What do successful lead generation marketers do that's different from those who are less successful? They measure ROI and use marketing automation software, according to a recent report by the Lenskold Group.
The firm polled 323 B2B marketers who generate leads for sales organizations on the effectiveness of their efforts and then analyzed what factors differentiate the 13% who describe their marketing as "highly effective" and "efficient."
The most significant gaps between those self-reported top performers and the rest of the marketers surveyed were in more advanced practices, particularly the use of integrated marketing automation (80% vs. 55%) and the use of ROI metrics to measure effectiveness (76% vs. 30%), the study found.
Below, additional key findings from the report.
Marketing ROI
- Overall, since 2009, there has been a steady increase in B2B marketing teams that "calculate ROI...for at least some marketing campaigns" (38% in 2013, compared with 24% in 2009).
- That increase has been accompanied by a steady decline in companies that "use traditional but not financial metrics" to measure effectiveness (23% in 2013, compared with 34% in 2009).
Marketing Automation
- Over half (58%) of all lead generation marketers surveyed report using "full-featured marketing automation that is integrated with sales/CRM automation" (technologies such as those of Marketo, Eloqua, Aprimo, Oracle, Pardot, and Silverpop).
- 23% report using "no full-featured marketing automation."
- In 2012, just 50% of those surveyed were using integrated marketing automation.
Content Marketing
- In general, the B2B lead generation marketers surveyed do not yet feel confident in the strength of their content marketing initiatives.
- Only the ability to "educate prospects on solving their needs" received a strong rating from over 50% of all marketers (a 4 or 5 rating on a 5-point scale, representing how strong/weak respondents believe their processes are).
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey of 323 respondents who indicated that they were in B2B companies (half or more of their revenues generated from business customers) and whose marketing group generates leads for a sales organization or channel partners.
