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E-Marketing Tips From the Front Lines
Improving lead followup, conversions and sales team perception.
from AICPA Custom Media Solutions

Are You Really Following Up With the E-Leads You’re Getting?
B2B marketers sure have a lot of work to do when it comes to following up on all the leads they’ve worked so hard to get online. About 70 percent of leads received via e-mail are not being followed according to Internet Marketing Report and BrightWave Marketing. That’s right — seven out of 10 prospects who respond to your product updates, newsletters, case studies and white paper downloads are being left on the tables.

The reason? Over-reliance on e-mail management systems is not tracking responses. Try it yourself and see where replies go.

Common Web Marketing Pitfalls

Internet Marketing Report cited these easy to fix Web marketing faux pas. Any of them sound familiar?

• Putting the call-to-action “below the fold.” Nearly one in three (30%) site visitors never read that far down.
   
• Too many confusing calls. Try to limit yourself to two calls-to-action per page. Too many more and prospects have trouble knowing what to focus on, much less which action to take, if any.
   
• Weak call-to-action. Don’t forget to use color, design and clear navigation to draw attention to your Web site calls-to-action.

Improving Conversions for White Paper Signup

If you don’t feel you’re getting enough prospects to register for your whitepapers, Webinars and other decision support material, then consider reducing your intro copy dramatically. In one recent HP campaign, they reduced intro copy to 15 words from 175. They also:

• Reduced the number of whitepaper offering to two from 12
   
• Reduced the number of required fields on the request form to six from 20
   
• Gave prospects a taste of the white paper by incorporating a preview pane.

The result? Thirty-one percent boost to conversion rates.

Salespeople and Buyers Not on the Same Page

Ask a group of salespeople what B2B buyers want and you’re likely to get a different response than if you ask those same buyers what they want from the salespeople with whom they work. If any of these perceptions gaps sound familiar, it might be time to have an immediate sit-down with your own sales team. Here are some striking findings presented by Josh Gordon, Smarter Media Sales, at last month’s Folio magazine publishing summit.

Most Persuasive Sales Approaches

Characteristics That Win Trust