By now, you’ve kicked off your 2016 projects with high hopes for a successful year. You’ve finished filling your spreadsheets and docs with goals and plans, and you’re feeling confident in your abilities. But still, you can’t seem to shake that small pit of doubt. You wonder if your office opt-out is leaving you ill equipped to really take hold of your leads.
We recently surveyed marketers from over 219 small and midsize U.S. organizations in the business-to-business (B2B) (55%), business-to-consumer (B2C) (34%), and nonprofit (11%) sectors. Our resulting research report—“The State of Lead Capture in 2016”—reveals that marketers in all business settings are struggling to reach central goals and prove return on investment (ROI) because they are tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) that are not aligned with their goals.
If you’re worried about hitting your 2016 targets, read on. We’ve gathered a few tips to tell you just how simple meeting your marketing goals can be, and none of them require stepping outside your door.
#1: Don’t neglect sales.
Our research found that 42% of B2B and B2C marketers are hoping to generate more sales for their business in 2016. But many of these marketers are tracking the wrong metrics or missing other opportunities to gain vital insights about which leads are ending in sales.
Only 39% of the marketers we surveyed are proving ROI on their paid campaigns by measuring the number of new customers brought in or the number of sales resulting from lead generation efforts on paid channels. Our survey respondents ranked new sales fifth among the metrics they report on regularly—below vanity metrics (like lead volume) that don’t reveal anything about lead quality or purchase intent.
Additionally, most marketers use analytics and conversion rate data to inform their paid campaigns. Only 12% reported using feedback from their sales teams. And only 19% reported tracking their best quality leads using sales customer relationship management (CRM) software.
If you want to increase sales this year, you must pay attention to exactly what is leading to sales. Really look into which website visitors are converting. You should start tracking sales KPIs to determine which of your campaigns are driving the best leads. Among the marketers we surveyed, 100% of those who reported tracking sales and new customers as primary KPIs said they feel confident in their ROI.
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#2: Put your social media marketing dollars behind other efforts.
Generating better quality leads is a top goal for 54% of the marketers we surveyed. But many marketers appear to be funding the wrong channels and efforts.
Social media advertising is a popular practice among marketers—with Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter accounting for 48% of the most commonly used platforms for paid advertising. However, the time and money marketers are spending on paid social media campaigns might be a bit misguided. According to our research, the best leads come from organic website traffic, referrals, and email marketing, while social media ranked fifth among sources of high-quality leads.
If you want your lead generation efforts to be most efficient in 2016, try reallocating a portion of your paid social media budget to other efforts. For instance, since organic website traffic was reported as the best source of quality leads, you would benefit from investing more in conversion rate optimization (CRO). CRO strategies like A/B testing can help you pinpoint flaws in your messaging or design that are halting conversions.
#3: Invest more time and effort in email marketing.
Forty-six percent of marketers have a goal to increase lead volume in 2016. But what’s the best avenue for generating more leads from home?
According to our research, email marketing is a good place to start. Survey respondents listed email efforts as the second biggest generator of high-volume leads (behind on-page website conversions) and the third biggest generator of quality leads (behind organic website traffic and referrals).
If you’re hoping to generate a higher volume of leads in 2016, consider spending more time developing email campaigns. Email marketing is versatile, and it can be used for both lead capture and lead nurture.
