8 Tactics That Are Killing Your Precious Inbound Leads And How To Avoid Them
You can have hundreds of thousands or even millions of visitors to your business website or other channels, but this figure alone won’t mean much unless you count the conversion rates. This is defined as the percentage of visitors to your channel completing a defined goal, e.g., signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.
Especially in B2B marketing, where the audience size is smaller and the acquisition costs higher, it is essential for a business to optimize their marketing efforts for high lead conversion rates. In this article, we have made a list of 8 tactics that could be killing your precious inbound leads.
1. Not Optimizing for Mobile
While typically associated more with the B2C sector, a good mobile experience is just as, if not more important, in the B2B sector. Consider these stats, for instance:
- Over 60 percent of B2B customers say that mobile played a significant role in making a purchase.
- 4 in 5 B2B customers use mobile at work.
- More than 80% of business executives research products or services on a mobile device in the evening.
- An estimated 70% of B2B queries are made on a mobile device.
Optimizing your B2B marketing strategy means more than just featuring a mobile-responsive website. It entails providing a similar user experience on other channels as well, most notably emails and offline content such as e-books.
“Automation should serve to supplement, not replace human input”
2. Overdoing Automation
Automation in marketing has its purpose, helping you save time and increase your productivity but never overdo it. The key to successful conversions is to make leads feel valued, and that is something that you can only do through incorporating a highly personalized human element into your marketing.
3. Going After the Wrong Leads
Quite a lot of marketers, even the more experienced ones, tend to make the mistake of going after wrong leads. Not all leads are equal. You can better make use of your time and energy, focusing on leads that have a higher chance of a conversion.
What this entails is spending time prospecting to see if a lead’s profile is a good match for your product or service. If it isn’t, there is nothing wrong with passing them over so you can concentrate more efforts on better quality leads.
4. Not Doing Your Research Before Reaching Out
The biggest mistake you can make in B2B marketing is to reach out to your inbound leads blindly. Even if you know the person on the other end of the conversation, it is important to remember that your customer will be the entire company, not just that individual.
A high-converting marketing outcome can only be accomplished if you are able to properly interpret the needs and wants of your would-be customers and capitalize on them in your outreach. And that can only happen if you do your homework on the lead beforehand.
5. Making It a One-Sided Engagement
Some conflate marketing with simply promotion. It is just one component of marketing. Once you have a lead, don’t treat them as a dumping ground for your latest offers, discounts, and other promotion types. This will only end up hurting your prospects of successfully converting them.
“In B2B, successful conversions will virtually always involve a conversion”
In your engagement, you should entice the lead to engage with you as well. Done successfully, this builds trust and makes the lead feel more appreciated, both of which are critical towards converting them into customers.
6. Not Following Up Quickly
Speed is in the essence when it comes to B2B marketing. According to a study, it was found that a lead was contacted within five minutes after their conversion was 100x more likely to convert than if followed up 90 minutes later. Now just the drop if one waited an entire day or more to contact them.
Of course, a follow-up doesn’t necessarily have to be through a phone call. You can also do so through a personalized email. In most situations, it might even be better as the approach is less intrusive, and the receiver can respond to it when it is most convenient to them.
7. Not Tying an Inbound Lead to a Specific Person
In B2B, to effectively forward a lead through the sales funnel, it is important for the marketer assigned to have a full context of the lead’s past journey – how they came to this stage, what their preferences are, and what past interactions they had with your company.
Even with a robust CRM solution implemented, it can still be difficult for a newly assigned person to quickly learn the full details of a lead’s journey. A better solution is to tie an inbound lead to a specific person as they move through the sales funnel.
8. Not Following Enough Times
Persistence is a success trait not just limited to Sales; it is equally applicable in the case of marketing. Not a lot of leads convert on the first try. Rather, a number of follow-ups are needed to help foster familiarity and trust. This should not be limited to phone calls or emails but also employ the effective utilization of social media.
“Remember, your intent is to convert, not annoy your prospect”
With that said, it is important to keep in mind that every follow-up should bring with it some sort of value to the receiver.
Let Us Help
Successful conversion of inbound leads takes effort, but not all organizations may have the time or the budget to manage their lead conversion successfully. Consider taking the service of a professional B2B lead generation service like ours to help you reach your conversion goals better. For more information on our services or any queries, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our highly professional and friendly staff by calling +1 716 941 4090 or emailing us at info@tlminsidesales.com
