MarketingAnd Blog

LeadsCon 2010 Update

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:00:00 GMT

Speed2Lead (S2L) Launches Global Brand at LeadsCon

Two leading US Internet marketing companies, Get Starts and award-winning MarketingAnd, have merged to provide some of the globe’s most advanced lead response management products, under a new Speed2Lead (S2L) brand.

S2L will be launching their new brand and exhibiting at LeadsCon next week.
If you would like to set up a time for us to connect, please let us know your availability. Or feel free to drop by our booth - #T-77. We will be providing live demos, service updates, and information on how to get the most out of the our tools and services.

Safe travels and we look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas!

Not attending LeadsCon? We will be keeping our eyes and ears open for the latest in lead generation opportunities. And we'll be sharing our insights on the S2L Blog and live on Twitter.

Love Your Leads

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Your internet leads need immediate attention and nurturing or you run the risk of losing their affection.

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, we thought we would provide two rules that are essential to any successful lead relationship:

Lead Love Rule #1
Get to them fast, get to them first - We know 78% of leads who convert, will convert with the business that contacted them first.

Lead Love Rule #2
Don't give up - 40% of all leads will close eventually with consistent long term follow-up.

Want to learn more? Contact us and we'll provide you with a free individualized lead response management analysis

Fill In The Blank

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:46:00 GMT

Over 1,000 women, ages 25-35, employed in the U.S. were surveyed on their opinions relating to career success. Here is what they had to say...

Accenture recently released a study, Millennial Women in the Workplace Success Index: Striving for Balance, conducted by Penn Schoen Berland that had some interesting findings.

The vast majority of women surveyed identified two primary qualities as keys to workplace success - the professional and personal workplace balance and having a job where they can make a difference. The vast majority of women surveyed identified two primary qualities as keys to workplace success - the professional and personal workplace balance and having a job where they can make a difference.

70% believe they will be successful and they identified their main motivations to be medical benefits (63%), flexible hours (50%) and training for professional advancement (37%).

When asked about the factors that affect their decision to accept a job, secure employment (65%) and work/personal life balance (49%) held the majority, while other factors such as opportunities for bonus (33%) and investment opportunities were not as high on the list.

Catch Me If You Can

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:14:00 GMT

You have a short window of opportunity when you receive an internet lead. You have to act fast and make the connection.

Internet leads are a new breed of prospective customers. Their interest is either extremely well thought out and researched OR it is impulsive. Regardless, once they hit the"submit" button, it is up to you to catch their attention and get them on the phone.

Accordingly, your internal lead response systems need to be streamlined and efficient. The secret to increased sales is not more leads - it is increased speed to lead.

Get to them fast, get to them first

Lead Response

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:39:00 GMT

Over 1 million sales calls across 50 different companies by 1000 sales professionals have been analyzed. Here is what works...

Dr. James Oldroyd of the Kellogg School of Management is probably the world’s greatest expert on the measurement of sales call results. In an interview with Geoffrey James, Dr. Oldroyd revealed some of his findings:

Always give priority to your newest leads. If you have a lead that is two hours old and one that just came in, focus on the one that just came in. If you do the opposite, you’ll always be fighting an uphill battle trying to reactivate leads that are already dead.

You are 4 times more likely to successfully qualify a lead if you call within 5 minutes than if you call between 5 and 10 minutes. You are 21 times more likely to qualify a lead if you call within 5 minutes than if you wait for 30 minutes.

If you want to optimize you need to measure what’s actually working, which means tracking your leads throughout the pipeline and then drawing conclusions based upon the patterns that emerge.

Jump Start 2010

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:41:00 GMT

Twenty-Ten (or if you prefer Two Thousand Ten) is here. If you're not leveraging new technology solutions to increase efficiency, you're risking being left in the dust.

In 2009, we saw social media and technology evolve exponentially. And this trend is going to continue in 2010.

Regardless of your size, the playing field is almost even. Any business can now leverage technology to compete against auto-dialers at call centers and corporate sales teams.

Want to Jump Start your year? Contact us and we'll provide you with a free individualized lead conversion analysis and perhaps we can help.

Communication Simplified

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:15:00 GMT

As technology evolves, so should your internal workflow for managing your leads.

When a lead calls in, how do you deliver the calls to your reps? How do you distribute internet leads? How do you track the activity associated with each lead? What about follow up? It is easy to lose focus on the end goal - converting leads into customers!

Here's the take away: Leverage technology to increase efficiency and connect with leads at their peak point of interest and always follow up. Embrace new technology to help you and simplify, simplify, simplify! Easier said then done, right?

Contact us and we will provide a FREE in-depth analysis of your current lead follow-up process.

Stand Out

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:00:00 GMT

If you have a Facebook Fan Page, you need a unique URL - Facebook.com/YourCompany

Facebook Fan Pages help you build a community of "fans" of your product or service. When you first sign-up, you are given a very long URL, which can make promoting your page a challenge.

Luckily, Facebook allows you to select a customized Fan Page URL (as with the personal pages). This helps with your visibility on search engines and with prospective fans. Please note that Facebook requires you have at least 25 fans before you can obtain your unique URL.

Once you have 25 fans, go HERE and select 'Set a username for your Pages.'

Thank You!

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, we would like to give thanks to all our Jump Start Subscribers.

The weekly Jump Start Newsletter launched in January 2009 and in the past year, we have continued to do our best to provide useful and relevant information to all of our subscribers.

Many of you have been instrumental in providing feedback and useful content. We realize you are busy and we appreciate you taking the time to read our newsletter each week. So, thank you.

We hope you have a wonderful and relaxing holiday!

Could Your Clients Benefit By Increasing Their Speed to Leads?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 GMT

The MarketingAnd Reseller Program allows you to offer Lead to Phone™ to your client base.

Benefits

*Provide an automated ”voice lead” to your existing product or service offerings.

*Additional revenue stream for very little time or effort

*All technical issues are handled by the MarketingAnd team

*Includes Lead to Phone Demo Page and white-label reporting parent account with sub-child accounts for each client.

Getting Started

It's all automated, so your clients can have leads sent to any phone number and connect within seconds of an inquiry. Interested? Simply reply to this email or contact us directly at 619-770-1993.

Text Me

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:44:00 GMT

Regardless of how the lead inquires - for most considered purchases, you still need to talk to them before you can convert them into a customer.

New communication channels are emerging at an astounding rate. More and more of your leads prefer to utilize the quickest and easiest option available – Text Messaging.

Just like internet leads, following up on text leads can be a challenge. Do you respond via text? How fast can your sales reps respond to an incoming text lead and get them on the phone?

MarketingAnd has recently launched Text to Phone™ which not only provides you with the ability to receive incoming text leads, but delivers the leads to you as automatic phone calls. Better yet, it integrates seamlessly with Form to Phone at no additional cost.

Now you can invite prospects to text you for more information in your offline advertising and get the best of both worlds!

What Happens Next?

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:37:00 GMT

An internet lead has submitted their request for additional information. What steps are you taking to connect with the prospective customer?

Every company is unique. Lead follow-up procedures range from basic to sophisticated. Some of our clients print each Internet lead from an email and then attempt to call them within 24 hours, some use lead management systems and others use call centers.

What is your process for following up on Internet lead inquiries? How soon are you able to connect via the phone? 5 minutes? 2 hours?

Simply email us or post a comment on this blog post.

Do Internet Leads Frighten You?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Internet lead generation can be scary, but if you manage your vendors correctly - there is nothing to fear.

Often individual companies do not have the budget to effectively reach all the prospective customers online – that’s where paid lead generation can help. Lead gen vendors, use their online advertising and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to drive interest in your product or service and then provide the leads to you on a Cost Per Lead (CPL) basis.

This is a scary concept because it means that these companies will be competing against your own SEO and website ranking on Google and then charging you for the results. But if you build strong relationship with your vendors and effectively manage the business rules, you will have nothing to fear. For example, don’t let them use your company name or URL in their paid search or SEO.

Please keep in mind that these campaigns should never replace your website as a top priority – a high percentage of all online leads should still be from your own site.

Instant Appeal

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Discover the 8 Factors that Create Success

At the recent Direct Marketing Association (DMA) 2009 Annual Conference here in San Diego, we were lucky enough to experience a session on creative persuasion.

The presentation, ”Creativity for the Rest of Us,” outlined Vicki Kunkel's book, Instant Appeal: The 8 Primal Factors that Create Blockbuster Success. These scientifically proven laws essentially provide creative ways and tips on how to get people to do what you want them to do – Convert!

As you begin to think about your new messaging for 2010, you may want to use this book as a resource to help develop more effective campaigns. And in return, gain some valuable insight into human behavior and see an overall increase in lead response rates.

Did You Know?

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

You need to participate in social media.

Like many of our clients, you might be asking yourself: “Why? I’m busy enough already!” Xplane recently released their 4th “Did You Know?” installment and its worth 5 minutes of your time. It does a great job of explaining why Social Media is necessary.

Having trouble viewing? You can watch it HERE