21 Gems from MarketingSherpa's B2B Lead Generation Summit

By Debbie Weil
Publisher, WordBiz Report

Wow... I'm jazzed up after two days at MarketingSherpa's B2B Lead Generation Summit here in Washington DC. It was one of those conferences where you can't take notes fast enough to get down the nuggets you want to remember. Great speakers.

If you're in marketing or sales for technology or complex sales of any kind, these will appeal to you. If you're interested, the West Coast version of this conference takes place in San Francisco on Nov. 18 - 19, 2004. OK, here goes...

Search Marketing

#1 is from MarketingSherpa's Anne Holland. She cites Don Crowther's search marketing tip: capitalize your URL in your Google AdWords text box. So, www.WordBiz.com, not www.wordbiz.com.

Yup, that's the same Don Crowther who was my guest expert on BlogWrite, a 75-minute audio program on how to minimize the time it takes to write an effective business blog... while maximizing results you can take to your boss.

#2 If you're budgeting for anything, budget for SEO (search engine optimization). NOT paid search advertising. Anne reported that 73% of 2,000 marketers surveyed by Sherpa reported a lift in traffic to their sites when they optimized their sites through keyword-rich copy, etc.

Direct Mail

#3 Everyone knows that the most important elements of a direct marketing campaign are your list, your offer and your creative. But have you determined whether your "offer" (a white paper, a book) appeals to the decision-maker you're trying to convert?

In other words, don't just give away anything you have laying around. And forget the mugs and pens. Chris Coleman used The New Yorker Book of Technology Cartoons in a successful campaign. Chris Coleman is CMO of SecureWorks and author of the (very cool) The Green Banana Papers.

Search Engine Optimization

#4 The longer the phrase you use in selecting keywords (3 words or more) for your Google AdWords campaign, the higher the conversion rate. Particularly true for B2B. Makes sense. But means you have to dig deeper - and think harder - about those keywords. Also, 60% of clicks on search results are for organic listings; 40% are for paid. From John Tawadros who spoke for iProspect.

May sound like nitpicky stuff but people were riveted by this guy's presentation. (I was.)

#5 Beef up your site map page! Don't forget it. The crawlers love site maps because they contain keywords and information about your entire site.

#6 Don't use the words Click here as a hypertext link. The spiders are reading words and they're more apt to notice a keyword phrase that's part of a link. So, "Learn more... " (one of my favorite phrases to link) isn't effective. Link "More information about business blogs," for ex.

#7 This next one had the audience in fits, me included. 200 - 300 words of visible copy works best on a Web page. A year ago, the wisdom was 700 - 800 words. So if you've got a lot to explain about a topic, break it up into chunks. One page (one unique URL) per sub theme. Still puzzling over exactly how to do this. Tips #5 - #7 from iProspect's John Tawadros.

Converting Search Traffic to High-Quality Leads

#8 B2B sites are in the Middle Ages when it comes to "converting" visitors to a desired action. They just don't get it when it comes to understanding the objectives of their Web site... and how to match the content and calls to action to the buying process of their visitor prospects. Verbatim from Future Now Inc.'s Jeff Eisenberg.

#9 Revising or re-launching your site anytime soon? According to Future Now's Jeff Eisenberg, you should write EVERY WORD of copy for your new site before you design it. Read it over. Prioritize your information, offers, calls to action: #1, #2, #3, etc. Only then should you talk to a designer. Makes sense although difficult to do.

It's so tempting to start with what you think the various categories of your site should be... About Us, What We Do and so on... Ditch those.

#10 Check your site for its we-we factor with Future Now's We We Monitor. I.e. your copy should say "you" and "your problems." You're writing to engage your visitor. It's always about WIIFM (what's in it for me).

Landing Page Tips to Improve Conversion

#11 Best tip for increasing conversion on your landing page (from Sherpa's Anne Holland): Match the words in the headline of your landing page with the exact words in the ad that your visitors clicked from. That way they recognize they're in the right place and are more apt to move on and take action.

#12 Remove any other site links from your landing page. You're not offering a guided tour of your site. You're trying to get a click-through visitor to take a specific action (sign up, register, whatever). Don't give them any other options!

#13 Don't let your Web designer make you a fancy "Submit" button. Use an ugly gray one (again, from Anne Holland). I've followed this advice for a year. It's excellent. Why is it important? Because those ugly gray Buy Now or Submit buttons convey an unconscious message: just click. (They're generated by code, BTW.)

Free PR

#14 Want to get your news all over the Web at almost no cost? Use PRWeb or eMediaWire to post your press releases. Of course, they need to be newsy releases with an interesting twist. But you'd be amazed at the pick up you'll get and what the reverberations are over time. Here's one about blogging (Blogging Is Here to Stay) that I posted several months ago to eMediaWire.

E-newsletter Tip

#15 Limit your e-newsletter to one article. An "insider's tip" from MarketingSherpa's Anne Holland. Subscribers are much more likely to open it if it's short and sweet.

#16 Here's a free tool to check the spam rating of your email or e-newsletter before you send it out: SiteSell SpamCheck.

Email Marketing

#17 Trying to reach CEOs who won't or can't read HTML email? Send them an HTML email that looks like text. I.e. use a Courier font, left-justified on a white background. Wrap the lines at 65 characters. From ExactTarget's Chris Baggott. Details from me on how to format it.

White Paper Tips

#18 Think a white paper is too much trouble to produce? Think again. According to BitPipe's Nick Copley, 57% of surveyed IT professionals said their decision to purchase was influenced by reading a white paper from that company.

#19 Want ideas for good titles for white papers that generate leads? Here are a few from Nick:

- Eleven Steps to Success in Data Warehousing
- Ten Principles for Knowledge Management Success
- Are Your Call Center Practices As Effective as They Can Be?

#20 Bad titles are not just... bad. They depress response. Fewer downloads and hence fewer leads. Here are some bad ones:

- Server 623C Subsystem
- Customers at the Door
- Good Data, Good Decisons

Note that the last two are kinda catchy. But they're not specific enough. They don't offer the promise of specific, useful information. In general, being "clever" with marketing copy doesn't work. That's my editorial comment. And finally...

#21 I couldn't have said this better myself, as it's exactly what I preach. From BitPipe's Nick Copley: "Marketing with content means thinking like a publisher." In other words, commission a white paper with a specific audience in mind (IT managers, CXX-level execs, whatever).

Make sure it's written in the right voice and with the right approach. High-level charts and graphs showing business results for CEOs. Technical specs for the IT types.

THEN decide on your delivery strategy (email, Webinar). Don't start the other way around. That's it for today... and I didn't even catch every minute of every session. Wish I had. Again, if you're interested, you can catch the B2B Lead Generation Summit in San Fran Nov. 18 - 19, 2004.

Useful Links

MarketingSherpa's B2B Lead Generation Summit
http://www.sherpastore.com/c/a.pl?1006&p.cfm/2167?a=weil

East Coast Lead Generation Summit Wrap-Up: Why You Should Never Classify Leads As Hot from MarketingSherpa

Speaker Mac MacIntosh's Marketing Lead Calculator (interactive spreadsheet to help you compute number of marketing "touches" you need to wind up with your company's sales revenue objectives):

http://www.salesleadexperts.com/Mac McIntosh Marketing Lead Calculator.xls


The article above was first published in debbie's blog www.debbieweil.com on October 20 and 21, 2004

Oct. 20, 2004: 21 gems from Sherpa's B2B Lead Gen Summit

Oct. 21, 2004: The rest of the B2B Lead Generation gems

BlogWrite: 75-minute audio tutorial on how to write a business blog
http://www.wordbizstore.com/blogwrite.html