First impressions matter. This is as true in real life as it is in the B2B marketing world.
So what does it say to your future customers when you promise them the moon, but make them fill out long forms before they can access information you want them to read? Or trap them on landing pages that offer no real value unless they hand over their email (and then get bombarded by your sales team)?
Not a great start to a trusting, long-lasting relationship, is it?
Your lead generation is the first glimpse your customer has into what an experience with your brand could be like. But for some reason marketers often end up annoying potential customers—either by accident or by ignorance.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could figure out a way to generate leads without losing that human touch? To contact people and have them be happy you called?
If you’re curious to learn how that’s possible, you should hear what Jay Baer, B2B marketing and customer experience expert, and Tyler Lessard, CMO at Vidyard, have to say on the topic. They’ll be explaining how to make your leads grateful for your attention in a webinar on Wednesday, April 20.
Webinar: Unsuck Your Lead Gen
Wednesday, April 20, at 2:00 PM ET
Join Jay Baer and Tyler Lessard as they expose the hidden secrets of lead generation and share tips for connecting with leads in meaningful—but scalable—ways.
“Marketers need to focus on creating great experiences across the entire customer lifecycle,” says Tyler—meaning marketers need to refine their approach from the start.
To get a taste of what Jay and Tyler will share, read on for some of their top customer-centric marketing advice.
1. Making customers happy is good for business
News spreads quickly. Treat your customers well, and people will know. “One of the most important things you can do is allow your front line to work off-script,” Jay suggests. It empowers them to make the customer happy by any means necessary. Don’t let red tape draw out resolution times.
“Marketers need to focus on creating great experiences across the entire customer lifecycle,” says Tyler. If you focus on delighting your current customers, the first thing prospects will hear about your ever brand are more likely to be positive. For more insight on the value of customer engagement from leading industry analysts, read this eBook.
2. Prioritize great experiences
Many companies will use any means necessary to collect coveted email addresses. Once they’ve got it, they often aggressively follow up with leads (read: spam cannon & voice mails). In addition, they don’t send blanket eblasts that don’t take the prospect’s interests into account—which can leave a sour taste in the lead’s mouth.
Jay has a poor opinion of these kinds of tactics. “By definition,” Jay says, “copy-paste lacks humanity and empathy.” Make sure marketing and sales has the right information before they start communicating with leads so they only send relevant, targeted content.
3. Listen and adjust
Take more time to listen. Did a prospect tell you your latest email a steaming pile of spam? Maybe it was! “Advocates are more likely to promote the content they like rather than the company itself,” Jay says. Be very sensitive to their feedback and refine your approach based on their responses. (And don’t forget to respond to negative feedback with a ‘thank you!’)
“Great experiences stand out,” Tyler says, “because so much marketing falls into the ‘bad experiences’ category.” Wow leads from the very beginning by offering them something of value so they know a relationship with you will be beneficial.
