1. Turn Leads into Sales Opportunities How to Incorporate the Internet into Your Go-to-Market Strategy Many B2B marketing professionals want to learn how to leverage the Internet to help drive sales for their companies. As they prepare their initiatives and budgets, they are seeking clear answers to many questions. www.theROMgroup.com

3. Do I need a blog?

4. Do I need social media?

5. Should I be using more video?

6. What do I do with Web site visitors?

7. How can I capture leads from my Web site?

8. What do I do with the leads I capture?

9. What tools/software should I be using?

10. What expertise do I need?

11. Can my current staff do this?

12. How do I involve distributors and dealers?

13. How do I involve my sales team?This eBook provides answers to these questions and will give you a clear understanding of how your company can use the Internet to help achieve your sales goals. The Results You Can Expect from a Web Marketing Program Increase top line sales revenue by 15%+ Increase lead generation by 20%+ Reduce cost/lead 15%+ Increase sales opportunity conversion rates by 10%+ Increase sales opportunities/leads generated by 20%+ Shorten average sales cycle times by 25%+ Reduce marketing and advertising waste by 100%+ Increase marketing ROI by 85%+ 2 www.theROMgroup.com

15. Do I Need a Blog?...........................................................................................................

16. Do I Need Social Media?.................................................................................................

17. Should I Be Using More Video?.......................................................................................

18. What Do I Do with Web Site Visitors?.............................................................................

19. How Can I Capture Leads from My Web Site?..................................................................

20. What Do I Do with the Leads I Capture?..........................................................................

21. What Tools/Software Should I Be Using?.........................................................................

22. What Expertise Do I Need?..............................................................................................

23. Can My Current Staff Do This?.........................................................................................

24. How Do I Involve Distributors and Dealers?.....................................................................

25. How Do I Involve My Sales Team?....................................................................................4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

26. Is My Website Doing What It Should? To answer this question, you need to first establish a description of the action you want your Web site visitors to take upon viewing. Here are some examples of how B2B companies use their Web sites: Generate sales leads (direct or in support of sales channels) 2. Generate and execute sales transactions (e-commerce) 3. Create a community of subscribers and repeat visitors Because your Web site requires a significant investment and serves a critical strategic role in driving sales for your company, it should also coalesce the ideas of sales and senior management. How Do I Judge My Web Site? If you approach Web site creation as simply the graphic look and appeal of the site and whether it is attractive or not, then you will get bogged down in a subjective assessment. Too often this is where most companies struggle. How often has someone in senior management said something like, “my wife thinks our Web site is ugly“? It is far more productive and effective if you analyze your Web site based on how well it helps the visitors do what you want them to do. Notice that the examples of Web site purposes above describe an action you want the visitor to take. Web sites are not passive displays of information. They are not show rooms or brochures. Your Web site must drive visitors to act. Once you understand the purpose, then you can begin assessing how well it is doing its job. Your Web site must drive visitors to act. Once you understand the purpose, then you can begin assessing how well it is doing its job. 4 www.theROMgroup.com

28. What is on the site

29. What they can get or do there

31. Video producer: well versed in Adobe Premiere Pro, or a comparable video editing program. This position could also be filled by a hobbyist within your company.

32. Copywriter: understands how to write educational or buyer centric copy First, changing your Web site is a major initiative. Don't let anyone tell you it can be done quickly and easily.

33. www.theROMgroup.com 6 Do I Need a Blog? If you want buyers to find your Web site, then you need a blog. Google loves blogs. They tend to be educational versus sales oriented, and Google knows that most people using their search engine are looking for answers, not products. How to Get Started with a Blog There are two dominant platforms for blogs: WordPress and Blogger. Blogger is owned by Google. However, there is no evidence showing Google gives more weight to Blogger than WordPress in SEO. Choose one of these platforms, and you can set up your blog in minutes. Now, the really hard work begins - writing blog posts. Here's a trick that works. Write "how-to's" in the general topic area of your products and services. If you make plumbing products, write "how-to's" about plumbing that your buyers would find helpful. This is a powerful way to drive Web visibility and grow your Web site visits. How frequently do you need to post? Twice a week is fine for most blogs that are used primarily to drive Web visibility. Be careful when you are searching online for information on how to get your blog started. Most advice on blogs focuses on creating a big list of subscribers and making money as a blogger. Some of this advice might be helpful. Most, however, is not. Write "how-to's" in the general topic area of your products and services is a powerful way to drive Web visibility and grow your Web site visits.

34. www.theROMgroup.com 7 Do I Need Social Media? If you want buyers to find your Web site, then you need social media. Google loves social media. Just like blogs, Google views social media as providing helpful and timely information for people searching online. How to Get Started with Social Media If you're a B2B company, you will want to set up accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, SlideShare, WhitePapers.org, Flickr and YouTube. LinkedIn and Facebook are networking sites. Facebook will be helpful for Web visibility. LinkedIn will be more useful for connecting with key groups of buyers and recruiting employees. SlideShare, WhitePapers.org, Flickr and YouTube are content- sharing sites. If you create e-Books, whitepapers, PowerPoint presentations and webinars, you will want to upload them to SlideShare so they can be found using search engines. You will want to do the same thing with your whitepapers on WhitePapers.org. Any photos of your team, your products, events, awards, etc., you will want to upload to Flickr so they can be found by search engines. Finally, most of you are aware of YouTube. Video is very popular on the Web and you will want to take advantage of it with YouTube and now SlideShare. Google loves social media. Just like blogs, Google views social media as providing helpful and timely information for people searching online.

35. www.theROMgroup.com 8 Should I Be Using More Video? When 67% of Internet usage is video-based and 70% of Internet users go online to watch videos, the answer is obvious. Yes - but with caution. Very few B2B marketers can pull off an "entertaining" video: one worth watching for entertainment purposes alone. One of the more popular B2B "entertaining" videos showed a large crane with a pincher tool carefully removing pieces of clothing from an attractive model at a tradeshow (watch video). It was PG-rated and it did illustrate the precision of the crane's controls. Plus, it was funny. Once a B2B marketer sees this, they will want to create one of these for their company and too often they fail. Being funny is hard and requires great skill and talent. Even then, there is little guarantee it will work. It is far better to focus on product demonstrations and how-to videos. How-to videos are very popular. Keep them short - less than two minutes. Allow them to be downloaded and be sure to allow them to be shared via social media. How to Get Started with Video The great news about video is that "medium" quality works best for B2B. That means good lighting and quality imagery are important but, you do not need a production company to produce it. Video is very much a DIY (do-it-yourself) proposition. If you talk to your employees, you will very likely find someone who has made video production a hobby. Tap into this. Once you've produced your videos, have a professional HTML programmer add them to your Web site. Be sure they optimize the page for video to ensure it runs smoothly. To read more, get the complete guide here.