Secrets of Successful Online Lead Generation
For the majority of high-tech marketers, direct marketing is
most often used as a vehicle to generate leads, not sales. Most
companies with products that list for more than a few hundred
dollars are smart enough to realize that it's difficult, if not
impossible, to "sell" their product through the mail.
Whether it's generating prospects for a field sales force,
attendees at a product seminar, or leads for channel partners -
one of the keys to success for any lead generation program
(after the right list) is the offer.
Phrases like "For more information ..." and "To learn more ..."
should be banished from your marketing vocabulary. Instead, ask
yourself: What specifically are we offering to send the reader?
A brochure? A white paper? A demo disk? Remember, even if your
readers think your product sounds like the best thing since
Windows, if they don't want your offer, they won't respond.
Period. So be specific.
Of the hundreds of direct mail campaigns to cross my desk in
recent months, one of my favorites is a mailer from Pitney
Bowes, the postage meter company, promoting their line of office
copiers. In bold letters, the copy on the outer envelope reads:
"Complete the enclosed Office Copier Downtime Survey and receive
a FREE GIFT ..." Putting aside my prejudice against envelope
copy, this is a terrific example of effective, lead-generation
direct marketing.
What the folks at Pitney Bowes know (and their agency does too,
presumably) is that they're not going to sell copiers through
the mail. They simply want to find people who are unhappy with
their current machines. And what better way to identify those
people than to present an attractive offer (in this case, a free
coffee mug with their name on it) just for complaining?
This is the same type of objective you should keep in mind when
planning your next lead generation campaign. Simply aim to
identify people with a problem, one that your product or service
can help solve, and get those people to raise their hands and
say "tell me more." After all, what's a good lead if not
somebody who has a problem (that you can solve) and who wants to
do something about it?
Whatever the offer, don't worry about whether it sells your
product. (Like Pitney Bowes does, you can always send the
prospect your product information as well.) In your copy, just
sell your product in the context of the offer. Don't say, "Our
product increases network performance by 100%." Instead, say,
"Send for your free white paper and learn how to increase
network performance by 100%."
Design your offer in such a way that it attracts people with the
right problem. Technical white papers make effective offers
because they provide information of value, not just fawning
praise for your technology. Titles like "Moving to Windows NT:
Development Challenges and How to Overcome Them," "7 Key Steps
to a Successful Data Warehouse," and "High Availability
Clustering: Next Generation Protection for Business-Critical
Environments" work well because they serve to identify people
with the problem that your technology can solve.
Consider "upgrading" your white paper by increasing the
production quality. Give it a spiffy 2-color cover (but downplay
your company logo), or print it in a 5 x 7 "booklet" format with
Wire-O binding. (Be careful not to make it look too much like a
brochure.) Many companies shy away from investing extra in
materials like these, but even little touches can significantly
increase the perceived value of the offer - and ultimately the
success of the campaign.
Beef up your offer with a videotape or audio cassette of your
top executive making a presentation on the current state of
technology in your market niche. Add a CD-ROM or demo diskette,
particularly if you're marketing to a technical audience.
Include press reviews, analyst reports, success stories -
anything that offers a "third party" view on how great your
technology is. Then bundle everything together in a custom
envelope or box and call it an "Information Kit," "Technology
Guide" or "The Manager's Guide to (Insert Your Technology
Here)."
Pitney Bowes notwithstanding, be wary of including ad
specialties and other promotional items like coffee mugs,
t-shirts, posters and the like. Sure, they raise response, but
at what cost? Offer a coffee mug and you're likely to attract
coffee drinkers, not prospects. You won't generate fewer leads,
but the incremental responses you produce aren't likely to be as
qualified.
Few things make less sense than spending tens of thousands of
dollars on a beautiful, 6-color direct mail campaign, and then
offering the recipient a measly product brochure, or worse yet,
not even mentioning the offer at all. Treat your fulfillment
materials as part of the campaign planning process. Divert part
of the budget into making the offer as attractive as possible.
And then sit back and watch the phone ring.