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Data Driven Marketing BENCHMARKS FOR SUCCESS IN 2014

What lead generation success will look like in

the year ahead and how marketers should

plan to achieve it.Client Connection Research™ conducted by

Ascend2 in partnership with NetProspex

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What wil l lead generation look l ike in the year ahead? Success l ies within the data.If lead generation is the lifeblood of sales, then it looks like most marketers have a serious problem. Why? Only 8% of marketers rate their lead generation strategy as “very successful.” How do we know? We wanted to understand what lead generation success will look like in the year ahead and how marketers expect to achieve it -- so we asked them.

NetProspex, in partnership with Ascend2, has just finished tabulating the results of our Client Connection Research™ 2013 Lead Generation Benchmark Survey. 445 busy marketing and sales professionals around the world completed interviews. We thank them for their time and for sharing their valuable insights.

The charts on the following pages reveal how companies with very successful strategies for achieving crucial lead generation objectives compare with companies who are not as successful in this mission-critical endeavor. They show that effective marketers know a truly productive lead generation program is grounded in the quality of data they collect and how they apply purposeful data analysis to the broader market. In addition to the charts, we have included Data Driven Tips to give you ideas about how you can apply these findings to your own marketing programs.

We hope you will put this important research to work in your marketing strategy and presentation materials. Clip the charts, write about them in your blog or post them on social media. All we ask is that you use the proper attribution, Client Connection Research™ conducted by Ascend2 in partnership with NetProspex.

Thank you,

Tamara GravesSenior Director, Demand GenerationNetProspex

92% of marketers

doubt that their lead

generation strategy

is “very successful.”

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Have concerns about your lead gen capabil ities?If you’re not satisfied with the results of your current lead generation strategy, you’re not alone. Consider this:

The vast majority of

marketers think their

current lead generation

strategy is not working

as well as it could. And

for every one who thinks

they are very successful,

there are two more who

think their strategy is not

successful at all.

Lead Generation Benchmark Survey, Ascend2 in partnership with NetProspex, Published January 2014, N=445

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Quantity & quality are not enough.It’s not enough to focus on the tried and true objectives of “quality and quantity” of leads; very successful strategies in the year ahead will also focus on improved tracking, segmentation and reporting.

Data Driven Tip:What do improved

segmentation, analytics,

tracking (as well as quality

& quantity of leads) all have

in common? You can’t be

successful without quality

data. Yet NetProspex’s 2013

Marketing Data Benchmarking

Report reveals that 25%

of average B2B databases

are inaccurate. Download

the report for more data

management best practices.

Marketing Data Benchmarking


Successfu l marketers dev ote t ime t o segmentat i on and t rack ing .

]

http://content.netprospex.com/marketing-data-benchmark-report

Put strategy first.Of those who feel their lead generation efforts are not successful, the lack of an effective lead generation strategy is the single most challenging obstacle.

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Data Driven Tip:Any effective lead generation strategy assumes that you are starting with quality data.

When developing your approach to lead generation, include a plan to test and enhance your data. And remember it’s not just clean data but complete data that’s critical. The reason most firms can’t segment data is that they don’t have an accurate and complete data set to segment.

For more strategies on

segmentation, download our Segmentation Workbook.

http://issuu.com/tamgraves/docs/segmentation_workbook_netprospex

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Successful tactics revealed. Being found when people are looking for you (SEO) and reaching them when they are most likely to read your message (Email) continue to be the most effective lead generation tactics.


Data Driven Tip:Smart marketers recognize that you need to create an equitable exchange of content for registration data - the more relevant the content, the more your prospect will tell you about themselves.

A great demand generation strategy requires you to keep the number of fields on your registration form to a minimum and implement a progressive profiling and/or data enrichment strategy to fill in the blanks. If done properly, you can better deliver more relevant content to your buyer specific to each stage of his or her journey to ensure conversion and ultimately segment, score, and route.

Which tactics are toughest to execute?Don’t let the degree of difficulty trump overall effectiveness when it comes to selecting lead generation tactics.

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Simply put:Data obtained from social media and content marketing can inform a conversation that puts the right message in front of the right prospect at the moment they are most interested in buying.

Marketers who say they are very successful at generating leads are using content-rich tactics even though they may require more time than less targeted, automated marketing efforts like telemarketing.


Longer sales cycle? You need stronger relationships. Companies with a long and complex sales cycle also have to practice lead nurturing – an extension of the lead generation process – to build relationships with multiple decision-makers over time.

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Consider this: Complex purchases

may be vetted by

multiple people within an

organization, which means

more than one decision

maker may be reading

your emails, checking your

blog, or making inquiries.

A look across your

marketing automation

system can help you find

all the players in the mix,

build awareness and

deliver the information of

most interest to each one.

Then let your CEO send a

final targeted message at

late opportunity stages to

reinforce your company’s

commitment to winning

their business.

Successful marketers get help.As lead gen success becomes more difficult to achieve, highly specialized external resources are required. Very successful companies are more likely to outsource.

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The three keys to

successful account-

based marketing at

scale all depend on

intelligent marketing

software:

> Know the triggers and

recognize when people

are raising their hand to

hear from you

> Respond to a given

individual with the right

information at the best

possible time

> Send relevant reminders

and prompts to move the

process forward each

time the buyer indicates

growing interest


Marketing automation, an essential tool . More than half of companies who say they are not successful at lead generation say they don’t use marketing software. And nearly half of those who are very successful say they use it extensively…

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Simply put:Automated lead generation

and intelligent content

marketing tactics become

more and more effective

over time as your company

learns how to gather and

interpret results.

The more you know

about which messaging is

working for you and which

leads are most likely to

convert, the more laser-

focused and efficient your

marketing campaigns

become, and the greater

return you’ll get on every

marketing dollar spent.


Segmentation means results. Those who do use marketing software are able to segment their marketing databases, which makes it possible to precisely target and nurture leads with the highest potential to convert.

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Data Driven Tip:Your marketing is only as effective as the quality of your data. Take these steps to get best results:

Assess: Analyze your data cleanliness and completeness

Cleanse: Remove problem data

Enhance: Fill in missing fields

Grow: Add new leads

Find out how to implement these steps.

http://www.pages05.net/netprospexinc/healthscan/

http://www.pages05.net/netprospexinc/healthscan/

The methodology behind our research.

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Client Connection Research™ surveys are conducted online from Ascend2’s panel of more than 50,000 US and international business leaders, marketing decision-makers and practitioners representing a range of contact roles, company types, sizes and geographic regions.

The questionnaire used is standardized to incorporate these methodologies across all studies while maintaining our proven 3-Minute Survey format. Survey findings are examined in a quantitative context by experienced analysts and reported objectively.

Let’s talk: Ready to incorporate data-

driven, lead generation

as part of your marketing

strategy for 2014?

We can help drive that

success. Let us show

you how.

Connect with us directly:

by phone,

888-826-4877,

by email,

[email protected]

or visit

www.netprospex.com

to learn more about how

we can help accelerate

your demand generation.


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Research-Based Demand Generation for Marketing Solution ProvidersMarketing agencies and marketing software firms partner with Ascend2 to reliably generate new business opportunities. Our integrated research, content creation and demand generation programs are transparent – putting the spotlight on your brand and the interests of your audience.

Learn more at www.Ascend2.comData Driven Marketing Benchmarks for SuccessClient Connection Research™ conducted by Ascend2 in partnership with NetProspex.

Accelerate Your Demand Generation Engine with NetProspex. NetProspex is the smarter B2B data partner. We help marketing and sales organizations optimize their revenue impact by increasing the quality and effectiveness of their marketing data management practices. Thousands of B2B organizations rely on NetProspex to assess, cleanse, enrich and grow their marketing data in order to fuel high-performing marketing campaigns and accelerate the creation of sales pipeline. To make databases richer and more actionable, the company offers the industry’s largest and most accurate reference database of B2B contacts, cleansed with proprietary CleneStepTM verification technology. For more information visit www.netprospex.com

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