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