L'article
Today, more than half of all companies (53%) spend at least half of their marketing budget on lead generation. It has even become the top priority for 85% of organisations. Yet B2B salespeople continue to complain about the poor quality of the leads they receive.
How can you get your sales teams to make sense of the leads they receive? We have some answers…
Alignment, an essential prerequisite
How can you reconcile your sales teams with your leads without tackling the alignment issue with marketing? This intractable problem, which has been plaguing sales performance for decades, has not been addressed, despite the rise of CRM in the 1990s, the ‘invention’ of ABM in the 2000s and the emergence of Sales Enablement in the 2010s.
On average, the degree of alignment between Sales and Marketing is…
A new study by LinkedIn B2B Institute, involving 7,046 B2B companies, has produced a statistic that should send decision-makers, CMOs and CSOs alike, into a tailspin: today, the average degree of alignment between sales and marketing teams is 16% in the US (compared with 27% in France[i]).
This leads to a cascade of malfunctions that hamper sales performance:
- The content created by marketing is not fed by the sales team’s knowledge of the field. As a result, 65% of this material is never used by sales teams, and 40% end up creating their content, for want of anything better.[ii]
- Because the teams are misaligned, the targets addressed by sales staff have rarely been exposed to a marketing campaign. However, a B2B buyer will be 19% to 56% more receptive to a salesperson if they have already been exposed to a marketing message in the last 30 days (depending on the sector).[iii]
In the end, “solidly aligned” companies achieved average annual growth of 20%, compared with a decline of 4% for “poorly aligned” companies (Aberdeen Group study).
So, how do we tackle the eternal problem of alignment?
This paper is not intended to guide companies in their efforts to align their teams. Firstly, because there is no universal approach, but also because this ambition depends on the company’s culture, organisational structure and technological maturity.
There are, however, some good practices that are often found among alignment champions:
- Opening up dense communication channels between Sales and Marketing (editorial committees, feedback from the field, marketing campaign KPIs, etc.) ;
- Linking marketing KPIs to the business rather than to Vanity Metrics ;
- Integrating tools and data to activate synergies (CRM, marketing automation, Sales Enablement, Customer Data Platform);
- The “constant” agreement on the definition of a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL);
- Development of a feedback culture and continuous improvement fuelled by feedback from the field.
What are the solutions for reconciling sales reps with leads?
Aligning the Sales and Marketing teams is a fundamental task that is likely to occupy the company over the long term.
But there are levers that can be activated to improve the quality of leads passed on to the sales force and boost revenue generation in the short term. We have classified them according to their average ROI.
1. Public speaking
While travel and bookings may seem expensive, the return on investment is unprecedented, since public speaking generates the equivalent of eight times its cost, according to this study carried out between 2018 and 2023.[iv]
This tactic can take a number of different forms, depending on the skills available in-house and/or the messages to be conveyed: trade fairs, conf expo (keynote, round table at an event, case studies, co-development, etc.), podcast, online TV show, etc.
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2. Webinar
According to Forrester, 67% of B2B marketers have already adopted the webinar as a lead generation tool. It has to be said that the format has a lot going for it: it’s highly interactive, it’s generally popular with decision-makers and it can be based on content that has already been created (white papers, ebooks, articles, etc.).
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We’ll provide you with a fully-featured platform to launch your webinar independently and implement your communication plan (uploading, emailing, pre-event notification, replay promotion). Learn more
3. E-mail marketing
Majority (59%) of B2B marketers say that emailing is the number one revenue-generating channel for their business[v]. Emailing stands out as a powerful and essential tool, as it enables direct and personalised communication with prospects, thereby encouraging higher conversions.
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4. Podcast
The success of this format obviously depends on the content and its preparation, but it also depends a great deal on the personality and reputation of the presenter and/or guest. It is a way of building audience loyalty, increasing brand awareness, positioning and legitimacy, and boosting sales.
💡 We offer 4 podcast formats to meet your needs
Whether it’s a report, an interview, an insight or a documentary, we’ll showcase your expertise and help you find your voice so that your listeners start to look forward to what you have to say. Our 360° approach to digital tools means we can integrate your podcasts into a genuine content strategy to increase their impact tenfold. Learn more
5. Social networks (paid and organic)
It’s relatively easy to set up an organic presence on LinkedIn, and it’s an excellent way of boosting brand awareness.
However, when the main purpose of using social networks is to generate leads, paid advertising becomes necessary. They deliver rapid results, but can quickly incur high acquisition costs if they are not controlled.
💡 Our social media experts can help you optimise your campaigns
Our social networking services range from content creation to media coverage, with advice from our specialist teams at every stage (within budget) and the backing of our 35 B2B media brands. Learn more
[i] Infopro Digital Lead Barometer
[ii] https://www.btob-leaders.com/les-commerciaux-face-a-lemergence-du-super-acheteur-b2b/
[iii] https://www.btob-leaders.com/catastrophe-dans-le-b2b-en-moyenne-le-degre-dalignement-sales-marketing-est-de-16/
[iv] https://firstpagesage.com/seo-blog/the-best-lead-generation-channels-ranked/
[v] https://www.mailmodo.com/guides/b2b-email-marketing-statistics/