Effective lead management

Table of contents:

• MQL: Marketing Qualified Lead
• Inbound marketing
• Outbound Marketing
• Collaboration with the sales team

In the past, the two teams had clearly defined separate roles: the marketing team generated a list of leads and then the sales team tried to turn those leads into customers.

Today, the marketing team plays a much larger role in the sales cycle than in the past and lead management has become more of a collaborative effort. Instead of simply passing a list of leads from one team to another, teams work together to define which leads are ideal and consolidate relationships with them throughout the sales cycle. The marketing team can look at specific demographic information and behaviours to qualify and score leads to ensure they are ready to move on to the sales team.

MQL: Marketing Qualified Lead

They are considered more likely to become a customer than other leads. They show particular interest and may respond well to consolidation activities, even though they may not yet be ready to make a purchase. As the lead progresses through the sales cycle, often as a result of the consolidation process, they may be passed on to the sales team.

They are almost ready to make a purchase, but may have more specific questions or needs that need to be handled by the sales team. At this stage, the sales staff continues to consolidate the relationship initiated by the marketing team. Since these leads have already been qualified, they are more likely to turn into sales and the latter part of the sales cycle tends to proceed more quickly. Strong alignment between marketing and sales teams can lead to more effective lead generation and higher conversion rates.

Exploiting the full potential of lead generation

Most companies use different strategies to generate leads, rather than relying on a single strategy. This allows them to reach a variety of customers at different stages of the buying cycle.

Some examples include:

• Inbound marketing
• Outbound marketing
• Collaboration with the sales team
• Qualifying and filtering leads

Inbound marketing

Inbound marketing is a key strategy in lead generation today. It can be described as the attempt to generate interest in your company through content creation and promotion.

Content creation is a marketing strategy that involves the creation of relevant content to attract leads seeking to address a specific issue. This can be achieved through blogs, videos, e-books, infographics and all other kinds of publications.

Content promotion is how content is then made visible to potential customers using, for example, search engine optimisation (SEO), pay per click (PPC) advertising and social media (Facebook ads, for instance).

Outbound Marketing

Some elements of outbound marketing have become less effective in the age of Internet search, but it can still be a useful tool when combined with inbound marketing to identify specific opportunities and reach leads. Examples of outbound marketing include e-mail, events and advertising.

E-mail marketing can be used to distribute new content, send invitations to events, share news and stay in touch with customers. It is a way to provide content to potential customers who may not be looking for your company.

Event marketing creates an opportunity to tell people about your brand, establish personal relationships with customers and seek stronger engagement from participants.

Display ads can target potential customers with certain habits or demographics. They allow you to share information with a specific audience.

Content syndication consists of sharing your content on third-party sites to draw further attention to your company and solutions.

Collaboration with the sales team

Collaboration with the sales team: good alignment between marketing and sales teams is the key to generating quality leads. The marketing team may be at the forefront when it comes to lead generation, but that doesn't mean the sales team can't help. Using techniques such as social selling, outbound emailing and networking, the sales team can take lead generation into their own hands.