How many times should a prospect hear about your company before your solution is considered? Some sources say that six to eight times is a good practice. Others suggest minimum seven. Many recommend close to 20. How to know what is best for your own business?
What are these “touches”?
Every time your company connects with a prospect and past or current client, this contact is considered a “touch”. The touch can be outbound (when you go out to get the prospect’s attention, as you do during a trade show, a phone call or email) or inbound (when the prospects comes to you through initiatives such as ad views, visits to your website, clicks on emails you sent, registration to webinars, etc.).
How many touches are required to get into the radar of a new qualified lead? I mean a new prospect that fits your description of qualified lead – but never heard of your organization before. What is the best combination of outbound and inbound touches for the most effective connection?
While I don’t believe there is a magical (neither specific) number of touches, I do believe that a minimum number of touches is required. It’s unfortunate to see that many industrial manufacturing, technology and scientific companies, many with complex, long buying cycles, don’t contact their leads even a very minimum number of times.
When companies in technical industries succeed in finding hard-to-find targeted leads within their B2B niche markets, it is a pity to hear that many leads “fall into the black hole” because they don’t get a proper follow-up.
Knock the door of your qualified leads
To avoid the “these leads are garbage” and “they don’t follow up on the leads” tragic situation, a well planned B2B lead generation program requires sales and marketing departments to team up.
Strategically and with the same goals in mind, sales and marketing must define:
– What process works best for their industry, company in particular and specific target market
– What tools should be used to promote the touches (both inbound and outbound)
– How many times each qualified lead should be touched in a period of time, so the conversation with the prospect takes place.
The steps defined above vary from sector to sector, from one organization to the next one. But there is something that doesn’t change: the fact that about ⅔ of the buying cycle is now conducted online. No matter the industry and the B2B niche market in question – personal and corporate purchases start with research online.
With little to zero control over the decisions of the prospect during the initial ⅔ of the buying process, organizations do have control on their outbound and inbound processes: organizations can define a process, so each leads gets the optimum number of touches/connections early enough in the decision process.
There are some key factors that promote meaningful “touches” with B2B leads early enough in the buying process:
- Touches of the highest quality: The competition for winning the attention of the lead is tough, and something more interesting is always just a click away. Create the best possible content, content that adds value to clients in a specific B2B niche market. Solve their problems and highlight your expertise so they come back for more.
- Touches in a variety of formats: Your content should answer the questions and solve problems of those who are just learning, those who are exploring options, those who are deciding. Prepare content about a specific area on a particular B2B niche market, for the different roles (“personas”) involved in the decision process, and keep in mind that different people learn in different ways. The variety of tools is wide: sales offers, case studies, white papers, articles, infographics, videos… we can go on and on. Define the strategic mix according to your possibilities. Better to develop fewer tools with highest quality than a multiplicity of marketing materials that are not aligned with your clients’ interests.
- Touches with cadence: How long is your buying cycle? Plan for a consistent stream of relevant communication – to nurture, cultivate, educate and maintain brand awareness – until the qualified lead in your B2B niche market is ready to buy.
When the door opens… offer nothing but the best
The ultimate goal of a B2B lead generation program with a content marketing strategy in the backbone is to create, maintain or renew the prospect’s interest in your solutions, moving them through your sales pipeline.
The compelling content required for a high-quality B2B lead generation campaign involves an investment of time, effort and resources. It creates valuable material that talks to a specific target audience within a specific 2B2 niche market. This investment pays off many times when the leads consume your good content, not one but many times during the buying cycle, providing your organization many opportunities to connect with qualified leads.
Countries with restrictive email legislation, as we have here in Canada (called CASL), invite B2B companies to explore a variety of marketing tools and touching opportunities that are not centered around emails or electronic communications. Email should be discarded as the first option to connect with a new B2B prospect. Sending an email without consent can generate serious legal problems (as well as very expensive fines).
So how many touches to connect?
Unfortunately, there are no magic numbers: each business should find its unique answer, and there’s no hard and fast rule. That being said, the number one rule is that a system must be in place for companies willing to maximize results.
Leaving the generation and nurturing of 2B leads just to the criteria of the sales rep or the creativity of the marketing associate will end up on an expensive, continuous search for more and more new names to feed the need for more and more leads. While new names are always great to find, letting the other leads fall because of no proper follow up can become an expensive decision (the decision of not deciding).
Each time your company connects with a lead, outbound or inbound, show them that you understand their problem, and know how to solve it. Position your brand as the expert in your B2B niche market to earn trust and credibility. A content marketing strategy supports this process by preparing and sharing the information your leads need to make a buying decision.
Targeted leads are not easy to find. Don’t let them slip away by not following up with the right number of touches – the number that makes sense to your very own organization.
Get in touch with me if you need expert help in B2B lead generation. I can help your company developing an effective content marketing strategy that converts technical readers into qualified leads.
