LEADership by Louis Foong » Lead Nurturing

A Review of the Top B2B Lead Generation Posts of 2011

Louis Foong — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:29:01 +0000

Looking back over 2011, first thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my posts and join in the conversation and improving approaches to B2B lead generation. If you are new to the blog or a regular subscriber, I thought it would be helpful to summarize the top five B2B lead generation blog posts of 2011 based on total readership, starting with the most popular: 1. Why Aren’t Your Sales People Following Up on Leads Provided by Marketing? It’s true isn’t it? That’s a fairly common situation in the B2B market. When the numbers are down and falling short of target,

More Social Media Lead Generation Statistics – the LEADing Numbers

Louis Foong — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:59:19 +0000

How is the social world from a numbers and lead generation perspective? Here is what we found this week: 1. No One Is Checking In? Some people are using applications on their mobile phone to “check-in” but the numbers are decreasing. According to Pew Internet and America Life Project, as of May 2011, 58% of smart phone users had a location based service on their phone but only 12% of them had checked in. Even though it may appear these geosocial applications are losing popularity, companies continue to gather geographical information about their prospects and clients. From

Social Media for B2B and B2C—A Carnival of Grasshoppers?

Louis Foong — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:27:21 +0000

Many years ago I watched a TV show called Kung Fu where the blind Kung Fu master calls his young student a “grasshopper” as a term of endearment for one who still has a lot to learn. A quick Google search led me to a scene I remember and I’d like to share it with you. Take a look— Now I’m not claiming to be like Master Po—mainly because I am neither blind nor old! But I was struck at the time by the old man who could see and hear things that others (including the young “grasshopper” boy) could not. My reason for bringing this up here on my blog is because I see a lot of

Blogging – the LEADing Numbers

Louis Foong — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 06:00:24 +0000

I thought we would focus on blogging this week as it continues to be a staple in corporate social and online strategies. From my perspective, there has been explosion of bad B2B blogs because they are blatantly self-promotional or simply repeating the same content over and over. I continue my treasure hunt for quality, informative B2B blogs and hope to share my list with you. In the meantime, if your company has a blog or you are considering starting a blog (if you do not have one – you are very behind!), here are some numbers to consider: 1. Who Is Blogging? two thirds of bloggers

The Challenges that B2B Marketers Find the Most Difficult to Overcome

Louis Foong — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:18:43 +0000

In my post last week, I promised to share some interesting “sound bytes” from the MarketingSherpa 2012 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report. These are comments from B2B marketers about the barriers they find the most difficult to overcome. I picked a few that are very commonly experienced by B2B marketing companies. The Challenges for B2B Marketers “Lack of ability to stop executing and think strategically is the biggest barrier.” I find that typical of B2B marketing organizations that get so caught up in tactical plays and spike marketing. In the absence of a defined strategy

The Many Faces of “Lead Generation” – Trick or Treat?

Louis Foong — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:00:23 +0000

Halloween has come and gone again and each year one marvels at the ingenuity and creativity of costumes, masks and disguises. The trick-or-treaters come around no matter what the weather with their bags open and outstretched for candy. Not to forget the adults who dress up and grab their share of fun at work or with friends and family. For some players in the lead generation industry, Halloween is gradually becoming a year-round event. You can see all kinds of tools, techniques and tactics disguised as “lead generation strategies” to fool indiscriminate marketers. Just like those

LEADing Numbers

Louis Foong — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:25:51 +0000

I thought we would start some regular features on this blog, starting with a weekly round up of interesting statistics and numbers: 1. 91% of email users have unsubscribed from a company email they previously opted-in to. (source: Hubspot). People whether consumers or executives only want to receive information and news relevant and interesting to them. What are you doing to prevent this attrition rate on your email list? 2. 41% of B2B companies and 67% of B2C companies have acquired a customer through Facebook (source Hubspot). Really? This still does not convince me that B2B demand

B2B Marketing and Lead Generation Challenges – “The Q Continuum”

Louis Foong — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:31:43 +0000

One of my all-time favourite television shows was Star Trek – the whole gamut of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager. For those of you who didn’t fancy it or can’t remember trivial details like I do (am not ashamed to admit it!), let me remind you about the Q Continuum – an extra-dimensional plane of existence inhabited by a race of extremely powerful, hyper-intelligent beings known as the Q. They typically display indifference to most non-Q beings but have a deep interest in the development and progress of humanity. The Q character,

The Ongoing Debate Over Cost Per Lead – Louis Foong’s Perspective

Louis Foong — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:49:42 +0000

In a recent brainstorm about lead generation services and processes, my team mates brought up a few questions about average cost per lead. This is an ongoing debate and a quick search on Google will show you that the range of opinions is fairly wide. The range of actual cost estimates is even bigger. The reason for this is mainly because individuals and organizations have diverse definitions of a lead. With the varying criteria that exist out there, it’s inevitable that the comparison is apples to oranges rather than apples to apples. Speaking of apples, I cannot continue here without

Is Your Marketing Ready to Adapt to the Changing Business Landscape?

Louis Foong — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:00:33 +0000

The crevasse between Sales and Marketing is commonly visible across all types of companies. Some choose to ignore it at their own peril and those that take cognizance of it are still struggling to find ways to bridge the gap. Despite earnest efforts by some B2B organizations to integrate sales and marketing, the gap still remains. In previous posts I have talked about ways to bring lead generation, sales and CRM together. In my opinion, even though sales and marketing teams may have started communicating more closely, the reason their combined effectiveness still falls short is because of a