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In B2B SaaS marketing, demand creation is essential to generate Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs). Big companies make things seem so simple, and that’s because it is for them. But for the rest of us, getting our businesses recognized is a bit more challenging.
Every month, a demand creation firm may deliver several suitable leads to your business. To put it another way, how do you get the most out of MQLs that your demand gen partner has supplied you?
MQLs are leads who aren’t quite ready to purchase but have shown an interest in your product or service and are a good fit for your product or service. To make them more responsive consumers, you may want to use lead nurturing techniques.
The problem is that many firms fail to do so, and as a result, they miss out on the advantages that nurturing may provide.
By following these guidelines, you’ll be able to cultivate a relationship of trust with potential consumers and transform them into long-term clients (or SQLs).
What is a Marketing Qualified Lead?
They are people who have indicated an interest in the brand or company and are considered prospective customers.
A direct lead is generated by a customer’s direct involvement in the sales process. Anything from signing up for offers and providing contact information to regular website visits may be considered involvement.
As an added benefit, the data you get includes Lead Scoring, Demographics, Product Delivery, and Analytics.
MQLs are driven by a strong desire to learn. The ideal case scenario would be a shopper looking around a store or browsing its merchandise. Any passerby might be a potential lead.
Marketing using the MQL model doesn’t always result in a satisfied consumer, but the possibilities are good!
Core Elements of an MQL
- First Time Visit – An MQL is someone who comes to your website for the first time. Typically, it takes some time before they go down the sales funnel.
- Conversion Rate – Anyone who has grudgingly browsed through one or maybe two pages on your website is an MQL. SQLs are forms or materials that have been downloaded many times.
- Lead Demographics – The individual’s behavior pattern, prospective customer interaction, business, industry, job profile, personal information, persona, and budget, among other factors, may be utilized to establish whether the individual is an MQL or SQL.
- Lead Scoring – Assigning a value or score to a qualified lead is critical so that the sales team can guide the individual toward making a purchase or being assigned to a service! The next step is to see whether it qualifies as a sales lead.
Best Practices for Generating High-Value MQLs
Using Buyer Personas To Generate MQL
Since it’s the first and most clear line of action for marketers, you may be wondering why I mentioned Buyer Personas.
Seventy percent of businesses, on the other hand, are not making the most of customer personas.
While a buyer persona is unquestionably the cornerstone of every marketing strategy, it may significantly boost your high-converting MQL if adequately adjusted.
For example, look at the landing page. More leads will be persuaded to click on a COA that is tailored for your viewpoint pain point.
By implementing these strategies, over 56 percent of firms create high-converting MQLs. Use your buyer persona to generate traffic that is most likely to be of interest to you.
Best tools for creating personas for customers
Hubspot has several good features for obtaining detailed information about a lead, such as their personal information, demographics, pain spots, and ambitions. They also provide a service called “Make my persona,” which provides a step-by-step approach for creating the buyer persona.
User Forge is a good option if you’re looking for customization.
Users may make use of a variety of functions, such as:
– The ability to upload photos
– By using story templates, it is possible to understand your audience better.
– More room for quotations and texts to help you identify your consumer.
– A free demo.
Many free templates and online persona generators are available to create your ideal buyer persona.
Use Video-Based Marketing to Generate New Leads
Eighty-six percent of people like viewing videos, even though the majority prefer reading. You may be surprised by the degree of interest in this way of communication!
Researching SaaS companies, I stumbled across it, much as it did to a firm in Chicago.
Initially, IngeniousI0 relied on textual material. However, a lack of blog engagement prompted their marketing team to choose a different course of action.
The firm created a Youtube commercial that combined comedy with product information. As a result, we obtained more than 260,000 views and 550 clicks at the end of the month, which resulted in more quality leads.
When it comes to generating high-quality MQL, video streaming is one of the best ways to go. Sales might increase as a result of its aesthetic appeal and attractiveness to the eye. 74% of video initiatives had a favorable return on investment.
Create engaging content to make the most of this opportunity.
Tools that will help you make amazing videos
Of course, hiring an expert would be my first recommendation, but if you’re on a limited budget, various editing programs are accessible.
In contrast, Adobe Premiere Pro is a popular choice for video editors throughout the world.
– It offers a reasonable monthly fee, which gives you access to new services.
– Windows and Macintosh are both supported.
– There are many ways to use it.
There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube for those who aren’t familiar with Adobe products to help you get up and running.
Content Marketing
Every stage of the buyer’s journey may benefit from having a well-defined content marketing plan. As long as you’ve constantly been developing content for your company, there’s a strong possibility that potential customers have stumbled upon it. So let’s take a closer look at how the material may aid in the production of MQL.
Your content marketing plan should include a content center. This should be a website that showcases your company’s goods, services, clients, thought leadership, and more. Consider your content hub a doorway for prospective consumers to discover more about your organization and an educational resource for existing customers who want to know more about your goods or services. Content hubs may also be used to promote your company’s brand and offer information about your company’s internal culture. Some of the content kinds you may develop are listed below:
- Customer testimonials and case studies
In the early stages of a potential customer’s study of your company, they may desire more than a summary of your offerings. Your customers will be more inclined to buy from you if they spend more time researching your company. Customer testimonials and successful case studies are powerful tools for conveying your product’s worth.
You may use this sort of material for detailed internal data analysis, consumer interviews, and a few limited metrics to show growth. Make your case studies and client testimonials relatable to your target audience by addressing prevalent issues. Show how your firm is making an impact by using real-world numbers and stats. The best way to inspire your audience is to tell a compelling narrative about a successful outcome.
- Product and support documentation
What questions should they be asking as they continue to devote their time?
Is your product or service simple to use? How long does it take to get a new employee up to speed? How long will it take for everything to be completely operational? ‘ Your company’s product or service may have a steep learning curve. Is this something I can do on my own, or will you need to help me out a lot with it?”
The prospect’s genuine interest is evident in all of these queries. Precisely where you want them is exactly where they are. Preparing product and support documentation is an excellent method to guarantee that users can get answers and solutions without filing a support ticket or contacting an internal staff directly. The goal of writing articles like these is to demonstrate that your goal is to empower your readers with the knowledge they need to solve common problems on their own.
This sort of material should be written in a style that is easy for readers to understand. The use of pictures and concrete examples may assist in simplifying the presentation of more abstract concepts. Ask your top customers what procedures they find the most difficult to complete. Find out what the most often asked question is by asking your support staff. To demonstrate your commitment to the consumer, keep your support library up-to-date.
- Promotional materials
In terms of substance, sales training is one of the most useful. Sales staff are generally the first face of your company that potential customers see. A sales agent will go to great lengths to convince a potential customer to purchase from them at this point in their journey. The majority of this procedure entails answering more complex questions and comparing prices. In today’s competitive market, sales reps need all the help to close more deals! For example, when evaluating leads, a salesperson will know more about what information to give to an individual prospect. Therefore, it’s critical for marketing and sales to work closely together to ensure that the most acceptable content is constantly available to engage, educate, and convert qualified prospects.
Keep an eye out for the kind of information that sales representatives are finding most useful. For example, it is possible to determine which content contributes to conversions by tracking which material is utilized while sales are working a lead and how those leads engage with that content.
- Videos and Webinars
More, visual material is essential in an age when attention spans are becoming increasingly short. Creating videos to complement your textual material provides your prospects the opportunity to absorb information in a way that works best for them.
Webinars are a terrific way to get your customers and prospects talking about new product releases, hot industry issues, and more. Whether pre-recorded or live, webinars may be made more interesting by varying their format and presentation style. They’re also a terrific method for your top employees to go in front of your leads and truly pitch the value of your organization to them.
Using videos and webinars to showcase your creative marketing abilities is a great way to be noticed. Make a film that shows the progress of a large undertaking in real-time. Take your audience on a tour of your company’s backstage areas. Introduce your team members to a series of short and amusing films. With this one, don’t be afraid to venture outside the box.
- Podcasts
Podcasts are another option for non-written material. Podcasts are a terrific alternative if you don’t have the time or want to read or watch stuff. Listeners are more likely to tune in to a podcast if the themes are interesting and relevant to your company. For example, internal specialists or even your most significant customers may showcase how your product or service has benefited your company’s bottom line.
- Guides, tutorials, and quizzes
The best content always helps potential customers better understand what your company does and how it adds value. This should be at the heart of everything you write. In addition, this sort of material has the potential to be a lot of fun for people to participate in.
- Gated vs. ungated content
If you want your audience to gain access to anything, you have to ask them to fill out a form first. Fields like “name,” “email address,” “phone number,” and any others useful for marketing should be included in the form. Because you’ll be able to gather lead data, gating content is a good idea. A visitor may leave your site without submitting their information.
Become more familiar with your sales funnel
A well-coordinated marketing and sales plan are essential for generating high-quality leads. Marketing is responsible for developing MQLs, but sales participation may help simplify your efforts. A smart strategy is to meet with your sales executives and find out what your usual sales funnel looks like.
To better understand the sales process, here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Is there a typical timeframe for completing a transaction?
- What is the common denominator between your consumers who have purchased from you and those who have not?
- What are the requirements for a lead to be considered sales-ready?
- What are the most prevalent issues that your clients face?
Your ability to qualify leads improves if you understand your sales cycle. Qualified leads are easy to discover when you know what motivates your prospects to make a purchase. Using this method, you can also assist your sales management set clear expectations.
Your marketing team can create more high-quality MQLs if everyone’s aligned expectations about the information sales need to nurture a lead. Then, using all of the information, it’s simple to demonstrate marketing ROI and its actual influence on sales.
Align your marketing goals with your sales objectives
It’s all about the statistics when it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of your lead-generating efforts. Choosing plans that are in line with your sales organization’s objectives is also critical for generating leads.
Your lead-generating approach might be guided by these data as well. Keep track of where and how many leads you’re producing each channel as soon as you start generating leads. With this information, you’ll be able to see where your efforts should be concentrated to bring in more MQLs, as well as which techniques aren’t worth your time and effort.
Metrics often used to assess MQLs include the following:
- Number of MQLs: how many qualified leads are created by marketing over a specific period? (monthly, quarterly, annually, etc.)
- Sources: which of the following sources or channels converts the best: (LinkedIn advertising, webinar registrations, free trial demonstrations, etc.)
- Sales conversion: which channels and methods provide the most significant number of qualified leads? Which forms of content are most effective at driving sales?
Choose the best lead generation channels
Getting the right message in front of a customer at the right moment is critical to attracting their attention. However, it’s not only what you say that matters when it comes to your message’s success; picking the correct medium to communicate it may be just as critical.
A cross-channel marketing approach is one of the most acceptable methods to keep your connection with leads alive in an age when so many people consume information online. However, it’s challenging to strike a balance between a unified and overpowering digital experience. Therefore, it’s recommended to begin by focusing your efforts on a few different lead-generating channels to see which ones perform best for your company.
The following are some well-known methods for generating MQLs:
- Content marketing
- Organic search
- Email marketing
- Display ads
- Social media
- Paid Search / PPC
- Webinars and podcasts
- Video
A variety of elements go into determining how well your lead-generating efforts are doing. For example, keeping tabs on the cost per acquisition is a well-known marketing technique (CPA).
For your marketing team, knowing your CPA is like knowing the cost of good lead conversion. The more cost-effective your marketing initiatives are, the lower your cost per acquisition must be.
SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) may have a significant impact on your company’s MQLs. This is because your company’s website’s organic traffic is a primary goal of SEO (search engine optimization).
If you want visitors precisely like your ideal customer, you must focus on both number and quality. Search engine optimization strategies, including keyword research, cross-linking, and reusing out-of-date material, are excellent.
You can also use A/B testing to strengthen your SEO strategy and get more MQLs by testing different landing pages and forms.
Social
For certain businesses, social media may be an excellent source of new leads. This is because targeting an audience on social media is one of the most effective methods of connecting with them.
Aim to utilize social media to entice consumers rather than bombarding them with aggressive marketing organically. Social media content isn’t a sales pitch; it’s a way to connect with your audience. Moments that resonate with you may be captured and shared. So first, use social media to build your brand, then use it to sell.
If you want to get in on the conversation, social media is a terrific place to do so. Everything on social media doesn’t have to be centered only on your company.
Make your social media presence more widespread and inclusive by expanding the reach.
Nurture and follow up
As more people sign up for your email list, continue to engage them beyond the first offer you made. They’ll forget about you if you don’t keep them engaged.
Consider the middle of the funnel as the point where you should be sending out informative autoresponders to your leads. Your prospects will be pleased to continue interacting with you if you provide them with helpful material.
Leverage your happy clients
Set up a relationship with your most profitable clients. Please find out how your product or service has helped them reach their goals by an in-depth conversation with them.
Then, share the case studies you’ve created based on your findings with potential customers in the assessment and comparison phases.
These prospects will be more likely to convert if they read about the success of your past customers, particularly those who have faced similar challenges.
Lead intercept
Your leads may be intercepted and steered toward a conversion if you don’t like leaving them to figure it out independently. Use of LeadChat, or your chat integration, may qualify leads well in advance and remove some of the hurdles they may face while on your site.
Final Thoughts
Generating more MQLs is a numbers game. First, of course, you have to have some marketing strategy to start this off, but they won’t if you sit back and wait for them to come to you. On the other hand, as long as you follow the best practices outlined above, there’s a solid chance that you can increase your conversion rate enough to make it worth the effort.
