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Which channels work for B2B lead generation?

Choosing which channels to bet on is something that, quite literally, keeps many marketing and communication professionals awake at night. US-based Software Advice, an online marketing software broker with access to thousands of B2B buyers around the world, has recently published its annual B2B Demand Generation Benchmark report. The report surveyed 200 business-to-business (B2B) marketing professionals in order to understand which channels, offers, content types and technologies they were using to fuel their demand generation programs—and which they found most effective.

Even with a relatively small sample – two hundred people in the US – the report provides a good opportunity to reflect on the role of some of the more traditional channels in terms of lead generation.

B2B Channel Effectiveness Quadrant

The relative efficacy of B2B demand and lead generation channels (Software Advice’s B2B Channel Effectiveness Quadrant)

Skipping directly to the key takeouts, the ‘B2B Channel Effectiveness Quadrant’ helps marketers understand how to best prioritize their efforts based on the findings:

Telemarketing and social media ads, third-party email marketing and search engine ads are reported to be less effective than many would expect. On the winning side, the old faithfuls favored by many – trade show events, referral marketing and in-house email marketing – are still earning their keep for B2B marketers.

Statistically significant or not, the results back up some of the observations we’ve made over the past few years. With email marketing campaigns, for example, B2B marketers in industrial sectors are still just scratching the surface of what’s possible. And they are slow to deploy the sophisticated and powerful capabilities of email marketing services. Part of the reason is that CRM systems are still in early stages of their introduction and deployment, even at companies with turnovers well over USD 100 million. And marketing automation systems aren’t even on the radar for most.

Building up your email marketing capability, therefore, and prioritizing in-house email marketing rather than third-party lists, should be high on any B2B marketer’s list of things to do during 2015. At relatively low costs (depending on the state of your in-house email data), you’ll be able to determine the effectiveness of such campaigns over a 12-month period, but if you’re not already an email marketing expert, do yourself a favor and enlist experienced outside help to create the foundation.

See the full survey.

 

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David Hoskin

I've helped B2B companies create and implement international marketing and communications strategies since 1999. I've been fortunate enough to work with some great companies and highly talented individuals during the years. But the game's changing fast. Although my aim is always to create pragmatic solutions that produce measurable results, there are always new challenges to overcome. I studied engineering and music and I have an Executive MBA (with Distinction) from Henley Business School, University of Reading (UK). Today, I'm a partner at B2B marketing agency cylindr and BBN International. Here on Integrated B2B, I want to share my personal opinions and perspectives on the changing face of B2B marketing. I hope you join in the conversation, too.

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