Ciente Editorial Team - Ciente

BlogsJanuary 14, 2025June 4, 2025

Significant Risks of Paid Advertising: How They Can Be Detrimental to A Brand

Ads influence brand awareness when paired with a comprehensive strategy. So, how do we realize the full potential of paid ads for optimal performance?

In their 2024 Gartner CMO Spend Survey, Gartner remarks that the marketing budget (as of total revenue) has been at their lowest since COVID. It went as low as 6.4% in 2021 and has again drastically declined to 7.7%.

Gartner concludes that we are approaching an era where growth is earned and not guaranteed. So, invest wisely because institutional trust is one of the central causes of market disruptions.

The Importance of Optimizing Marketing Resources to Improve Advertising Strategies

While CMOs are being asked to work more with less, your business needs to capitalize on the disruptions across the marketing landscape.

This is not an opportunity to spiral into doom and gloom about how modern tech can surpass us but rather a time to leverage our marketing preconceptions. Leverage and capitalize on AI disruptions – this is the motto of marketing in 2024.

Generative AI has been a bane and a boon for the marketing industry. While the advantages include AI working as your best friend, i.e., elevating your productivity and efficiency, it has certain drawbacks. This comprises the spread of misinformation, bots, and an overall user experience.

There is a way of gauging this fallout—investing smartly to foster deeper audience engagement. Thus, advertising has become one of the significant drivers of maximizing ROI. The priorities are meticulous budget allocation and optimizing expenditure across diverse marketing channels.

However, it doesn’t merely boil down to allocating resources and budgets. Your marketing team needs to identify the most impactful channels to ensure that every penny spent positively contributes towards meeting the marketing objectives.

And the next challenging task is justifying the spending because market share and data illustrate your organization’s value. If there is not enough alignment between the spent amount and the generated revenue, something is not working.

This is simple.

To balance these numbers, businesses are shifting their approaches and marketing channels. According to HubSpot, brands currently focus on channels that directly connect consumers to them. With strategic investments, they have to prioritize how and where they spend. The top channels driving ROI are:

• Social media shopping tools such as TikTok and Instagram Shop (preferred by over 97.9% of marketers)

• Paid social media content, such as influencer marketing (preferred by 21.8% of marketers)

• SEO and blogs (preferred by 41.4% of marketers)

As a marketer, you need to study which lead generation tactic offers the most benefits for your brand and is a worthy investment. Because trends are often short-term and might be a quick fix, long-term strategies promise stable growth for businesses.

Gartner says the latest market trend is the shift toward paid digital marketing channels.

Why?

With the increasing use of the Internet and mobile phones, people interact more on digital platforms, and brands actively invest in content creation, social media marketing, and digital advertising.

However, with increased market competition (especially after COVID-19), it has become quite difficult to focus only on organic and traditional marketing methods.

While several marketing techniques may be a shot in the dark, businesses prefer shortcuts that provide faster results, taking in the specific target audience and ideal business goals.

This is why they inch towards paid advertising, with over 34.6% of marketers opting for PPC advertising in 2024.

What is paid advertising?

Paid advertising is specific. It is also a crucial fragment of digital marketing. While opting for paid channels, businesses pay to market their products/services to targeted audience segments according to their location, browsing behavior, and purchasing interest.

This marketing method requires paying particular fees to advertising platforms, such as search engines and SEO.

According to a survey, over 14.5% of marketers prefer only paid advertising channels, i.e. SERPs and social media platforms. Meanwhile, over 64.2% leverage the benefits of paid and organic marketing.

The marketing strategy used here is entirely sales-focused. The intent is to facilitate sales-qualified opportunities and elevate the frequency. The ultimate goal of paid advertising is to propel sales by generating quality leads through relevant ads.

The relevance factor of the ad content is highly crucial here. Your ad content, placement, appearance, and size should catch the targeted attention at the ideal time.

I might not have been aware of MailChimp before, but the ad on top of web searches caught my attention as a browser.

Ad visibility is directly proportional to brand awareness. Frequent ads across different channels can strengthen brand recognition, facilitating brand recall with product association. This is why higher visibility is significant – the promise that paid ads offer.

Paid ads entail significant benefits that organic marketing doesn’t or cannot propose due to numerous limitations.

What are the benefits of leveraging paid ads?

Boosted visibility

Facebook Ads and Google Ads can propel a brand’s visibility among audiences that organic channels might not have reached.

Detailed targeting

Paid ads target specific audience segments. This ensures the ads reach relevant audiences, increasing the possibility of conversions.

Detailed performance reports

How does a business know its campaigns are effective? Measurable metrics. Paid ads enable this. They allow brands to track and analyze ad performance, highlighting its effectiveness.

If the strategies don’t lead to substantial results, performance reports can help businesses optimize roadmaps and align them with the necessitated objectives.

Engagement Boosters

If done efficiently, they illustrate almost immediate results. Once the ad is up, and this has been carried out insightfully, ads generate traffic to the brand’s landing page at the flick of a hand, also leading the users towards a purchase.

First, brands generally purchase advertising space. However, in organic marketing, ads should entail quality, valuable content, and relevance and be optimized according to the web page.

Why choose paid ads for the brand?

The objective of these paid ads is to take the prospect to the right landing page and end up converting into a buyer.

As shown above, for MailChimp, search engine ads or paid search ads are the top preferred paid advertising channels (72.3%), and as explained, it depends on the searched keyword.

And Google is one of the most effective options for PPC advertising. It offers particular paid options to target the most accurate audience.

Why did MailChimp’s ad appear at the top of my searches? For SEM, the factors for ad visibility differ.

Yes, Google has a pre-defined algorithm that uses bidding strategies (for ad space) to determine which ad will be placed on top of the SERP for a specific product/service. There are other factors, such as keyword relevance, offered bid, and landing page quality.

This is how Google Display Ads work for advertisers.

While ads are visually engaging and might engage prospects with little to no interest in your services/products, what distinctive benefits does paid advertising contribute to the business?

This seems like a fair question.

As a B2B organization, the priority is leads and revenue, and paid advertising offers diverse solutions to enrich the business with these. But businesses (small ones) rarely invest in paid ads. An article by Forbes states that there are two possibilities why this happens:

1. Limited resources and budgeting

2. Lack of understanding of current market trends

However, there are numerous additional reasons why businesses avoid paid advertising. For small businesses, the focus is on why they cannot leverage the benefits of paid ads, i.e., the resources they lack.

What about when a business has enough resources and budget and fears the unknown waters of paid advertising?

Potential Risks of Paid Advertising

Investing in paid ads is a huge step, but the “spent” numbers should align with the returns. This is a must.

The sticky situation here is – it’s quite easy to lose money on ads. Spending on ads is not quite like discovering a gold mine. A business could lose money or not witness any profits from paid advertising online, and sometimes, they don’t even realize this.

Is it the Ad effect or a fluke?

It’s quite difficult to track whether the ads are working or just a fluke when the numbers on the sheet are positive. Can a business trust these numbers?

Another article on the dangers of online advertising outlines how difficult it is to gauge whether the ads are working. It highlights two ways these paid ads function: selection and advertising effect.

The selection effect of paid advertising considers the audience who saw and clicked on a brand’s ad but would have converted nevertheless. Meanwhile, the advertising effect considers the conversions due to the ad. This analysis by Forbes asserts that if most people fall into the second category, then the brand is making profits through its ads.

Or the ads are just a waste of resources and budget. This is one of the primary risks of paid advertising – not being able to define whether the paid ads are generating any substantial ROI for the business, then they are just unnecessary expenditures.

Reaching the uninterested/unintended audience

Depending on the targeted audience, another challenge when it comes to paid advertising is not being able to target the correct audience.

No further action will be taken when the audience segments the brand’s ad is reaching are uninterested. No clicks translate to no significant revenue, poor engagement rates, and low click rates. While this is an error, it still affects the overall campaign and chips away the allocated budget.

One of the main reasons for this could be a lack of research.

Before executing the ad campaign, the team lacked a solid buyer persona which should generally entail demographic data, behavior patterns, and interests. It should be the very first step to curating a marketing campaign.

Refine the targeting strategies.

The plethora of emerging tech has enabled advertisers to select who sees the ads, based on their age, where they live, and interests among other factors. Leveraging the right road to an effective advertising campaign can increase ad visibility and performance by disseminating it to browsers with actual intent.

They will be the most likely to convert.

Risk of bot clicks in website placement ads

Additionally, paying heavily for ads without receiving placement reports can add to the disadvantages.

Reach is significant, but what if the ads are placed across risky websites? This is evident through unusually high CTRs or win rates. Sometimes, website publishers use bots that add no real value to your revenue but only help increase click-through rates – this could all be bot traffic.

Surveys across the Internet posit that paid advertising is a risky channel. Several malicious actors attempt to alter engagement metrics and deceive advertisers, which is quite common.

It becomes fraudulent and risky, given the entire budget poured into these ad placements. Here, the ads are being shown to bot traffic rather than actual humans, especially on sites with fake traffic, tricking fraud detection systems into seeming valid.

Because while it may seem there is ad engagement, there are no (numeric) business outcomes. If the ads are not watched by real humans, they are inherently generating sales or leads for the organization. This results in the waste of the marketing budget and resources and introduces inaccuracies in tracking reports.

But what about the expense wasted on the ads?

Negative branding & reputation.

According to research, this specific amount is expected to touch $172 billion by 2028. While it might not be a concern for the industry at large, it can largely influence the calculation of impressions and clicks and also halt the ad from reaching the right target audience.

Poorly targeted ads are a headache. Irrelevant ads in front of browsers can build a negative brand reputation. This can also result in bad reviews, increased customer churn, and wasted resources.

When a user does not require a service, repeated ads can elevate annoyance and frustration. This often leads to ad blockers, which can block one of your advertising channels, leading to revenue loss. Annoyed users may bad-mouth the brand, eroding trust.

This can disengage potential prospects as continuous and irrelevant targeted paid ads make brands seem desperate.

Additionally, negative brand reputation could also be enabled through ad content. Sometimes, dark humor works given who the ads target, but not always. Society is explicitly sensitive regarding societal issues and geopolitical events, and using this to form paid ads can harm the brand image.

The ad content should be assessed and focus on relevant factors concerning a brand. This also includes negative comments regarding other competing brands.

Competitive energy might also result in ad theft.

All of this depends on the brand’s success. With vendors selling similar services, the market has become quite competitive.

This can quickly get out of hand when brands copy other products and adverts. It triggers competition across the paid advertising channels, increasing the bids and CAC. There is a delicate boundary between a brand and its competitor’s ad strategies.

The battle is understanding the product’s success and how the ad propelled it. Hence, copying the marketing strategy is common, but its execution is a significant factor. When brands use the same marketing techniques, it can prove detrimental to how their product is received in the market, driving up advertising costs, especially for keywords and high-value placements.

With time, the functioning of the advertising channel may erode.

The first set of prospects who engage with the ad might have a better retention rate. In other words, the first few prospects are the most engaged and relevant ones. Hence, they react to the paid ads quicker than others, requiring fewer impressions per user.

This is channel saturation and inevitable.

Once this occurs, the channel will pull less relevant users, making it demanding to acquire new prospects. Prospects could react negatively to ad messages and become less engaged.

Does the ad campaign have concrete goals?

There are a lot of steps to elevate ad campaigns. But what comes after? Once the developed campaign is in the works, gauging its effectiveness is also crucial, right?

How does the team know that their formulas are working? Without a proper objective in mind, they cannot. If there are certain areas of improvement or which direction the strategy should take – these critical aspects have to have clear objectives in mind.

One of the key benefits of digital advertising is advertisers can use data to increase its effectiveness compared to traditional advertising. But capitalizing on this is something advertisers should be aware of.

Without specific metrics to measure the campaign against, your ad expense can only lead to directionless spending and disappointing numbers. Why run your campaigns blindfolded when the growing application of tech in marketing has attributed tools to assist us?

By mapping the ad performance by reviewing key metrics from clicks to ROAS and using analytics tools, your brand will have a clear goal in sight.

So, what is the end goal of the ads – more selling, brand awareness, or reaching potential customers? Allow your campaigns to focus on both tangible and intangible outcomes.

Paid ads significantly impact your brand and corporate value.

While ads are substantial for brand awareness and visibility, consumers are plagued with ad blindness and fatigue. This has transformed the customer perception of paid ads.

Businesses understand that they need to refine their advertising strategies. Random placing of ads on a page in front of a user and interrupting their search does not work in this atmosphere.

The lack of interest and attention has negatively influenced this landscape. Consumers want an enhanced experience when it comes to browsing and purchasing. Hence, a growing number of them use ad-blocking software to obstruct such ads.

Yes, they wish for content that offers quick solutions, and paid ads can help them get there. However, some advertising tactics are too intrusive.

Advertisers can opt for alternative advertising and consistently invest in chosen channels without relying on a single marketing channel to navigate these possible risks.

The risks of paid advertising are plenty. For the paid ads to instill benefits for a brand, isolating it from other channels can be detrimental. It all boils down to the strategic approach the brand undertakes to navigate the challenges and improve the effectiveness of paid advertising.

BlogsJanuary 10, 2025June 26, 2025

What is SDR Lead Generation and How It Boosts Sales?

With increasing market competition, B2B sales need reshaping. Can leveraging SDR lead generation prove beneficial against modern sales complexities?

The sales and marketing terrain is constantly shifting. To navigate the challenges underlying these changes, businesses want to leverage potentialities beyond the traditional ways.

An increasing number of sales teams continue to appoint representatives, helping potential buyers navigate the complexity during purchase and simplify their decision-making. This can be complicated for a prospect. They might have the right purchasing intent, but without the ideal guidance, they will lose their way in the funnel and the tiniest amount of interest.

Buyers are abrupt and spontaneous. This can result in a drop-off and a negative customer experience, deterring other potential customers.

So, B2B businesses have executed modern strategies to forge and retain client connections by fostering a delicate balance between growth and success.

B2B sales tactics executed by SDRs, especially when outsourced, step into uncharted waters and draw in prospects beyond the barriers of the known market. Sales processes require patience, negotiation, and comprehensive communication skills. It is a consistent push-and-pull between the sales rep and the prospective buyer.

SDRs work with these prospects at the top of the funnel and help them progress through multiple steps in the sales process.

What is SDR Lead Generation? The Significance of SDR

SDRs procure leads by identifying those who ideally fit the buyer persona profile and then proceed to spark interest in them. From SDR lead generation, they help the prospect toward lead nurturing carried out by an Account Executive (AE).

An SDR’s most important tool is a buyer persona. The representative finds a prospect, qualifies them against the curated profile, establishes contact, and guides them further down the funnel once they show purchasing intent.

ICP vs. Buyer Persona: Understanding the Difference

While this is simple to understand, there is a crucial difference between ICP and buyer persona. Both help outline who to target from the beginning to the end of a sales process.

But what is the objective here? It’s obvious.

In the B2B landscape, ICP helps outline the businesses the brand wants to target. However, the buyer persona moves beyond the organization. A sales deal takes place between businesses but also between individuals who hold the authority to do so. The buyer persona helps curate consistent messages across channels that target the decision-makers and stakeholders within the given ICPs.

SDRs leverage buyer personas. They know who to target and then work as ‘sales recruiters’ to find the perfect fit – potential clients for the business. They develop relationships with prospects to be converted into leads – this is primarily part of the lead qualification process.

Filling the sales pipeline is the primary step to establishing a buyer and generating revenue.

SDRs Within the Sales Team Structure

The sales team entails a specific organizational design.

SDRs are assigned the prospects at random. They initiate contact with the prospects who have shown even the slightest intent rather than waiting for them to come across a marketing campaign. Present within the sales team itself, they report to the sales manager or director.

In some organizations, SDRs might work closely with the marketing or other cross-functional teams. This is because first, marketing and sales alignment is necessary, and second, some techniques might be implemented using experimentation, which requires assistance.

Additionally, it’s significant to gauge how many prospects a single SDR handles roughly. It depends on the overall lead assignment rules. This is important as lead qualification and nurturing are time-bound activities.

Inbound vs. Outbound: Dividing SDR Responsibilities

In the case of organizations comprising multiple levels of sales representatives, prospects are divided into outbound and inbound.

However, following a general rule, SDRs mostly take account of the inbound leads – those who have shown some interest in the business and any form of content was made – either through the website, social media, or referral.

So, SDRs focus on convincing and qualifying prospects who might genuinely be interested or at least warm enough to be pursued further. A B2B sales cycle is longer and more complex than B2C organizations. B2B businesses require a large number of leads to qualify the right ones, hence SDRs are crucial to the B2B sales system.

The Critical Role of SDRs in B2B Sales

In the B2B sales system, SDRs are indispensable.

The sales cycles are long and entail high-value transactions. Hence, a sales representative must be more efficient and create a robust pipeline. This is also why AEs (Account Executives) don’t undertake the task of prospecting.

Managing leads is quite cumbersome. So, while the account executives focus on high-quality leads, SDRs assume the time-consuming tasks. This doesn’t mean there is a disconnect between the two roles because the prospects qualified by SDRs are guided to the AEs for a meeting. This requires alignment between the two roles.

SDRs are crucial gatekeepers at the top of the funnel, whereas AEs are the guides through the pipeline. They should establish a tunnel for open communication to agree on the quality of opportunities. In this case, if anything is amiss, the responsibility is taken by both. Hence, SDRs should be aware of AE’s pitch and expectations, while the latter should offer guidance and consultancy to the lower-level reps.

Similarly, both sales reps should be evaluated using the correct metrics to enable honest communication. Once the SDRs understand how the AEs sell, they can transition the interested prospect into a similar environment to foster a strong first impression.

SDRs generate, qualify, and nurture leads and eliminate unqualified ones. Elimination is a crucial process to scale and optimize the sales process.

What is the role of Sales Development Representatives (SDRs)?

Sourcing prospects or prospecting

Prospecting or sourcing is technically finding potential buyers. This stage comprises research regarding who to target by focusing on the required demographic, such as industrial domain, company size, geographical location, etc.

They isolate options to find the perfect fit before finalizing them. They research the prospect and their company and personalize the outreach messages accordingly. Communicating or curating a relationship with the prospect comes next.

Outreach

Outreach, in simple words, means reaching out to people who are unfamiliar with the brand’s products and services. A representative reaches out to the prospect through cold calling, social selling, or cold emailing – the use of ‘cold’ because the representative and prospect interact for the first time. As much as the purchasing intent matters further down the pipeline, the intent to sell is also significant.

It maps the rep’s interaction with the prospects – and whether the outbound approach works beneficially. Outbound approaches might not be better than inbound methods, but they work faster. And for small businesses, executing outbound outreach holds crucial weight. This has to be done regularly and consistently to reap benefits.

Why?

Small businesses and startups might use several marketing techniques but lose their standing within the noise. They are barely noticeable with so much going on in the market to stay relevant. However, outreach, when done right, can help.

For example, cold emailing is an amiable sales channel as it creates a direct bridge to the client company’s C-suites.

But how can the brand ensure that its outreach is perfect to leave an impact?

Focus on the ICP, research the market, and determine the channels and who to target.
After this, the content team helps craft personalized messages and optimize the messaging profiles.
Lastly, the execution consists of sending the messages, placing the automation tools, and waiting for the responses.

While this is quite basic, the changing market landscape has called for best practices such as opting for sales enablement tools and automated reply scoring. This scales their efforts and offers efficiency, resulting in increased qualification and revenue.

However, these efforts don’t translate to guaranteed conversions. Once the prospect is in contact, they offer an overview or an insight into what the partnership would be like.

Nurturing

When prospecting and outreach require tons of research, finally engaging an interested party might feel like a win. However, that’s not the end of the road.

According to a Gartner study on sales development, an individual prospect requires at least 12 touches to return the message. Once they have responded, the lesser the lead response time, the higher the possibility of conversion.

Even when enthusiastic prospects approach the brands themselves with a clear agenda in mind, they don’t convert easily. This is when SDRs nurture the prospects with follow-up messages and emails, addressing any concerns and hesitance they may have.

Most of the time, businesses get busy and need reminders.

Hence, nurturing itself is a crucial step that should not be negated. It significantly increases the chances of closing a deal down the funnel. It shouldn’t go unremarked; the follow-up should be persistent and well-crafted. The prospects’ drop-off may not be due to lack of time but because they expect a good buying experience.

How do SDRs ensure this?

By developing brand and product awareness. These are different lead-generation strategies used to generate interest and attention for the brand. By hiring SDRs, businesses expect noticeable success in their overall sales performance.

Outbound lead generation strategies lead to extensive responses and can be complex to track. This is why sales teams require trained and skilled SDRs to undertake such tasks. In some organizations, SDRs partake in outbound and inbound lead generation strategies.

But there are specific indicators that illustrate whether the SDRs contribute to the business, right? How does one measure the effectiveness or performance of said representatives?

Through specific metrics.

SDR Metrics to Track Performance and Effectiveness

Response Rates:

These could be positive, negative, or neutral. There might either be no response or even a follow-up scheduled at a later date.

Tracking these numbers might seem chaotic, but with tech advancements, it has become simple. Manual tracking is still an option; however, CRMs lend a helping hand.

Today, CRM systems also leverage automation and AI to log data regarding lead status, outreach, created opportunities, and schedules. They are also adept at developing reports and analytics to offer insight into the SDR’s lead-generation efforts and improve their performance.

Lead to Opportunity Conversion Rates:

This metric underlines the SDR’s ability to convert prospects onto the next stage of the sales funnel. Whether their methods are effective is a highly crucial question.

They can track the number of leads through CRM systems and then divide the number of opportunities by those of leads to gauge the conversion rate.

Number of Total Opportunities:

The impact of hiring SDRs should be evident in the sales pipeline. This can be calculated by mapping the number of potential sales opportunities created in a specific period since the hiring.

The number of opportunities created can be compared against the team goals or other members to highlight each SDR’s performance.

Percentage of Scheduled Appointments:

An SDR may build a relationship with a prospect and convince them to seek out demos, but the next stage is even more significant. The prospects should confirm an appointment with the AEs, who can further lead them down the funnel.

It is necessary to measure whether the scheduled appointments translate into successful meetings. This dictates the quality of prospects and the effectiveness of the SDR lead generation tactics.

Nurtured Leads:

Lead conversion takes time; it doesn’t just happen overnight. Prospects show interest but sometimes require consistent follow-up messages and calls. It shows potential clients that a brand can establish a healthy and communicative professional relationship with them and not ghost them. This could be one of the reasons most prospects drop off.

Hence, SDR’s capabilities should be measured by their ability to maintain relationships with potential buyers.

What are their engagement rates, CTRs, and response times to the follow-ups? Also, study how these numbers measure up to the goals set by the overall team.

Are they achieving their KPIs?

The above KPIs are significant. But an overall overview is also required. Are the SDRs meeting their established achievement rates or their KPIs? This includes the number of calls placed, messages and emails sent, appointments scheduled, etc.

These indicators outline SDRs’ performance after they have been hired and begun their role. This is an entry-level position, so what are the skills organizations looking for?

Skills the SDRs Should Possess

Communication

Communication is the key to any sales deal. A sales rep needs to know how to talk to a prospect and how to get the prospects to listen to them. The energy has to align with the potential buyer and understand their responses (non-verbal and verbal).

Having ideal communication skills means being able to convey and share one’s ideas and messages. The prospect may feel confused and drop the purchase if the brand message is not relayed to the prospect. But communicating is not merely about words but about the demeanor and physical language of the sales rep.

Emotional intelligence is also important in sales. It fosters a bridge of understanding, enabling one to act appropriately, compassionately, and professionally. This should entail empathy and active listening.

This additionally negates any possibility of miscommunication. An SDR has to be clear-worded. The sentences should have specific information and be straightforward, addressing the fundamentals.

Possessing the right communication skills necessary for an SDR can elevate client relationships, boost confidence, improve effectiveness, and enhance the brand’s goodwill. This is noticed by prospective clients and hence might influence their decision-making.

Curiosity

Being curious facilitates learning. The sales rep should learn the latest developments and trends when selling services or products. This provides them insight into their target audience and the product.

They should also research and identify the pain points that the prospect might face in making decisions. SDRs should be aware of what their product offers differently from others in the same industrial domain.

Not having any additional knowledge regarding the market illustrates surface-levelness, i.e., a sales rep is only interested in selling. If the salesperson knows the challenges the prospect might face and actively asks open-ended questions, it might make them feel recognized and respected.

Feeling seen is a crucial aspect of the buying experience. The prospective clients should not feel neglected and uncared for.

Time Management

Managing time is a significant skill that employees from the lowest to the highest levels may lack. But it’s also a valuable asset for the market.

Delays can cause frustrations and erode the buying experience. SDRs should take this into account. Their response time should be significantly shorter as prospects are their priority. Utilizing the potential buyer’s time results in positive experiences and simplification of queries, leading to quicker decision-making.

But caring about time goes both ways. Wasting time on uninterested prospects may result in a loss of resources. So, SDRs need to understand where to spend time and where not to and keep client requirements under a magnifying glass. This refines their work ethic and increases their productivity.

Persuasion

Persuading a prospect requires adept storytelling and negotiation skills. These are essential elements of communicating with the prospects.

The storytelling aspect entails outlining the drawbacks and the advantages of the brand solutions to offer a glimpse into what their future would look like if they took up the offer. This has to focus on a future where their challenges are identified, addressed, and solved.

Persuading a prospect is not just telling them a nighttime story. SDRs should leverage their research capabilities and offer the clients facts and figures in the form of case studies and professional experiences. This adds credibility to the story – a balance between realism and engagement.

Further, it’s about negotiation. The prospect might be interested, but hesitance can make them drop a brand. Owing to this, SDRs should be able to negotiate with prospects on a solution that agrees with both parties – and find a middle ground. It’s not a win-or-lose situation.

If a brand wins a client, the clients win a solution to their challenges. Successfully navigating the negotiation stage, especially when it comes to scheduling appointments, builds strong business relationships.

Concerns are ever-present during financial transactions. SDRs can help alleviate them at the top of the funnel. This sensitizes the sales pitch and directly considers the prospect’s requirements.

More Research on Their Responsibilities

SDRs can become more efficient when they understand the differences between sales and marketing. Sales comprises selling that focuses more on the product features and quality. Meanwhile, leveraging minute faucets of marketing into their sales strategies can allow clients to perceive the value in a brand’s solutions.

This value accounts for more than just the functionalities of the services offered. By doing so, SDRs can focus on fine-tuning their sales pitch by integrating product overviews and customer preferences. A general sales pitch is a dud. It might not add anything to a business.

Personalizing them has become a key component. The prospect’s choice is first on the agenda. Hence, understanding any industry-specific experiences might help customize the SDR’s interactions. Referencing the current market trends or instances can help embed a personal feel. It generates customer intimacy, resulting in loyalty and trust.

Due to its advantages, personalization has become a staple for SDRs to improve their engagement with prospects.

SDRs add finesse to the sales processes.

Sales processes are an interplay of stimulus and response. But it’s not only about selling the business and its solutions.

The presence of SDRs in the sales chain demonstrates the significance of understanding the prospects. Doing so can simplify the entire sales process. Hence, SDRs should remember what influences prospects from discovery to conversion.

At this stage, in the funnel, SDRs should focus more on deliberating and reasoning like the prospects themselves. With their soft skills, the sales rep finds it easier to predict the prospect’s behavior and understand the response.

The bottom line is an SDR should elevate the success of a brand’s sales strategy and amplify lead-generation efforts.

BlogsJanuary 3, 2025January 27, 2025

Data Hygiene: 5 Best Practices

Outdated, missing, or incorrect data can adversely impact customer experience. How can data hygiene streamline information and accelerate engagement?

Data forms the core of every business. Any gaps in it can hinder effective communication with the target audience. That’s why, all information needs to be accurate and error-free. Hygiene in data makes it possible for brands to seamlessly manage all critical information. When integrated with automation, it can swiftly improve customer experience and brand productivity.

For data hygiene, you need to focus on two types of data: dirty and clean. Dirty data refers to the information that piles up, duplicates, and eventually has no use. If most of your data is outdated and tough to access, it indicates that it’s time to implement a cleaning process. Dirty data can cost around $3 trillion per year in the US. The hygiene process must be implemented to maintain data quality. Clean data is clear, concise, and easy to access, increasing performance efficiency.

We have prepared a list of best practices to help you manage and maintain a clean business database.

How to implement Successful Data Hygiene

These 5 steps will enable you to minimize inaccurate information and maintain your brand’s integrity and reputation. Let’s dive in.

Audit data

As a B2B brand, your teams have most likely collated data from multiple sources, which can pool into siloes. And when this happens, the data is difficult to identify and may become prone to errors. Nearly 27% of business leaders have reported being unsure of their data accuracy. An audit helps to keep things in check and store high-quality data.

This step provides a clear overview of the brand’s database and finds gaps, if any. It involves identifying data fields critical for integration and monitoring the quality and completeness of each field. With data audit, you can easily identify consistencies, duplicates, missing values, and outdated information. Since manual audits can be time-consuming and tedious, automating data hygiene can go a long way.

Eliminate unnecessary files

Brands deal with so much data daily that unnecessary records may pile up. Excess data can produce clutter if not managed properly. And when you have irrelevant information, it becomes cumbersome to analyze and audit the infrastructure. This can be avoided by conducting a periodic review of your data. Removing outdated information would streamline your customer database and make it concise.

Validate Accuracy

Data accuracy is an essential element that promotes customer satisfaction. You can ensure accuracy by incorporating validation rules that verify data integrity and adhere to predefined criteria. Validate email addresses, phone numbers, and postal codes to double-check if they are in the correct format. If you run a data check regularly, you can avoid messy and fragmented information, transforming it into accurate and unified records.

Establish Standardized rules & constraints.

When standardization is not regulated, it may lead to the piling of dirty data. Studies indicate that around 60% of dirty data is due to human error, and you can reduce these instances with automated data hygiene. Standardization can take you a long way in preventing dirty data. All you need to do is look into the input fields. Simply put, all numbers and monetary values require standardization. And there should be no case sensitivity, spelling errors, or abbreviations. Data standardization and consistency are crucial elements in creating uniform databases. Applying rules and standards filters out unnecessary information while delivering brand consistency.

Update your data

Data, if not maintained, can become outdated, which makes it frustrating to sort through. Your prospects may change addresses, get new designations, or change jobs altogether. Studies suggest that nearly 21%of CEOs change every year. You may be surprised to know how fast data can decay —at the rate of 70% per year. If the data is not updated, you may deliver messages to the wrong contact. Updating your customer database in real-time with data hygiene prevents your teams from chasing dead-end leads and helps build strong relationships with prospects. Since you cannot predict when data will go outdated, opt for an automated data cleaning tool.

Final thoughts

Data is an asset for your business. Without a concrete strategy in place, it can create inconsistencies/errors, and require investment of resources to get it in order. These practices will build a solid foundation for data accuracy and reliability. The best bet is to be proactive about data hygiene, ensuring that all information entering a system is accurate, reliable, and comprehensive. It allows efficient integration of data in your system. Keeping your company database clean and compliant with regulations minimizes your chance of poor data.

BlogsJanuary 2, 2025June 5, 2025

Why content strategy cannot be automated.

AI and automation have created tension. Jobs are under the threat of being replaced, and our intrinsic value is at risk. But is that true?

Everyone has been afraid of AI disrupting their survival. One industry at the forefront of this onslaught is marketing or, rather, content marketing.

Creatives in the field are terrified and excited about what this technology will do. Will it transform how we consume content and deliver it to the user?

But let us present a hopeful future—one that shows that AI cannot replace the value of creativity.

Look at the screenshot above—we call it a gem. It was found through human experience. While the search volume and KD ratio can be automated, finding the keyword that might attract the right audience needs lived experience.

Marketing, especially SEO, is full of these gems. It can be found by understanding that people of all backgrounds are curious about topics, especially ones that intrigue or scare them.

Human beings want to know the answers immediately and are equipped with an encyclopedia in their pockets to answer queries, doubts, or fears, usually in the form of content.

We look for answers in the stories of others, hoping one would match our circumstances and provide an answer.

The answer to end uncertainty.

AI and Content Marketing

HBR wrote a piece on the three priorities of a CMO. In it, they declare that the principal role of a CMO has always been to be a great storyteller.

We can say it is a fact.

Great marketing is born out of stories. In technical terms, it is positioning yourself.

What perspective are you bringing, and what value does it provide? The CMO then directs their team to work towards that single goal. Sure, there are pivots along the way. Maybe a campaign does not meet its goal, or there are not enough qualified leads, but the story continues in a new iteration. Perhaps it’s rewritten.

But for a CMO— talented individuals who bring their vision to life is vital. Yet, they are still human and prone to errors. Writers may take time to write the content, or designers may create designs that are not on-brand. Maybe someone important on your team is on maternity leave.

Everyday problems disrupt businesses. After all, we are not machines that can work 24/7.

But now, there is one that can! AI.

It can write content that is informational, helpful, and in-depth— depending on the prompt, of course.

It can tell an expert story for you. Sounds great. Though, there is one hiccup.

The content will no longer be that of someone with similar experiences. Why? Because, as far as we know, the intelligent machine does not have any experience.

Content quality and prompts

This conversation with Anthropic’s Claude reveals something profound. And for now, this is the definite way of how AI works.

They provide a reflection for the questions you ask. What you input will be the output, and everything that follows will be a refinement of your thought processes. To get something unique out of the AI systems, you will need to spend time and dig deeper into your own experiences to ask the right questions.

AI is the extension of all accumulated human knowledge. It is the natural evolution of our desire to inquire and reflect on the answers provided to us.

The type of content you produce will depend on the accuracy of your prompts and the subject matters involved. If the process were fully automatic, there is a chance AI could hallucinate the information and feed an incorrect story to your prospects.

That’s why AI machines can be prompt hacked. They cannot be perfect because the data they are trained on is inherently biased.

Marketing Teams and the lived experience

With strategies like demand generation and brand awareness campaigns, marketing teams stir the natural curiosity of the human mind. The prospect is identified, and their pain points are tackled.

But we are quickly hitting a saturation point. Products, solutions, and the content surrounding it have surpassed the limits of production. Ahref reports 96.55% of content does not get traffic from Google.

Imagine, that is almost millions of pages. A lot of good businesses with good content probably fall under that spectrum. Why is that? It is because the whole of the web is inundated with outdated content, and now we have AI-made content in the mix. Marketing messages are just not working as effectively as they used to.

However, there is one thing that works like no other: Out-of-the-box-thinking.

Every successful campaign follows this. Either it simplifies things or creates a novel way of experiencing. These are created through understanding the present condition of the market, by relating to the pain points of the target segment, and by providing an experience that delights them and makes them feel understood. Automated systems cannot do that.

But your teams can. They can craft strategies that are in relation to prospects’ life experiences.

You can create ICPs based on data that AI can analyze and create content around, but actual understanding needs a lived experience.

Why content strategy cannot be automated.

Strategy sounds elusive. Because it is not planning, it is trying to create an intended outcome by hypothesizing the needs of the market. And yet, marketing teams and business leaders know that strategy is what brings success.

It offers tangible outcomes in uncertainty. However, there are a lot of inherent risks in playing a strategy.

It might fail
There will be a monetary loss
Time invested in the strategy will go to waste.

Money and time cannot be recovered when it is gone. Competition will not wait for your strategies to succeed, and failure can threaten your position in the market. These are real concerns that leaders have to gripe through.

So, it becomes easier to rely on AI that is perceived as more concrete. Think about it— automated systems make fewer errors. Machines are tight-bound by laws and rules that human beings are not. The question, then, is: Why not automate strategies and make them definite?

Strategic Choices for Certainty

Roger Martin, one of the most prominent business strategists alive today, says that there are five choices a business must undertake to ensure strategic success. It is called the Strategy Choice Cascade.

They are: –

What is our winning aspiration?
Where will we play?
How will we win where we have chosen to play?
What capabilities must be in place to win?
What management systems are required to ensure the capabilities are in place?

If this is all it takes, an AI system created solely for this task might use this logic and craft strategies—content marketing and business— for wild profits. It might even generate something novel and creative. Viola, there’s success.

Strategy is strangely human.

But as we know, AI and automation are based on rules and logic. It does not account for the changing dynamics of human behavior. Our models have trouble predicting long-term behaviors—we cannot even accurately predict weather beyond 10 days.

That’s because our models are incomplete for analyzing small details imperceptible to them. They are created by people, and we cannot account for everything. Changes happen on a minute scale, and they cascade rapidly, making it difficult to predict the future.

You must use these methods, data sets, and tools to enhance human intuition. For some reason, strategy is strangely human.

There is one trait common among good leaders: An imperceptible eye or “good taste”. Successful CMOs have developed an instinct for what resonates with their market because they have in-depth knowledge of their audiences and buyers.

The CMO, marketer, and writer who understands this will craft a creative content strategy that resonates with its intended audience. And that is how successful brands thrive.

We call it intuition, but it is pattern recognition that happens quickly and without thought. It follows the same logic as understanding what your spouse or friend will like as a gift.

This accumulated pattern recognition is not happening through mathematic models, and for now, it cannot be automated by a machine. Strategy is finding relatable experiences and bringing them to a market segment that will appreciate them.

Content strategy automation is unlikely because…

There are two examples that illustrate why content strategies cannot be automated. Do you remember the above screenshot? It was found through searching for a topic.

Our team found it while discovering topics for our newsletter. It came through discovery and a deep understanding of our SEO team’s understanding of our core audience’s needs. Through this, we can find such gems.

Another is this that we found by capitalizing on trends.

This is another gem. The keyword Claude 3.5 V.S. GPT 4o is relevant and has a low KD of 33%. Making it possible for teams to talk about a relevant and timeless topic (Machine vs Machine), helping brands rank. Through such unique activities, we were able to find and create strategies that helped us identify keywords to rank for.

This process of discovery is difficult for a machine to do because it cannot, as of yet, self-direct itself and self-reflect.

Two metrics of effective content creation that urge its readers and move them.

Now, Let us talk about the second one.

Staying on trend is essential.

Sensory marketing is picking up steam. It is essentially the ability to make your potential buyers feel the product or what it does. The above post is one of the hundreds that talk about a makeup brand called Rhode by Hailey Bieber.

This example may seem very B2C or better for tangible products. But it can be used in B2B contexts. Through design, teams can give the illusion of software tangibility.

The question is: How can you and your teams leverage your unique propositions to create this new experience? And what will be the context for it?

Automating your content strategy might be an option. But it is not the correct one.

Content marketing will always be about conversations and relationships with the ideal buyer. They will need their risks mitigated and experiences validated.

Marketing teams, through ingenuity, must show them that you understand the value of their problem and have a solution. The strategy you take differentiates you from the competition.

But as AI becomes accessible and you rely on the same tools as your competition, you will need free-thinkers and creatives who think in novel ways and create experiences. CMOs are asked to do less with more and operate on a lean model. Stakeholders and C-exes must ensure that the CMO is free to tell the story of your product.

Automation and AI are an extension of your teams’ creativity, but they must not be conflated with the certainty you seek.

BlogsJanuary 2, 2025June 5, 2025

How you can leverage Email Cadence for Acing Campaigns

Delivering emails at the right time can make a huge difference in customer engagement. But how do you strategize the best scheduling?

Building strong relationships with customers can greatly determine a brand’s identity among the target audience. To achieve this goal, companies often launch email campaigns. Studies indicate that most marketers send around 2-3 emails daily. However, it is unlikely that every email will be read entirely. And that’s why it is important to add an element of personalization.

Creating personalized messages helps prospects related to your brand understand your brand’s expertise. These emails also enable companies to nurture leads and enhance engagement. The impact rate of emails gets further amplified with an effective call-to-action. It should be effective enough to convince them to take the next step outlined in the objective.

There’s another factor that determines the success of email campaigns— cadence. It’s all about timing emails accurately to give the desired results. Zeroing in on email cadence streamlines the scheduling, enabling businesses to send emails at specific touchpoints in the buyer’s journey. Campaign Monitor highlighted that delivering emails as per a consistent cadence, say weekly or bi-weekly, allows brands to experience higher open rates. This is because recipients know when to expect emails, leading to better engagement.

You can perceive email cadence as a component that can determine the outcome of a campaign. Sending the right emails to the right target audience helps you achieve more mileage from your campaign.

Why brands must consider integrating email cadence

Email cadence finds the ideal email delivery times and sending frequency to satisfy the subscribers and maximize engagement. By optimizing email cadence and reaching out to subscribers, brands can run a successful marketing campaign that generates the desired results.

Determining email frequency is possible when you consider factors, such as business goals and what the subscribers prefer. How frequently the target audience wants to receive emails will depend on their preferences. For instance, you can send emails daily to some customers, whereas others may prefer one email every week. After investing the time and effort to build a subscriber list, you don’t want to see that list shrink because of sending too many or too few emails. Finding the best email cadence will build a strong relationship with customers.

Think of email cadence as a roadmap that transports your buyers from point A to B. The ultimate goal is to dictate the best strategy for an email cadence. Being too intrusive or directionless could make you lose opportunities to guide leads along their buyer’s journey. And overwhelming prospective customers with promotions and newsletters may result in a low email open rate.

The time at which brands send emails helps retain existing subscribers. Paying attention to the trends of your subscribers and adjusting your strategy from time to time will play a significant role in your campaign’s performance.

Practices that will take your Email Cadence to the Next Level

Designing different engagement models for your email campaigns will cultivate trust between you and the audience. 60% of subscribers listed the frequency of emails as a major deciding factor to unsubscribe. These steps will pave the way for effective cadence.

Define your Goals

Before designing a cadence plan for your email campaign, brands need to be clear about the goal-setting. Brainstorm with your team and identify what you are trying to accomplish with your email campaign. Is it sales, brand identity, or something else?

By understanding the goals, brands can create an email cadence that will help craft the perfect strategy for cadence. For instance, if you want to get more traffic to the site, you need to plan a cadence that supports this goal. Without a pre-defined goal, your email cadence will become haphazard. And it will seem like emails are being sent aimlessly, without a specific purpose. But once you have a clear target ahead of you, you can tailor the content and cadence of your marketing emails.

Understand your Customers

Email cadence gives your messaging the power to resonate with your customers, which calls for crafting emails that your customers find relevant. And what better way to figure it out than understanding your buyer’s journey? When you look into their purchase history, you know how they evaluate, what they consider, and what makes them arrive at a purchase decision. The content of your message will vary with the stage of a buyer’s journey, which will increase the chances of your customers resonating with your brand.

Personalize your Emails

Your customers will not connect with emails that seem generic. Personalized messages will enable them to resonate with your brand. So, you need to prioritize your customers and design the email layout accordingly. The number of clicks emails receive and how much or how soon prospects move through their buyer’s journey will decide the success of a cadence. Personalization will speak differently to every recipient, and you can accomplish this by making small changes in your approach. It will improve the email open rates, having a positive impact on your cadence.

Find the Right Frequency for Your Brand

There is no hard and fast rule for the frequency of emails. The scheduling will vary depending on your brand and the buyer’s journey. Although it may take some time for you to decide how often you need to send out emails, analyzing averages will give you a good idea. Email frequency is not a science, but you can perfect it after some trial and error before figuring out what works best for you.

Offer flexibility to your Subscribers

Old or new, your subscribers must get the flexibility to set their email frequency. You can include a link at the end of your emails, which allows them to change their preference. But to avoid this, strategize and try not to overwhelm your customers.

Segment Your Audience

One of the best things about email marketing is it enables you to identify different types of audiences. When it comes to cadence, the preference will vary with the audience. While some may like weekly emails, others may feel overwhelmed by this frequency. With segmentation, you can control the cadence and maintain it as per the preference of each segment. Segmenting your audience helps you break the smaller groups having shared interests, preferences, and behavioral patterns. Use segmentation in your email marketing campaigns to send targeted messages that align with individual segments.

Collect Feedback

While working around email cadence campaigns, keep an eye on the results it’s giving you. Are your prospects engaging or taking action? The same goes for customers who have stopped engaging with your brand. Brands ought to continue collecting feedback because there’s always room for improvement.

Perform a test run

Cadence is powerful for structuring your email. But even though it’s a great tool, it is still a framework that requires perfection. And that is possible only after a series of trials and errors.

Wrapping up

Email campaigns offer a great platform to build relationships with your customers. But the timing and relevance are of prime importance. It is detrimental to whether or not your audience wants to continue your subscription. Email cadence helps you strategize the timing and frequency of sending emails at the right time to relevant customers. When you take this route, it improves email open rates and drives conversations with customers. Strategizing the cadence of your campaigns is sure to empower customer engagement along with brand identity.

BlogsJanuary 1, 2025June 4, 2025

Demand Generation and Lead generation – same or different?

Are demand generation and lead generation the same?

The answer is no!! Their differences are just as evident as between alligators and crocodiles.

Yes, you read it right. While both the reptiles appear similar, a closer look reveals stark differences: crocodiles have V-shaped snouts whereas alligators have U-shaped snouts.

The same is true for lead generation vs demand generation. Both practices generate leads, however, demand generation is involved in the initial stages. It raises brand awareness among a wider audience helping generate leads from a diverse group of potential customers, whereas lead generation comes into play later. This strategy targets brand aware prospects and leads them down the sales funnel to convert.

Lead generation thrives when demand generation does its work precisely. Demand generation is similar to a brand ambassador subtly promoting varied services and products. It creates the need for the product by showing how it could resolve a specific challenge.

A quote by Brian Tracy, a Canadian-American motivational speaker, perfectly fits the context here:

“Approach each customer with the idea of helping him or her solve a problem or achieve a goal, not of selling a product or service.”

Lead generation takes over the role of facilitator that gets the best leads down the sales funnel. Find the image below for a better understanding:

Source: brandalyzer.blog

So, can you understand this funnel? If not, let’s delve deeper. At the top, you can see how demand generation works. Marketers reach audiences on different social media platforms and through email marketing campaigns, leveraging B2B data for precision targeting. Inside the funnel, leads have to go through varied stages: attract, interact, track/manage, close, and loyalty. The stages are self-explanatory. In the first stage, you need to attract leads. These leads are no longer strangers, they’re now aware of your brand. So, they would interact freely with your rep’ which is done in the second stage.

In B2B selling, you need to maintain specific standards and avoid pestering customers to make a purchase. Instead, focus on being patient while tracking and managing (nurturing relationships) in the third stage of the process. Finally in the fourth stage focus on closing deals and fostering customer loyalty.

Which one is Better Demand Generation vs Lead Generation?

The answer is there is no winner or loser here!!

They are two sides of the same coin. The difference between lead generation and demand generation is clear, they work together to achieve business objectives. It’s you (as a marketer) who has to determine howto use these practices effectively, therefore doubling the profit of the organization.

If you want to gain in-depth knowledge on this subject, you’re at the right place. You’d learn the nitty-gritty of demand generation and lead generation and further have a competitive advantage.

What is Demand Generation?

Demand generation is a marketing strategy aimed at creating awareness and interest in a company’s products or services. It involves various tactics like content marketing, social media, and paid advertising to attract potential customers and nurture leads.

Assume you’re working in a startup. And your targeted customers aren’t aware of your product/service. So, how do you reach them? Here demand generation comes into the picture.

You adopt different practices (demand generation practices) to ensure prospects notice your product and further connect with you. Marketers seek visibility and brand recall (remembering your brand whenever prospects see your logo, color combination, or specific letters and others). It’s not enough to show that you exist, you need a serious effort to create a strong impact and pull customers to your brand.

For large enterprises this isn’t challenging as they have passed this test long back. Start-ups and small businesses need to go through the same path to create demand among prospects. With various practices, marketers build a strong sales pipeline with the sales team.

In the below image you can see various B2B demand generation tactics:

As you can see here, some of the successful B2B demand generation tactics have been in-person events (76%), lead nurturing campaigns (58%), webinars (58%), case studies (40%), videos (38%), and so on.

Marketers in a start-up could reach prospects through in-person events-one of the best practices derived from old-school thoughts and still effective. Prospects interacting in-person are bound to remember your brand. But is it that simple? Yes, it is. It is human nature to remember incidents and events that give them different experiences. And an in-person event where you physically meet the prospects makes that impact.

Lead nurturing campaigns are next-level campaigns where you subtly push the prospect down the sales funnel through the right communication and nurturing practices. B2B companies need to follow this pattern as they can’t just push their product to customers. They need to make the customer believe (win trust) that the product would resolve business challenges and yield profit. This is necessary as B2B deals are high-end deals and no customer would invest without having absolute knowledge of the product/service.

Demand Generation Case study:

Now we’d analyze a case study of Digipart Limited, an electronics parts supplier company, based out of Norway and with headquarters in the USA. The organization was looking to meet the demands of customized machine parts in different parts of the USA. They were using different tactics to bring qualified traffic but no luck.

Later, they took the help of a demand generation agency and the results were as good as expected. The agency offered solutions such as paid search strategies and integrated the demographics of audiences. This was aimed to attract the relevant audience through relevant searches.

Demand Generation Case study Results:

The results were truly impressive with an 8x conversion rate, a 300% increase in ROI, and a 30+ increase in click-through rate.

https://www.boundify.io/case-studies/digipart

As a company that was looking to reach an audience in the USA, this is a remarkable achievement. It shows with the right guidance; you can connect with the right audience across varied regions and countries worldwide.

What Is Lead Generation?

As discussed, this practice involves moving brand aware prospects down the funnel from a pool of leads created by demand generation.

It’s skimming out the non-real leads (they’re the window shoppers or regular crowd) from real prospects (who intend to buy if not now but, in the future,). The skimmed-out leads are then moved to the sales team (with contact details) who further interact to understand the mindset of leads. With that, they could plan their next move and convert these leads into customers.

Now, which companies need lead generation practices more often?

It’s a fact that large companies face challenges in generating leads. As these companies have a stronghold in the market, they might have it easier than some small companies or start-ups. But they still have their share of struggle which lead generation practices help ease. Most large enterprises and multinational organizations adopt lead generation practices rather than demand generation practices as they don’t have to spread awareness about their product or arouse interest in their services.

These lead generation practices are integrated for a sole purpose- sales and revenue.

Lead Generation Case study:

This is a case study of ThinSlim Foods, a business that witnessed impressive growth rates of 100-150%. It was a steady growth that not many businesses could achieve in a few years. Their advertising strategy was also showing remarkable results with accounts that were generating almost $70-$80K in a month.

So, everything looks fine or what we believe. Companies must avoid stagnation or they risk becoming obsolete (this was the challenge).

Now, what is the company here looking for? They were aiming for ROAS (Return on ad spend) which basically implies a willingness to receive a good return on every investment in advertising. The organization took the help of a leading digital marketing agency for the right advice.

Lead Generation Case study Results:

The results were really impressive. With the right advertising strategy, ThinSlim Foods had a good (95%) impression share for the clients.

https://www.singlegrain.com/casestudies/lead-generation-case-study/

And it didn’t stop there, dynamic product ads had a nearly 200% increase in the rate of conversions. This case study just shows that marketers should never settle for less, you never know with improved strategies and implementation, you could achieve enviable results.

What are Common Strategies Followed by Both Lead Generation & Demand Generation?

Some of the most effective strategies followed by both lead generation and demand generation are as follows:

Drip Campaigns:

What are drip campaigns?

Drip campaigns are email campaigns that send out targeted messages at scheduled intervals. They’re essential for nurturing prospects by reaching them at the right moment.

By leveraging latest email marketing insights & stats, marketers can fine-tune these campaigns to hit optimal open and click-through rates based on customer behavior patterns.

Additionally it helps to know when the prospect is most likely to buy such as buying during a specific time of year, or after budget allocation leads to a successful drip campaign. It is automated so that you don’t miss out on sending emails and losing opportunities.

Below is the pictorial representation to plan for a successful drip campaign:

Source: clevertap.com

In this image, you can see the first step starts by defining the goals, followed by defining and segmenting the audience. The segmentation is done based on different criteria such as industry, region, requirements, and so on.

How is the drip sequence executed?

Drip sequence means sending specific emails on a monthly, or weekly basis to have meaningful interaction (this could be by triggered event/action). It helps maintain relationships for a longer period. And with that, you need to craft compelling messages, a simple message won’t get noticed easily.

After that, you need to set up automation that automatically sends out emails (you need not memorize every date and detail to send out in emails). Finally, you could measure and optimize the campaign through testing and iteration.

The drip campaigns are mostly used in lead generation tactics, whereas they can be also used in demand generation strategy to arouse interest among the audience.

2. Content Marketing:

Content marketing helps maintain relationships, and guides prospects with the usage of a product/service, further resolving the business challenges of the prospect.

So, isn’t this useful in lead generation? Of course, it is…

And how does content marketing help demand generation?

As the demand generation strategy (through content marketing) disseminates product information and solutions to business challenges, the prospects are motivated to know more. This is why marketers pay strong attention to this marketing form. The only motive is to make a strong impact on the above-the- funnel stage (demand generation stage) to make the process easier later.

Find the below pie-chart to understand the importance of content marketing strategy:

Source: wordstream

In this chart, you can see almost 82% of marketers are investing in content marketing strategy, whereas 16% of marketers aren’t aware of what they’re missing out on.

3. Social Media:

Last but not least, social media marketing strategy is used in both lead generation and demand generation practices. The tactics used here connect with qualified leads (who are converted within a reduced sales cycle).

Find the below image:

Source: directiveconsulting.com

In this image, you can see that CMOs are confident of social media impact; they are brand awareness (82.3%), brand loyalty (81.5%), and sales (76.2%). Demand generation practices outreach prospects on LinkedIn, Facebook, and others across the world. These prospects often see the product’s content regularly giving them sufficient information to recall. The result- they’d approach when they need the product.

Lead generation practices are more aggressive in this context. The content is informative and stimulative, further motivating the prospect to take action.

What Organizations Want from Lead Generation?

Undoubtedly, organizations want to achieve these objectives:

1) Increasing The Number of Convertible Leads:

A good lead number isn’t enough if 90% of it isn’t converting. Not a good sign, right?

Lead generation plays a significant role in filtering out these leads and allowing mostly convertible leads. It just accelerates the deal closure and subsequently the revenue. Additionally, saves time for sales reps’ who would have wasted time chasing non-convertible leads.

2) Increasing Deal Size:

Now a good number of deal closures is necessary, but you should also have closures with larger deal sizes. As revenue generation increases, so would the profit. In a competitive market, a high-end customer just gives the boost that you need to stay relevant in the market. A good lead generation tactic helps attract high-end customers.

3) Improving the Loyalty Among Customers:

As customers have many options to choose from, marketers need to be on their toes to retain customers. They need to understand what’s going on in the customer’s minds? Are they satisfied with the product? What are the odds they would go for other brands in the near future? And so on. Further, marketers can use the right tactic to retain customers when they have answers to these questions.

Lead generation practices such as nurturing, maintaining relationships, and others help improve loyalty.

4) Brand Advocacy:

Good leads most likely get converted and further, they refer your brand to their families, friends, and others. It helps increase the conversions as these leads now could witness good reviews about the product from varied sources- websites, and word-of-mouth marketing from customers familiar to them.

As a marketer, you’re lucky if your existing customer does promotion of your product free of cost (you’d have invested time, money, and other resources and yet might not get the desired results).

5) Better Understanding of Targeted Market:

With good leads entering the funnel, you now have an in-depth understanding of the market (how it works, how you can use your USP to target this market and others). Marketers receive valuable insights into improvising their lead generation tactics.

Instances such as prospects backing off from buying products, or customers ditching their old preferences are real…

As a marketer, you can’t afford to lose prospects or customers at such a critical stage. So, better be prepared than feel sorry later. You could do this by having personal(one-to-one) interaction with your customer or prospect. Customers will love this approach if you do it professionally and empathetically through nurturing campaigns (lead generation).

What do organizations want from demand generation?

A) Making Customers Aware of Presence:

Bitter truth- Customers won’t buy your services if they don’t know your brand!

Demand generation plays a crucial role in showcasing the USP of a product to a broader audience. It makes the organization stand out in the global market.

In fact, many leads will make the decision in the first interaction. So, demand generation practices need to be effective.

B) Building a Regular Pipeline:

Without a steady pipeline, you can’t have a quality customer base. The demand generation practices maintain this flow to the pipeline by reaching new and niche markets. The practices are aimed at making an everlasting impression on customer’s minds.

C) Identifying Customer Needs:

When you interact with a larger audience, you get better insights into their needs. It’s important to remember that an organization develops products to resolve customers’ business challenges. If challenges aren’t resolved, there will be no new customers. By identifying the gaps, you can fix the features to meet customers’ requirements.

Conclusion:

Demand generation and lead generation work together to create a seamless process. They stabilize the company and provide a continuous flow of leads.

In this blog, we explored what exactly these terms are, and how you could use the right tactics to make the best use of these practices.