What do B2B Small & Medium Sized Businesses want from Lead Generation Companies in 2013?
Luckily a recently published report from Business.com gives us the insights. Their report summarises the findings of a survey of over 500 pay-per-lead advertisers. It concludes the following:-
- 74% of B2B marketers use Lead Generation techniques.
- 50% plan to increase their spending on Lead Generation.
- 41.5% of marketers say finding new customers is their primary Lead Prospecting aim.
- >50% of marketers are interested in White Paper download leads.
- 40% of businesses surveyed are interested in Webinars that showcase their services or products.
There is an increasing alignment between Lead Generation Companies and the ever changing B2B buyer process. Unsurprisingly sellers want to know more about their prospects and prospects are getting better informed about potential suppliers.
Typical factors which interest sellers are:
- Who their prospects are.
- Where prospects are in the buying cycle.
- How the prospects can be reached online.
After the obvious prospect data capture necessities, name, company etc. At what point they are in the buying cycle was the most popular additional qualifying question requested. Separate research shows that buying cycles are getting longer and many purchasers are not only doing their own research but a lot more of it before contacting a prospective supplier.
60% of survey respondents would like a score indicating likelihood of response to be added to leads. Securing phone number, email address and physical business address provides multiple contact routes and thereby increases likelihood of response.
Real Time Leads (Hot Transfers)
The desirability of Lead Generation transfers in Real Time is supported by 41.8% of those surveyed indicating an increase in spending in this area. Receiving Leads within 5 minutes of generation and certainly at the same time as competitors (For shared lead programmes) was regarded as highly important.
Content Marketing
As buyers appetite for more information and use of the Internet grows so does the desire for increased Content Marketing for Lead Generation. 35% of buyers believe that online content helps them find suitable supply companies. Whitepaper downloads and Webinars were very popular channels.
Lead Nurturing
Almost 80% of respondent companies were not using any form of 3rd party tool to nurture leads. This despite evidence that 74% of highly effective companies use Lead Nurturing.
Survey Conclusions in a Nutshell
- Companies are increasing their use of Lead Generation Programmes.
- Lead Scoring & Nurturing should be an essential part of the Sales Process.
You can download and read the complete 2013 Lead Generation Insights Survey from Business.com by clicking here
If you would like help with your Lead Generation then Contact Us.
