B2B Lead Generation Isn’t Always About What the Newest Tool is
While there’s no doubt that technology has impacted B2B lead generation, it’s important that you don’t forget to ask what’s actually working for you. Just because it’s new, doesn’t mean it’s great. You still need to produce leads, and your methods need to produce a good return on your investment (ROI).
A recent article at Converge.xyz notes that despite the influence of social media and other digital forms of marketing, there’s simply no replacement for the in-person event. A conference, expo or seminar is effective because it initiates face-to-face contact with your potential buyer, beginning a business relationship.
However, as you know, live events like a conference or expo can be costly compared to digital methods like social media, so you want to get the most impact possible out of your investment. Furthermore, with live events you offer your clients and prospects no flexibility when it come to the time and place you’ll meet or communicate. This is often a challenge for many busy executives who otherwise may be interested and willing to speak with you.
This is where another traditional B2B lead generation tool comes in. You can use telemarketing to increase your ROI for your live event by:
- Calling your contacts to advertise the event and answer questions about the speakers, featured vendors or logistics
- Following up after the event to see which aspects were most useful, and what they’d like to see if the future
- A follow-up call can also help you ascertain where your contact is in the buy cycle and whether they are ready to do business with you
- Completing your qualification process by phone in the event your contact is not available to meet in person
Another effective B2B lead generation tool is email. This digital method allows you to send an email newsletter or send news of a particular promotion, but its drawback is that it can be a bit impersonal. You are left to examine which emails get attention, debating whether it’s the subject line content or the promotion in the email that warranted the click-throughs you received.
Just like telemarketing can support your live events, it is also a good partner for email newsletters and promotions to boost your lead generation:
- A personal conversation with your email contacts can help you identify which types of email content is most helpful and best received.
- You can follow up on a particular promotion or newsletter topic, to see whether it was applicable to their situation
- Here also, telemarketing is useful for checking in to see whether your potential buyer is involved with the decision making process, the availability of others involved with the decision, schedule or time frame for making a decision, and whether they are considering your product or service
With any B2B lead generation tool, telemarketing offers a personal connection often missing in digital methods. Use it to develop the trust and loyalty that exists in any good business relationship and that is hard to develop in a social media or email connection.
To learn more about how to use telemarketing to maximize the effectiveness of your marketing methods, talk with us at Blue Valley Telemarketing. No matter what kinds of lead generation tools you’re using, we can show you how to increase their effectiveness with telemarketing.
