The Hands-On, Up-to-the-Minute Guide to Generating Better-Qualified, Quicker-to-Close B2B Leads!   Lead generation is “Job One”: B2B marketers’ single most important objective. Maximizing Lead Generation brings together everything you need to know to do it right. Fast-paced and 100% practical, it will help you achieve outstanding results in any B2B marketplace—from enterprise technology to industrial equipment to professional services.   World-renowned expert Ruth P. Stevens helps you bring science and systematization to all facets of lead generation, building on process, best practices, continuous testing, and ongoing improvement. You’ll learn how to maximize the value of tried-and-true B2B tools and the newest social, web, and search technologies. Stevens offers indispensable insights for the entire lead lifecycle, including qualification, nurturing, measurement, and tracking.   Organized for clarity, usability, and speed, this book will help you supercharge salesforce productivity—and company profits.   You’ll Learn How To: • Develop and refine rules that consistently lead to higher-quality leads • Gain deeper insights into your customers and their buying processes • Build sophisticated, accurate marketing databases • Identify the media most likely to work for you • Execute highly effective campaigns • Drive huge ROI improvements • Use BANT and other qualification criteria • Apply new “nurturing” techniques to convert “duds” into “diamonds” • Track results and quantify the business value of campaigns • Utilize best practices content marketing and marketing automation • Integrate continuous improvement into lead generation • Discover 10 trends that will transform the way you prospect

Table of Contents:
About the Author     vii Acknowledgments     vii We Want to Hear from You     viii 1 The Case for Lead Generation     1 Defining Terms:What a Lead Is and What It Is Not    2 How Lead-Generation Campaigns Differ from Other Types of Marketing Communications    4 The Lead-Generation Process    6 Market Research for Lead Generation    10 Organizational Roles and Responsibilities for Lead Generation    12 Case Study in Lead-Generation Excellence: How Anritsu Reached Key Decision Makers with a Three-Touch Campaign    13 2 Campaign Planning: You Can’t Leave It to Luck     19 Who? What? When? Where? Breaking Down the Buying Process    20 May I Have This Dance?     23 How Will You Know When You’re There?     24 The Goldilocks School of Lead Flow Planning    25 Planning for Your Campaign Budget    28 3 The Marketing Database: Not Sexy, But Essential to Success     33 Data Sources and Types    34 Data Fields You Need for Lead Generation    46 Data Hygiene Best Practices    50 Database Analysis, Segmentation, and Modeling    54 4 Campaign Development Best Practices     59 Best Practice I: Research and Testing    60 Best Practice II: The New Importance of Content Marketing    66 Best Practice III: Marketing Automation    71 Case Study: When the Chips Were Down, Marketing Got Automated    73 5 Campaign Media Selection     75 B-to-B Lead Generation Media: The Top Five    77 Set the Stage for Lead Generation with PR    84 B-to-B Lead Generation Media: Three to Avoid    86 Using Web 2.0 for Lead Generation    88 How to Select the Right Media Mix    92 Mixing It Up: Multiple Media    93 6 Campaign Execution     101 Campaign Target Selection: Finding the Winning Combination    102 Seven Steps to Successful Lead-Generation Creative    106 How to Develop Offers They Can’t Refuse    110 Getting the Best Work from an Agency or Creative Freelancers    118 7 Response Planning and Management     123 Response Management Step-by-Step    124 Six Strategies to Capture the Response Data You Need    124 The All-Important Landing Page    126 Why Responses Are Often Mishandled    131 Inquiry Fulfillment: The Beginning of a Beautiful Relationship    132 Six Rules of Fulfillment    134 8 Lead Qualification     139 Setting Qualification Criteria: Can’t Beat BANT    140 What to Ask and When to Ask It    141 Need for Speed: Moving Qualified Leads into the Pipeline    142 Lead-Ranking Strategies    145 Qualifying Leads at a Trade Show or Event    150 Marketing Checkup for Telephone-Based Lead Generation and Qualification    151 The Whos and Hows of the Handoff    153 9 Lead Nurturing     157 A Marketing Function with a Big Sales Benefit    158 The Lead-Nurturing Process, Step by Step    159 Nurturing Best Practices    161 Case Study: How a Comprehensive Rethinking of Lead Generation and Management Strategy Improved Lead-Nurturing Response Rates and Lowered Costs    167 10 Metrics and Tracking     175 Response Rate    176 Cost Per Lead    179 Inquiry-to-Lead Conversion Rate    181 Lead-to-Sales Conversion Rates    182 Expense-to-Revenue Ratio (E:R)     183 Seven Techniques for Tracking Leads to Closure    185 When a Lead Doesn’t Close     190 11 The Fast-Evolving Future of Lead Generation     191 1. More and Better Marketing Automation    192 2. Sales and Marketing Will Finally Get on the Same Page    192 3. New Data Sources for Prospecting    193 4. Social Media Will Get Real for Lead Generation    193 5. Affinity Marketing Will Come to B-to-B    194 6. Face-to-Face Events Will Resume Their Importance    194 7. New Ways to Nurture    195 8. Ever-Evolving Customer Behavior    196 9. More and Better Video    196 10. Mobile Will Happen    197 Index     199