MarketingExperiments Blog: Research-driven optimization, testing, and marketing ideas

What is it about lead nurturing that makes it so hard to get it right?

Is it the all-too-familiar disconnect between marketing and sales? The hassles of CRM systems — or lack of them? Or the gray areas surrounding lead definitions, scoring, nurturing strategies and who owns what customer touchpoints?

For many organizations, it’s a combination of all the above (and more). And the need for a shift in perspective, if not in the organizational culture, can be a tough sell when monthly and quarterly sales numbers aren’t exactly rosy. That is, unless you can point to proven results and budget-friendly methods you can implement quickly.

If you’re looking for ways to start, or get more from, your lead nurturing process, I’d recommend two new, free resources:

1. In his webinar, Putting the Human Touch into Lead Generation, B2B lead nurturing expert (and colleague) Brian Carroll broke down a case study and several action steps that show how you can use multiple channels — social media, email, webinars, phone and mail — together more effectively. Most organizations are reaching out to prospects in these ways, but they’re not consistently doing it in an optimal way. This one-hour webinar can help you get there.
2. The Definitive Guide to Lead Nurturing, a new eworkbook from our friends at Marketo, not only offers several best practices, but provides the worksheets and real-world examples you can adapt or adopt (i.e., ideas you can steal). What’s best about this guide? It’s not just another whitepaper pitching services; this is information and research that marketers and sales teams can literally plug into their existing processes, or build those processes if they don’t already exist. You can download the guide here.

You’ve heard the MarketingExperiments team say many times that people buy from people, not websites. Invest some time in these lead nurturing resources and you’re sure to find new ways to cultivate the business relationships that ultimately generate more sales.

Value propositions are still a major source of confusion and frustration for marketers, as our most recent web clinic reaffirmed.

While the clinic focused on three problem areas (identifying, expressing, and testing/measuring value propositions), 32% of the 487 marketers in our live poll chose “all of the above” as their biggest challenge. That “all of the above” was the leading answer is telling. Many marketers still aren’t sure just what a value proposition is, much less how to craft a powerful one.

The clinic presented examples and a Value Proposition Worksheet (PDF) and is now available online in three formats for your convenience:

• View the complete presentation (slides and audio)

• Read the print-friendly research brief with additional links
• Listen to the audio-only version

You might also want to review this roundup of value proposition resources, and check out the links at the end of the research brief.

Value propositions vs. branding taglines

To further clarify what’s not a value proposition, here’s my response to a question from one of our clinic participants regarding the www.JewelryDays.com website, and its tagline …

The statement “My Life Is Beautiful” makes a catchy tagline, but it’s not what we consider a true value proposition. Why not? Because it doesn’t answer this question: “If I’m your ideal prospect, why should I buy from you instead of anyone else?” Answer that with “My life is beautiful” and you’ll clearly see the disconnect.

I’ve taken a look at your About Us page, and though I’m not an expert on your market, I’d suggest that your strongest value proposition can be found within this idea:

“[Our] innovative diamond search technology evaluates the cost, size and quality of the diamond to help consumers make informed and customized purchase decisions. Consumers can graphically see the tradeoffs required when weighing each of these factors, and speak to or e-mail professional graduate gemologists with their questions.”

I would argue that buying diamonds hinges mainly on quality and trusting the seller; both are especially challenging for websites vs. brick-and-mortar stores because there’s not a real face-to-face person, you can’t touch and examine the diamonds before you buy, and returns are a greater concern due to shipping. Largest selection means more to wholesalers than an individual who only wants one or two pieces. Lowest prices has appeal, but can also raise anxiety with regard to luxury items such as diamonds, as it naturally conflicts with the desire for quality; skeptical consumers know that the highest quality and the lowest prices don’t go together.

So, what could really set your site/company apart is not the selection or prices, but offering a search that truly helps buyers make informed, customized decisions by weighing the tradeoffs. Again, I don’t know how many other sites offer something similar, but if your search technology really is superior — and is the one area where you excel over competitors — your site needs to express that much more clearly on the homepage.

Right now, that impressive search function is barely even visible on the homepage, much less promoted as your unique advantage over other diamond jewelry sites.

Take another look at the Down & Feather Company example from the clinic, and see how the redesigned site showcases the company’s “Perfect Pillow Policy” value proposition. Try to crystallize your innovative search and helpful buying process into concise, powerful language — and apply it to your site in ways that will drive prospects to use your site. That will be much stronger than the “beautiful” tagline.

In the years that I’ve been writing about sales and marketing, Brian Carroll has been one of the sources I trust the most, hands-down.

He understands both sides in a way that many self-styled gurus don’t. He knows what does and doesn’t work in real-world situations, and he offers practical advice, not fluff. Best of all, Brian isn’t afraid to challenge conventional marketing or sales wisdom.

So having the opportunity to work with him to produce our special guest clinic on lead generation was not only educational, but a lot of fun. The feedback from clinic participants suggests that Brian and Flint delivered plenty of valuable insights that hit the mark with our audience (both B2B and B2C).

You can now access “A Proven ‘Playbook’ For Growing Your Leads” in three formats:

• Complete version (slides and audio in Flash player)
• Research brief (print-friendly HTML)
• Audio version (MP3)

You’ll notice that this clinic is somewhat different than our usual MarketingExperiments web clinics. As Flint mentions in the clinic, these strategies don’t revolve around making your contact form or call to action stronger; this playbook is about what happens after prospects hit the “submit” button, and how marketing and sales teams can work together more effectively to expand their customer base and get the most revenue per lead.

As Brian explores the five steps that make up his lead generation playbook, he also shows how applying those steps helped a partner company achieve gains of up to 375% in a matter of months — without a significant budget increase.

Ready to be a marketing hero?

Absorb this clinic and the playbook, then apply Brian’s five steps to your own lead generation and nurturing process. Then send us a photo of the view from your new corner office …

Our most recent free webinar included case studies and live optimization focused on subscription-path pages. But the underlying principle we covered is just as important to ecommerce, demand and lead generation, email — across all marketing communications, really.

The principle: Clarity trumps persuasion.

Sounds simple, right? Maybe even too elementary? Perhaps you’re thinking, “My CEO and six-figure marketing budget don’t need catchy maxims. Give me something I can use.”

Don’t be fooled. There’s a powerful idea hiding in those three little words. But it’s easy to miss because we’ve been trained to persuade. To sell the sizzle, not the steak.

We try to entice prospects into our sales funnels with peppy copy, splashy offers and incentives that don’t cost too much. Meanwhile, behind the curtain of our clever creative, we’re not concerned about connecting with people. We’re chasing sales numbers and revenue goals. So we ignore the fact that our prospects hate being pitched and sold to — just like us, when we’re in their shoes.

Problem is, that leads to web pages that make prospects wary and distrustful. Sites that make users jump through hoops. Transaction pages loaded with elements that create friction and anxiety in users’ minds.

Want to slash through all that on your site, and improve conversions? There are many ways to do that, but the foundation starts with building simple, straightforward pages and processes that match your visitors’ intentions. In other words, clarity trumps persuasion.

Click here to learn how to apply this principle and see how three sites used it to lift their conversion rates by 200%, 76% and 38%.