Although digital marketing knowledge is growing within the B2B and industrial sectors, CubicICE finds companies still struggle to grapple with critical online success factors and the constantly evolving world of digital. This is because they lack the resources, time, skill and an online marketing understanding, which is necessary to effectively build online success.
Within B2B, the primary online channels for cost-effective lead generation are:
The degree of success using these channels is, however, dependent on a company's ability to target effectively and have a website designed to convert clicks (interest) into enquiries.
Looking more closely at search marketing, what is often not understood by B2B companies is that less than 10% of monthly searches result in a PPC click. Over 90% of these clicks take place in organic search results (the ‘earned' rankings) that are based on content quality and search optimisation.
Looking more closely at search marketing, what is often not understood by B2B companies is that less than 10% of monthly searches result in a PPC click. Over 90% of these clicks take place in organic search results (the ‘earned' rankings) that are based on content quality and search optimisation.
Example: Let's say you are a safety-equipment company. There are approximately 30 000 relevant searches for your products every month. And if you focus only on PPC as a marketer, your click-through potential from search (the 30 000 monthly searches) drastically reduces to between 600 and 1 200 clicks from the potential 30 000.
This data ranges from knowing how many people viewed your online banner, how many phone calls did a specific advert in X trade publication generate; right through to how many people opened your e-mail?
It is through this actionable information that the clued-in marketing agency will test, select and test again to find the right channels for your integrated marketing strategy.
Some might consider this an acceptable return. However, with a website visit-to-lead conversion rate of less than 2% (industry averages for B2B websites are 1.5% to 2%) the lead generation capability is reduced to between 9 and 18 leads in a month. Conservatively speaking, this is a cost-per-lead of about R1 000.
Experience has shown us that cost-effective lead generation in B2B should be in the region of R300 to R500 per lead.
Organic rankings, with a 90% click-through dominance, are therefore extremely important to a business. Research has shown that a number 1 ranking for a search term can generate as much as 45% of the clicks in a month. This is a 2 200% increase over PPC click potential and at R0 cost-per-click! The investment comes in achieving and maintaining that high-positioned rank.
When comparing conversions from PPC (9 - 18 leads), the number 1 organic ranking has the potential to generate 240 leads in the same month. That could be the difference between 2 and 24 sales.
Understanding search market share and the ability to achieve high search rankings is critical to online success.
B2B companies and social media
Facebook advertising can also be an effective tool for lead generation. This is true especially in typically hard-to-reach markets, such as Africa, or areas where mobile devices are preferred.
It is important to note, however, that this form of marketing is more of a broad “shot-gun” approach with as much as 80% of the enquiries irrelevant or of poor quality. It is the 20% that you want to focus on.
Depending on your business model and sales value of converted lead, Facebook can be used to effectively target individuals within a business, by matching email addresses to Facebook's data. Your adverts will then only be served to the relevant people (where there is a match to your contact list of email addresses). This technique is new, and it requires effective planning to be successful and avoid the ‘stalker' feeling.
Research shows that for many B2B and industrial companies targeting Africa, search is not the preferred channel, as search volumes are extremely low. At the same time, we find that, in Africa, over 77% of internet activity is generated through mobile devices.
Is Facebook advertising for me?
This lead volume and value, as well as the cost per viable lead generated, are the deciding factors when evaluating this channel.
Optimising the online processes:
sources and methods people use to find a website, but plan the engagement and conversion process on the website.
Visually: the look and feel, site navigation and content might make sense to you, but in reality, could be the primary reason visitors to your website leave the site without converting.
Content: its value, length, extent of information shared, call-to-actions and scanability of content all contribute towards visitor's decision-making. These decisions range from closing a page, spending time reading or scanning the content, clicking on a link, hitting the back button or completing the conversion process.
Research has shown that content structure and layout has the potential to increase conversions by as much as much as 600%. Changing the colour, size or position of a call-to-action button can impact click-through rates by as much as 64%. Likewise, adding an additional field to an enquiry form can drop form completions by as much as 37%.
It is these, and other, factors that directly impact a website's ability to convert web traffic into business leads.
Do the maths, a website with 10 000 visitors per month and only a 1% conversion rate is only 100 conversions. In addition, only 30% of these are of value, whereas a 5% conversion rate translates to 150 enquiries each month.
Lead generation is not just about email form enquiries, it is also about telephone enquiries. Often we find websites where one has to look thoroughly in order to find contact details and telephone numbers - this impacts heavily on conversion rates.
Improving lead to sale conversion rates:
An age-old challenge within B2B has always been keeping sales opportunities alive and improving sales conversion rates. With sales cycles being much longer than B2C, it is important to keep brands top of mind.
This has been more difficult online as one cannot gauge visitor intent, assess where they are in the buying cycle, or judge their interest level based on body language.
Research also shows us that as much as 80% of online enquiry forms completed are from people who are not in the ‘ready-to-buy' phase, but in the information gathering phase.
This makes sense when based on the sales cycle lengths and the need to gather intelligence before making a decision. Yes, they could be asking for technical information or pricing on a project, but that does not mean “ready-to-buy.”
Ask yourself, how effective is your company at keeping leads alive? Do you:
The bottom line is, if you have not had a ‘ready-to-buy' response within a few weeks, the chances are you have moved on to chase a newer lead and left the old one to go cold. This is a common problem in B2B, considering that it can take up to a year for the sales process to be completed.
What B2B companies haven't realised is that things have changed online. We now talk digital body language, have lead-nurturing for extended periods of time and advanced web visitor segmentation based on actions and retargeting - all with the intention of keeping leads alive while building brand authority.
Website engagement and website value optimisation were identified as important digital techniques that would have the largest commercial impact in 2017. Lead-nurturing campaigns (keeping leads alive) have the potential to double the number of potential leads!
A holistic and strategic approach to digital planning and online engagement is the foundation of building online success. B2B companies may not have the online skills and resources internally, however lead generation and conversion is at the heart of business survival and growth.
Partnering with CubicICE will provide your company with access to the skill, experience and knowledge needed to succeed online and grow your lead generation capabilities.
Written by Megan Stark
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