January 2012 Archives

We've talked before about the basics of SEO for lead generation -- but SEO is always a moving target, both because search engines are continually changing the exact signals and red flags that they consider in their rankings and because there's no such thing as being "done" with SEO: it's an ongoing process.

So to stay on top, you have to keep adding new tools to your bag of tricks. Well you're in luck: BuyerZone SEO specialist Samantha McCormick just published a slideshow on Quick and Dirty Ways to Use Social Media to Get Ahead in Google. Check it out -- and add a few new SEO tactics to your repertoire.



(Can't get enough SEO tips? Check out these 5 SEO No-Nos for a few missteps that could undo all your other hard work.)

If your business is involved in social media marketing, Quora.com should definitely be on your list of platforms - if it isn't already. It's a great resource to get involved in industry or product-related discussions.

What the heck is Quora?
Quora is a question and answer forum that covers a wide array of business topics: sales, marketing, small businesses, web development, social media - the list goes on and on. The great aspect is that anyone can pose and answer questions, follow discussions, and contribute content. You can easily share information on the web and prove your expertise in your industry.

How can it help me?
Want links to your website? Want to easily connect with people asking questions about your products and/or services? Want to increase your content marketing efforts? Want to improve your business's reputation on the web? Quora can help with all of the above.

A recent article from eMarketer says you should be spending money on search, mobile and even video if you want to connect with B2B decision makers researching a purchase.

Read the full article here.

Key takeaways:

• 73% of B2B companies looking to make a purchase turned to a search engine to do their research.
• Nearly 60% of B2B purchase decision makers are using smart phones to gather information, including nearly a third of C level executives.  
  

While this research isn't groundbreaking, it does further underscore how much of the purchasing decision-making and research has not only moved online, but to mobile devices. Are you adapting your lead generation techniques to accommodate this change?

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for some key tips on managing a PPC campaign and optimizing your site for mobile from our experts at BuyerZone.

LeadsCon Las Vegas is February 28th and 29th this year, and we're already getting excited. It's probably the single most important tradeshow for those of us in the lead generation industry -- and it can be a gold mine of information for lead buyers, as well.

In fact, this year LeadsCon has added a set of workshops specifically focused on lead buyers. With titles like "You're Buying Crap - More Than You Would Ever Know," I'm not sure what to expect -- but if I was a lead buyer, I'd be interested in those, as well as the Buyers-only events on Monday the 27th.

If you're going to LeadsCon, make sure to keep an eye out for BuyerZoners. Director of Marketing (and fellow About Leads blogger) Jeff Gordon will be there, along with our VP of Sales, Anne Kelly. Track them down and say hello -- and let them know what we can do to help you get and close more leads.

As Jeff recently mentioned, creating helpful content is an important focus here at BuyerZone. In addition to our lead generation white papers and our articles on how to buy everything from a hot tub to a digital copier, we've started exploring new ways of presenting information to our visitors. As part of this process, we published two new infographics - about payroll trends and forklift trends - using information gathered from our users. Rather than write text heavy reports, we created visual representations to present the information quickly and clearly. Check them out and let us know what you think!

When you say "ROI" or "return on investment," do you mean getting something positive for your money, right? Like the entries on this list of social media ROI examples?


No. A statement like "32,000 video views, 25% regular return visits to the site, and average of almost seven minutes spent on the site per visit." describes some good outcomes from a social media project -- but it has nothing to do with ROI.

Olivier Blanchards' Brand Builder blog completely dissects the list I linked to above in an excellent post that really tries to drive home the difference between success stories and ROI examples.

Fortunately for lead buyers, calculating the ROI on a lead gen program is massively more simple than trying to measure the return on a social media campaign. And we've made it even easier with our free ROI calculator.

Just download the spreadsheet and plug in your numbers -- whether you use BuyerZone or any other lead gen supplier -- you'll see exactly what the money you're laying out is getting you back. Track ROI monthly, do a before and after comparison if you change the type of leads you're buying or how you're handling them, or look at two different ROI sources side-by-side to see which one is really paying off: however you choose to use it, ROI is powerful tool for any marketer.

Just don't call a success story an ROI metric.

Happy Friday! I hope everyone's resolutions are going well so far. In honor of the first Friday blog roundup of the New Year, here are some goal-focused and sales-focused articles to keep you driving business in 2012.

Here is what we found interesting from the web this week:

• It's a new year, and tradeshow season is just around the corner. But if you are concerned with getting the full value out of your attendance, you need to focus on ROI. Here is an interesting article from B2B Lead Roundtable about how lead scoring can drive the highest return on your tradeshow investment.
• And also check out the Top 7 Critical Sales Trends for 2012 to see what we might be in store for.
• If your strategy's off track, complete this four-step process to put your business back on a growth path. Read all of the details in New Year's Resolution: Get on the same page from Inc.
• If you want to inspire innovation in the New Year, get a muse? Apparently Steve Jobs had one. Read the full Article from the Harvard Business Review, To Inspire Innovation, Get a Muse.
• And just for fun, here are 7 Social media predictions for 2012.

Happy Friday and New Year! If you've seen other great sales and goal-focused articles this week, comment below.

We've talked about the importance of using content as a key lead generation tool before. But as 2012 gets going, it remains as vital as ever. I was stuck by this recent Entrepreneur article, "Why Content is Still King When it Comes to Lead Generation" not because I ever doubted that content was losing its luster, but rather, how many businesses are failing to use content to their advantage.

In the article, there's a great example of a pool company using content to educate potential pool buyers about how to buy a pool. The company has seen tremendous growth in sales as a result of this effort, thanks in large part to their focus on quality content. Think about that. A pool company. If they can do it, we all can do it. I know I've been frustrated in the past by doing research on company websites who really offer nothing in terms of education, or gasp, pricing. A little bit of content can go a long way. And it doesn't need to be award-winning or lengthy, but it should be helpful to someone considering your product or service. That's your one and only goal.

At BuyerZone, content has long been at the forefront of our strategy. If you haven't checked out our site lately, we offers thousands of helpful articles on how to buy everything from a copier to a home security system. We also launched a resource center last year to help marketers learn more about lead generation (a shocker, I know). The reason we do it is because it works. It certainly takes time, but it pays dividends - for us and for pool companies. And it can for you.

What's your 2012 content lead generation strategy? Let us know in the comments below.

Quick, what's the main goal of the first sales call with a new prospect? Surprise: it's not about introducing your company or product, or understanding the customer's purchasing requirements, or defining your value proposition. Recent BuyerZone research reminded us that one of the best ways to connect with new prospects is simply to answer their questions.

In a recent survey, we asked our buyers what the most valuable source of information during the purchasing process was, and one of the top answers was conversations with sellers. And they don't want your marketing brochure or your polished pitch -- they want you to answer the specific questions they have about their purchase.

Objections
"Well yeah," you're thinking, "if they ask me questions, I'll answer them." We're not talking about superficial questions about your product, here. If you answer the real burning questions the prospect has about the purchase -- with details, third party data or studies, and links or documents that they can refer to later -- you can go from "just another sales call" to "that helpful guy from company A." You might have to dig a little to find out what those questions really are, but it'll give you more insight into what the prospect really wants to know.

"But if I lecture at them, they'll stop listening." Yes, they will. So don't lecture! Answer as simply as you can -- and offer more details if they want them.

"Some of these people are asking questions that they could find the answers to online." Ok, sure - but they didn't, did they? They're busy and they're not experts in your product -- you are. Or they don't trust themselves to find the answer in a sea of less-than-helpful search engine results. Help them out now and they'll remember you more positively in the future.

"They don't want to buy anything yet - they just want help with their research." Also true - but why do you think they're doing the research? There's a purchase in their future, and it might be three months or a year from now. If you can make a winning impression, you're giving yourself a chance to eventually close the deal.

What do you think? Can a 'teach' instead of 'sell' approach help you get more business in the long run? Let us know what you think.