Thursday, April 19, 2007
Optimizing B2B Leads: Deep Dive #3
Here's my third and final "deep dive" into the high points covered in a recent ClickZ article by Bryan Eisenberg.
The ClickZ article:
Optimizing B2B-Demand Generation
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625240
Here are Part 1 and Part 2 of this series of posts.
High Point: Set the bait.
Your incentive piece, or "digital morsel" as Eisenberg calls it, is the bait that generates the lead. It can be a white paper, podcast, mailed packet, or anything that your visitor will find valuable. Try different "bait" to optimize your offering. And even if it's "free," don't treat it as if it has no value.
Deep Dive: Give it away, give it away now.
In olden days, every company had its trade secrets. These were the little morsels of knowledge and experience that the company kept close to its corporate vest. Coca-Cola's formula is the ultimate trade secret, but in B2B companies, these would include business processes, best practices, and research.
In today's world, a company is not differentiated by keeping this information secret--but instead by its ability to churn out value continually. So these morsels of information are the bait that they need to share--openly--with their entire markets, on their web sites. B2Bs can't afford to fear sharing at least some of their good information. It does more good to use your "best kept secrets" on the front side of the sales cycle, to prove your worth and value, and to attract attention to your business.
The ClickZ article:
Optimizing B2B-Demand Generation
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625240
Here are Part 1 and Part 2 of this series of posts.
High Point: Set the bait.
Your incentive piece, or "digital morsel" as Eisenberg calls it, is the bait that generates the lead. It can be a white paper, podcast, mailed packet, or anything that your visitor will find valuable. Try different "bait" to optimize your offering. And even if it's "free," don't treat it as if it has no value.
Deep Dive: Give it away, give it away now.
In olden days, every company had its trade secrets. These were the little morsels of knowledge and experience that the company kept close to its corporate vest. Coca-Cola's formula is the ultimate trade secret, but in B2B companies, these would include business processes, best practices, and research.
In today's world, a company is not differentiated by keeping this information secret--but instead by its ability to churn out value continually. So these morsels of information are the bait that they need to share--openly--with their entire markets, on their web sites. B2Bs can't afford to fear sharing at least some of their good information. It does more good to use your "best kept secrets" on the front side of the sales cycle, to prove your worth and value, and to attract attention to your business.
Labels: business to business (B2B), lead generation
