

Leigh Anne Reynolds — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:46:13 +0000

A lot of companies have created great online user communities filled with best practice content, forums and wikis. But depending on your customer base, it may be difficult to get them to take full advantage of the community. You might try sending weekly (or bi-weekly or monthly – up to you) digests a la LinkedIn Groups to increase engagement.

As a new user creates their account, let them opt-in to get email notifications. That way, as there is new activity on the forums or when a new whitepaper is posted, they will be the first to know.

A simple test to see if your buyers are the type to want content to come to their inbox it to check out your FeedBurner stats. Look at you email subscribers against your RSS subscribers. (If you have a blog and don’t use FeedBurner, shame on you – it is free and easy to set up). At ReachForce, we chose not to have the feed via email option because we use the blog to create our newsletter. When we looked at the number of newsletter subscribers versus RSS subscribers, we were astonished. We have 20 times more newsletter subscribers than RSS subscribers. Looks like our buyers prefer us sending content directly to their inboxes, do yours?

Don’t have a user community? Consider using LinkedIn as one. With the groups feature you can email the group up to once a week and post discussions and news. If your customers are already using LinkedIn (and my guess is they are), it will be easier to engage with them on a platform that they are already using.

A user community (whether hosted by you or LinkedIn) is not just a “if you build it, they will come” kind of thing. You have to have a plan of action to deliver new relevant content and start discussions. Remember it’s their community so take cues from your customers as to how they want you to interact with them.

Increase Open Rates for Follow-up Emails

Leigh Anne Reynolds — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:56:10 +0000

Coming back from a trade show, everyone is on a high. Your team tells you, “it was the best show EVER” and the sales team is ready to get all of those hot leads. As much as they may want you to, the last thing you should do is just hand over the scans list to sales and tell them to have at it. Setting up follow-up is key.

We do one big trade show a year, Dreamforce (salesforce.com’s user group conference). We limit collateral at the show (partly because most of it ends up being thrown away and partly to do our best to be a bit greener) and promise to follow-up with more info in an email.

Most everyone that scanned me sent a follow-up email within days of the show. Unfortunately almost all of them used the exact same subject line. Yes, I said exact same subject line – Dreamforce follow-up. At a show like Dreamforce with hundreds of exhibitors, that just really is not going to cut it to stand out in the crowd. When I looked back at our follow-up email from last year I was a little disappointed that we had used that same worn out subject line. I decided I wanted to try something new.

The subject line I ended up using this year is a little on the long side but much more descriptive. The subject line was: Dreamforce follow-up on data cleansing and contact discovery. Notice I chose to exclude our company name. I did this for two reasons, it was already in the from line and it is doubtful anyone remembers who we are or what we do.

But much more interesting were the results I saw. I grew our open rate from 16% to 36% as compared to the same follow-up email from the year before. See if you can increase your open rates by adding more relevancy in the subject line for trade show follow up emails.

Pre-show Marketing to Drive More Trade Show Leads

Leigh Anne Reynolds — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:37:17 +0000

Aren’t we all looking for ways to draw more people to our trade show booth? Start by generating traffic before the show. Do whatever you can to get on the attendee’s short list of must see sponsors. Here are a few ideas for pre-show marketing:

Send pre-show emails and/or direct mail to drive visitors to your booth. Don’t have a list of show attendees? Email contacts in your database that are likely to attend. Start by inviting prospects in the area. Do anything and everything to let people know you will be there.
Send out a press release – timing is everything on this because you don’t want to get lumped in with everyone else sending out a press release about the show. Make sure your press release is full of the right keywords and links to relevant content.
Announce it on your website
Twitter about it – be sure to tweet before and during the show. Make a tweeting schedule to promote registrations for the event and then the days leading up to the show to promote your booth. Find out from show management if they have a pre-set hashtag for the show you should include.
Utilize your sales team – make sure your sales team has all the details so they can promote as they speak with prospects.

In all communication, be sure to include your booth number and announce any giveaways and/or parties.

Photo: www.vinylbannersprinting.com/

Set Your Content Free for More Clickthroughs

Leigh Anne Reynolds — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:30:40 +0000

I will be the first to admit that I have been very skeptical about “setting my content free” (not using forms in front of eBooks and whitepapers.) I feel like if my job is lead generation then I have to capture those downloading. But after much deliberation and hearing it again and again from David Meerman Scott (I have seen him speak 4 times and I read his books, eBooks and blog), I decided to give it a shot. I had a new eBook I wanted to promote to my in-house database. I created a couple of different emails targeted at the segments that the eBook was relevant to. In the emails, I had a link asking the reader to download the eBook. Next to the link I was sure to call out that no registration was required.

I will admit that this was not true A/B testing but the results were still outstanding. Compared to an email promoting an eBook with similar content to the same segments of the database, I saw a 1600% increase in the number of clickthroughs.

Because we can track clickthroughs in our marketing automation system, Eloqua, the sales team did not lose any information about who was downloading the eBook. Now, they just had more people to follow-up with.

If you are still scared to set all of your content free, try it with just a couple of eBooks or whitepapers and be sure to track the results.

Leverage Your Current Customers at Your Next Trade Show

Leigh Anne Reynolds — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:08:33 +0000

At a trade show, you are all about talking to as many people (hopefully qualified leads) as you can. But don’t forget about your current customers that may be at the show. More than likely you will have a few current customers already attending the events you sponsor. Oftentimes with sponsorships you get free or discounted passes. Offer these to your best customers (note: those that live closest to the event are most likely to accept).

Engage with those you give passes to and any other current customers that will be at the show ahead of time and ask them to act as brand ambassadors for you. Give them something to wear like a t-shirt or button so attendees know they are your customers. At one show we sponsored, one of our customers literally stood at our booth (without us asking him to) and told anyone who stopped to listen about the great results he had seen using our data. If your customers love what you do, they are often more than willing to shout it from the rooftops.

Some customers may be too busy attending sessions and speaking to other sponsors to be a brand ambassador during the event. You may consider a cocktail party after show hours where you invite customers and prospects.

Most importantly, don’t forget to thank your customers, especially if they have been bringing you new leads. Cocktail parties, dinner or a gift at the show are a few ideas. If you don’t have your own user group events, industry events which a lot of your customers attend can be an open opportunity to connect and show your appreciation.

Helpful How-tos for B2B Marketers

Leigh Anne Reynolds — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:26:55 +0000

Here on The B2B Lead, we are all about helpful how-tos. Mashable is a great source for how-to do just about anything online. Brenna Ehrlich compiled a great list on HOW TO: Do Almost Anything Online in 2010. The list covers professional goals, lifestyle goals, fun and a bonus section on Twitter.

Here’s what I think is most relevant to the B2B Marketer:

HOW TO: Implement a Social Media Business Strategy

HOW TO: Measure Social Media ROI

HOW TO: Track Social Media Analytics

HOW TO: Make Social Media Work for Non-Consumer Brands

HOW TO: Use Social Media in Your PR Pitch Plan

HOW TO: Use Social Media to Retain Customers

HOW TO: Choose a News Reader for Keeping Tabs on Your Industry

HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn

HOW TO: Use Facebook for Professional Networking

Top 5 Business Blogging Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

The Twitter Guidebook

HOW TO: Use Twitter Lists

HOW TO: Use Twitter’s New Retweet Feature

HOW TO: Get Retweeted on Twitter

HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Twitter #Hashtags

HOW TO: Use Twitter Hashtags for Business

HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Twitter

Holiday Greetings Done Right

Leigh Anne Reynolds — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:31:19 +0000

Every once in a while I come across a marketing campaign that makes me say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Yesterday, I got a fantastic holiday email from Marketo that I just had to share. Maybe I am just a sucker for a rhyming poem but I love this. It is also great that they do more than just wish you a happy holiday but give you some great tips and push you back to their blog. Love it!

Here is a preview of the great email but be sure to check out the full email for your chance to win a new iPod!

The “Oh $#%@!” Day in Marketing: Countdown 1 Month!

Leigh Anne Reynolds — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:31:46 +0000

In 2007, we at ReachForce declared January 15th the “Oh $#%@!” Day in Marketing.

Here’s why:

Are you prepared to deliver sales-ready leads in January? December is typically a slower month for B2B Marketing teams, since most organizations slow down current marketing programs and instead spend their time preparing for the next year. Then, you leave for the holidays happy to have completed the painful process of planning and budgeting for the next year’s activities. But once the holiday haze clears, it’s January and everyone is ready to kick off the New Year with new customer wins. Your sales team wants to know, “Where are my leads? I’ve got a number to hit.”

The “Oh $#%@!” moment…

If you wait until you get back from the holidays to begin developing your marketing programs, when are you going to have leads to pass to sales? End of January? Beginning of February? Can your sales team land those deals by the end of Q1?

Instead, start developing your 2009 programs now and be ready to execute your first week back. Remember to go back and look at where you’ve been before getting started. With the economy on a roller coaster, we’re all being forced to do more with less. It’s more important than ever to analyze and target your lead generation initiatives at the right buyers in YOUR target market. I promise your sales team will thank you.

B2B Marketing Zone’s Best B2B Marketing Posts – 2009

Leigh Anne Reynolds — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:27:47 +0000

If you aren’t already subscribing to the B2B Marketing Zone, you should be. Earlier this week they compiled the Top 80 B2B Marketing Posts for 2009. Be sure to check out the list to find great posts you might have missed this year. Shout out to Amy and Suaad who both has posts to make the list (#77 and #22)!

B2B Marketing Zone is a collection of blog posts and articles all around B2B Marketing. B2B Marketing Zone is a collaborative effort that was by Tom Pick and Tony Karrer. Galen De Young has joined Tom and Tony to become a key driver of the site.

Quick Survey – Sales Intelligence: Preparing for Smarter Selling

Leigh Anne Reynolds — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:24:20 +0000

The great folks over at Aberdeen are doing a new benchmark study – “Sales Intelligence: Preparing for Smarter Selling.” The report will allow your organization to benchmark its adoption of services and technologies that impact sales force productivity against peers and Best-in-Class companies. To take part in the study click here.

For the purposes of this survey, the phrase “sales intelligence” refers to any information used to educate and enable the sales force and enrich the sales pipeline. This includes news on industry trends, consumer generated content, list/database providers, analyst reports, prospecting tools, competitive/market intelligence, and lead augmentation solutions.

To thank you for taking 10 to 15 minutes to answer this survey, Aberdeen will provide you with a complimentary copy of the report which is expected to be available after March 1st, 2010. I don’t know about you, but I love a free report!