Proven Strategies for B2B Demand Gen

®
InsideUP
Proven Strategies
for B2B Demand Generation
B2B White Paper Series
© 2017 InsideUp. All Rights Reserved.

What’s Inside
1. Background
2. Return on Investment for Lead Generation
3. Lead Generation Survey Research
4. Effective Lead Generation Strategies
5. Outsourcing Online Lead Generation
6. Lead Generation Essentials
7. Finding Quality Lead Suppliers
8. Achieving Your Best ROI
Five Things a Good Lead Supplier Will Offer
Questions to Ask When Evaluating a Lead
Table of Content
Ready to Learn More?
Contact UsToday
Call
(800) 910-7638
Click
insideup.com/getleads
Email
getleads@insideup.com

Background1.
© Copyright 2017 InsideUp, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Quality leads are the lifeblood of every successful business. In a recent InsideUp
survey of successful B2B marketers, participants listed access to quality leads among
the top five factors that had contributed to their success.
According to a study by the Direct Marketing Association, lead generation activities
account for about 65 percent of most marketing budgets. But maintaining a constant
stream of high-quality leads can be challenging. How do successful companies
confront this challenge? We'll be addressing this, along with several other vital
concerns affecting the lead marketplace today, such as:
How to ensure the leads you acquire are of the highest quality
How lead acquisition practices are evolving, and
Why it's so important to keep up with the changes
Companies have traditionally employed a variety of methods such as print, TV, radio,
trade shows, referrals, networking, and buying prospect lists in an effort to maintain a
steady flow of leads. Typically, the two most popular forms of business services
marketing have been trade shows/event marketing and direct marketing using
purchased lists.
Trade Shows/
Event Marketing
Trade shows and events have traditionally
been a major component of B2B advertising
spend. Trade shows can be a good source of
leads.Howevermanytradeshowvisitorsare
in the very early stages of information
gathering. That, combined with the
intermittentnatureoftradeshows,canmake
sucheventsasporadicsourceofleads.
Direct Marketing/
Purchased Prospect Lists
Companies can purchase lists based on
industry category and basic demographic
criteria, but list providers do not offer
marketers the ability to target leads based
on the specific needs of a business service
provider.These“leads”are nothing more
than wholly un-targeted lists of businesses
that may or may not have an interest in
your services.
Executive Summary

Return on Investment for
Lead Generation
2.
Why do companies continue to use traditional methods for lead generation?
One reason is that they do see some results. Many marketing executives admit that
they do not regularly quantify the results of their lead acquisition efforts in order to
calculate their true ROI. While traditional methods of acquiring leads still have some
merit, they are often less than effective, and may result in a disappointing return on
your investment.
Quantifying the value of marketing programs was cited as a top priority for 53
percent of participants in a recent survey by CMO Council. But when asked how they
tracked and measured return on marketing expenditures, nearly 20 percent revealed
that they had no means in place to do so. Thirty-four percent, however, said that
they do plan to introduce a formal ROI tracking system.
Typical metrics proposed included revenue, profits and market share; and lead
volume, caliber and conversion, as well as direct response metrics. In fact, 63 percent
of CMOs in the 2011 IBM Global Chief Marketing Officer Study said that ROI on
marketing spend will be the chief measure of their success by 2015.
By tracking the results of various marketing and lead generation efforts—comparing
all methods against one another—companies can better allocate marketing dollars
for optimum ROI. For example, if the cost of each lead from a trade show is $500, but
it only takes $100 to generate an online lead, that $500 expenditure would be
acceptable only if your ROI on trade show leads is five times higher than that of
leads acquired online.
Even companies whose average customer purchase is about $20 typically spend
much more than that to acquire each new customer, realizing that over a period of
several years, that customer will likely spend between two to three thousand dollars
or more.
Measurability Matters

Your Customer’s Lifetime Value
Calculating the lifetime value of a single customer reveals the true value of the
investment in leads to acquire that customer. Factoring in the repeat purchases a
company receives from each customer reveals how that $250 profit can turn into
several thousands of dollars over the years of their business relationship.
Customer lifetime value reflects the present total value of a customer to the company
over his or her lifetime. When we discuss CLV, we typically refer to the value of a single
customer, using the average sales of such a customer.
Using these elements, the customer lifetime value would be CLV = TP X CL. The total
can then be multiplied by the TC for the lifetime value of your entire customer base.
Companies such as Amazon, whose average customer purchase is about $20,
typically spend much more than that in marketing dollars to acquire each customer,
because they look beyond the initial buying cycle to realize that over a period of
several years, that customer will likely spend between two to three thousand dollars
or more.
The model of CLV can be broken down as a function of three elements:
Total Annual Profit
Total Customers
TP:
TC:
(Total Sales – Cost)
CL: Average Customer Life (in years)
Return on Investment for
Lead Generation (cont.)
2.
CLV = TP X CL
CLV X TC =
Customer Base

B2B Lead Generation Survey for Business Services
Research Findings
InsideUp recently developed and conducted an online survey covering a variety of
key topics related to lead generation. The survey was taken by 220 marketing
professionals representing
business services firms with at
least $1 million in annual
revenues. Of the firms
represented in this survey, 80%
had annual revenues above $25
million. IT/Telecom at 20% and
Financial Services at 19%
comprised the biggest group of
respondent firms
According to this survey, a large
percentage of marketers
expressed dissatisfaction with
the results of their lead
generation efforts, reporting
that the leads were either not
targeted enough or
represented people who were
clearly not in the market to buy.
Finding online marketing talent
was seen as the biggest
obstacle to using an effective
and successful online marketing
campaign for lead generation.
*InsideUp's Survey of 220 Marketing Professionals Representing Business Services
Lead Generation Survey Research3.
Accounting/
Payroll
3% Financial Services
19%
Advertising/
Marketing
5%
Legal
6%
Training
3%
IT/Telecom/
Computer
29%
Training/
Research
4%
Estate/
Construction/
Architecture
6%
Management
Consulting
9%
HR/Recuiting
7%
Design/Printing
1%
Other
Other
8%
4%
Respondents By Industry*
Dissatisfaction with Lead Generation*
220 RespondentsTotal
Finding talented people
to do the work
Lack of expertise within
the firms
Too many choices
Too expensive
Too time intensive
Other
20%
23%
18%
17%
18%

14%
16%
20%
17%
19%
6%
4%
4%
Less than $25
Between $25 and $50
Between $50 and $100
More than $250
Don't know
Not Willing to Disclose
Don’t Know
5%
25%
34%
31%
*InsideUp's Survey of 220 Marketing Professionals Representing Business Services
Lead Generation Survey Research3.
The closure rate of leads generated
from marketing campaigns was less
20% for 64% of the firms.
Having the lead qualified (34%)
received the highest value rating
when using an external source for
leads, although having the lead
verified (18%) and the reduction of
in-house marketing efforts (17%)
were considered pluses for using
external lead generation sources.
About 70% of the responding firms
are spending $50 per lead generated
through marketing and 30% are
spending less than $50.
Less 5%
5%
Value of External Lead*
Marketing Campaign Closure Rate*
Amount Spent Per Lead*
Research Findings (cont.)
Less 5%
Between 5% and 10%
Between 10% and 20%
More than 20%
Don't Know
20%
37%
18%
16%
9%
Lead Information Was
Verified
Lead Was Qualfied
Reduction in Marketing
Efforts
Online Lead Management
Other

Effective Lead Generation Strategies4.
Top Quality Leads Produce the Best Results
Search Intent
Frustrated with traditional methods of generating leads, B2B marketers are funneling
more and more dollars toward online marketing and lead generation. Many such
businesses rely on the services of lead generation companies to supply high quality
leads.
A caveat to consider when purchasing leads: some lead suppliers employ unrefined,
generic lead-gathering methods, resulting in low quality, unqualified leads. Such
companies have a history of providing un-targeted leads and offering only a single
price level, giving their customers virtually no control over lead selection.
Be assured; there are ways to be certain you're getting top quality, targeted leads for
your business. Today's B2B lead gen companies leverage Web 2.0 technologies, social
networking and innovative online business-matching platforms to connect with a
multitude of business service seekers.
Online lead generation solutions that utilize social media and the immense online
community of business service buyers are able to place service providers in front of
qualified prospects in a very cost-effective manner. Advances in online technology
enable B2B lead suppliers to educate prospects, build trust and create brand
recognition for their clients while generating quality, ready-to-buy leads.
According to a 2012 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey Report by G3 Communications, 78
percent of B2B buyers begin the buying process by conducting research online. After
the initial research stage, 43 percent went on to compile a short list of potential
providers.
A study by GlobalSpec found that 83 percent of buyers who researched purchases
under $1,000 had read three or fewer pieces of content. For purchases greater than
$10,000 however, 70 percent of buyers had considered four or more pieces of content
in making their decision.

Conversion Tactics
The 2012 Lead Generation Benchmark Report by MarketingSherpa does reveal a
continued movement toward online marketing strategies, as shown in the chart below.
“These tactics,”states the report,“have a well-known reputation for being cost effective
and quick to generate results.”It goes on to say, however, that“many marketers struggle
with generating high-quality leads with limited budgetary resources.”
Source: © 2012 Marketing Sherpa Lead Generation Benchmark Survey.
Methodology: Fielded January 2012 N=1,915.
Marketing Sherpas’ 2012 Benchmark Report (copyright 2002-2012) by MarketingSherpa Inc
For a copy, visit www.sherpastore.com.
43%
14%
5%
2%
22%
5%
29%
12%
6%
1%
25%
6%
Organic
Search
Paid Search Social Media
Sites
Social Media
Ad
Placements
Email
Marketing
Campaigns
Other
Referring
Sites
Traffic Converting Traffic
Conversion Rates by Lead Source

Resources in the Complex Purchase Process
The sources of information relied on for making large and complex purchases like
business technology are changing at a rapid pace. Lead buyers can leverage
emerging online lead generation platforms to educate their prospects, engage in
regular communication and build trust.
Social networking tools such as interactive
wiki articles, business blogs, search-
optimized white papers and active
participation in discussion forums allow
business service vendors to consistently
communicate with prospects. In essence,
these tools provide a one-stop shop for
online marketing, social networking and
high-quality lead generation.
This free flow of information builds a level
of trust between the seeker and buyer.
Once engaged, business buyers provide information directly related to their category
as well as information about their particular needs. This information is then scored
and matched in real time with service providers that are uniquely qualified to deliver
the solution.
This approach allows close matches between the needs of the prospect and
capabilities of the business service provider. As a result, buyers are able to source
more qualified service providers based on their needs and lead buyers capture
valuable, detailed information about the buyer that helps to qualify the opportunity,
ultimately improving sales conversion rates.
These new strategies have taken lead acquisition to an entirely new level, and
companies are scrambling to take advantage of the new opportunities to target high-
quality decision makers for their services. Lead generation companies that utilize
these methods have raised the bar for the quality of purchased leads.
Online
Marketing
Tele-
Marketing
Email
MobileSearch
Social Media
& Blogs
Content
Syndication
Other
Media
WWW
Active
Buyer
Lead
Active
Affiliates

Outsourcing Online Lead Generation5.
1. They Capture Leads You Would Otherwise Miss
2. You Access Leads Gathered from a Wider Variety of Sources
3. There is No Such Thing as an Exclusive Lead
4. Results are Guaranteed
Many of your potential customers simply will not submit their contact information to an
individual vendor. These customers find it more efficient to utilize a service that offers
pricing and feature comparisons of several vendors simultaneously. Many such services
have a platform that allows seekers to be matched ONLY to vendors that meet their specific
needs and business profile, and to receive competitive bids from each vendor. The lead
company acts as a neutral source for businesses to compare pre-screened vendors.
If your business is like most, you probably have one or two methods that are working well
for you and are producing some leads. Lead vendors, however, have a diverse repertoire of
lead-gathering methods. These comprehensive systems bring in leads from a broad range
of online sources such as opt-in email, video advertising, white paper syndication, social
media marketing and contextual advertising that complement or exceed your own lead
generation tactics. You get access to a wide variety of possible buyers for your service on a
cost-per-lead basis.
When visitors to your site are comparison shopping, you can be sure that yours is not the
only vendor form they will fill out. In fact, the average person who is seriously considering
purchasing a service for their company will leave contact information with at least three or
four other vendors during the course of their online research.
If you have been reluctant to purchase leads from a lead generation company, believing
that there is more competition for these buyers, you could be doing your business a
disservice by missing out on one of the richest sources of leads available.
Lead generation companies are the only source of leads that come with a performance
guarantee: you will only pay for qualified leads that have verified contact information. No
wasting of expensive clicks or having your sales reps deal with non-qualified leads.
Four Major Benefits of Using a Lead Generation Company

How can you find these avant-garde lead generation companies?
Respondents ranked these qualities in order of importance as follows:
First, it will help to
have a working knowledge of how lead generation companies acquire and qualify leads.
InsideUp, in its survey of business service professionals, found that the four most essential
aspects of a quality lead are motivation, financial qualification, lead source and lead age.
Lead Generation Essentials6.
Leads purchased from a lead supplier should meet these four criteria as a minimum basic
requirement, although top lead generation companies will go beyond these four key
factors to qualify leads even further through a detailed system of lead scoring.
Lead Quality Ensures Optimal Responses
Lead
Source
Lead
Age
Prospect
Motivation
Financial
Qualification
4 Lead Quality
Essentials
Prospect Motivation 1% 12% 45% 41% 1%
Financial Qualification 2% 10% 42% 45% 1%
Lead Source 3% 17% 40% 38% 2%
Lead Age 3% 15% 47% 34% 1%
Not
Important
Somewhat
Important Important
Highly
Important Don't KnowQuality Lead Indicator

Finding Quality Lead Suppliers7.
1. An Online System that Targets Business Prospects
2. Bidding on Leads, so Market Determines Prices
3. Leads that are Ready to Buy
Many service firms don't think their business audience is reachable using a variety
of online marketing, including search marketing. On the contrary, a good lead
generating system will use a variety of strategies to gather valuable details about
service seekers.
These new media marketing tactics are very effective in generating a pipeline of
prospects that are open to two way communications, are willing to provide detailed
information about their needs, are highly profiled by innovative lead scoring
technology, and are ready to buy.
Rather than the lead generation provider defining a static price for all leads, the
lead buyer and the open market drive the value of the lead based on criteria they
deem as important indicators of a quality prospect. The value of the lead is
determined by how closely it matches parameters specified by the lead buyer.
Also, different business filters should be worth a different lead price e.g., companies
of a 50+ employee size are worth more than those of a 5+ employee size. You
should be able to use as many filters as you choose, with different price points, to
find what works best.
When a prospect is ready to receive a quote for a project, they can submit a
"request for quote" based on category-specific information about the prospect's
needs. The lead generation company then funnels these ready to buy leads directly
to the lead buyer's CRM systems or delivers them by email.

Finding Quality Lead Suppliers7.
4. Lead Scoring that Shows Propensity to Purchase
5. Verified Business Data and Contact Information for Each Lead
In-depth information gathered from a prospect's online behavior will help to
accurately gauge their level of interest, or engagement, and to assess the
prospect's BANT qualifications (Budget, Authority, Need, Time frame). Lead buyers
are then responding to prospects that have expressed an immediate need for and
interest in their service and are qualified to make the decision.
A good lead company obtains this higher level of data through progressive
profiling, which utilizes smart forms that can recognize a prospect and update their
profile according to their activity on each subsequent visit. Activities such as
reviewing blogs, articles, and other types of content will indicate, not only their
interest in particular services, but also where the prospect is in the purchase cycle.
Each of these activities is assigned a score, and each lead is given a score based on
which and how many of these activities they perform. A total of 20 points might
indicate a "warm" lead, whereas a company or individual with a score of 50 would
be considered a "hot" lead. If several people from the same company visit the site,
their data should be combined to create a company score, which will give you an
insightful overview of that company.
Ideally, the lead supplier will use a third-party verification system to ensure that
each lead is contactable and the data is correct.

Achieving Your Best ROI8.
Questions to Ask When Evaluating a Lead Generation Supplier
If you're ready to take that step and begin purchasing leads for your business, you will
want to start by doing some of your own research to be sure you'll be getting leads of the
highest quality. Here are some questions to ask:
Feel free to ask for details about the company's lead gathering methods. Reputable lead
generation companies will use a variety of strategies for producing qualified leads and
should be willing to explain each method to you.
Has the prospect's data been verified using both third-party verification and phone
verification? A good lead vendor will validate the information given with each lead and
guarantee all leads to be contactable. Innovative lead generation sources go the extra
step to verify the list or online lead information using their own proprietary sources, or by
using a third party dedicated to maintaining accurate, up-to-date contact information.
Do they have a detailed rating system in place to assess each lead's readiness to buy?
New lead generation sources are able to capture category and project specific information
about the prospect and score the information based on a lead buyer's criteria.
Also, rather than the lead provider defining a static price for all leads, the company should
offer different prices based upon different filters. This gives the purchaser more control,
enabling them to value leads based on criteria that they deem as important indicators of a
quality prospect. The value of the lead is therefore determined by how closely it matches
parameters specified by the lead buyer.
How does the company generate leads?
What methods do they use to verify leads?
What measures does the company use to qualify leads?
Does the platform allow me to profile my prospects based on industry-
specific criteria?
Q:
Q:
Q:
Q:

8.
Questions to Ask When Evaluating a Lead Generation Supplier
Q:
Q:
Q:
Does it provide easy two-way communication with my prospects?
Am I able to pay for leads based on the value to my business?
Are the prospects I am receiving ready to buy, and are they highly qualified
for my service?
Generating a quality lead is largely dependent on your ability to have meaningful
interaction with your prospects. It is critical to be able to interact with your prospects
to learn about business needs, pain points and deadlines, and match those needs with
your service offerings.
The best lead suppliers will offer leads at various pricing levels: you can buy premium
real-time leads, slightly older leads at a bulk rate, or a combination of the two.
Online business-matching communities provide a forum for service providers to
interact on a daily basis with potential prospects.
When a prospect is ready to receive a quote for a project, they can submit a request for
quote that captures category specific information about the prospect's needs. As a
lead buyer, you are then responding to prospects that have expressed an immediate
need for your service, and are ready to buy. These leads will be funneled to your
desktop in real time.
InsideUp connects businesses with vendors by offering a unique, dynamic online community where businesses can
get matched to high-quality vendors using our proprietary matching system. Plus community members can rate
vendors, provide references and answer questions from other members.
Achieving Your Best ROI

About InsideUp
High-Quality Leads
Easy to Set Up
Optimized Lead Generation
Pay-Per-LeadQualified Business Network
Real-time Delivery
Live Phone Transfer
Online Access
- We use only high
quality business traffic and media
partners.
- No campaigns to
manage. Account setup takes just a few
minutes.
- Using
proprietary technology and lead scoring
algorithms.
- You only pay for
qualified leads. No set-up and no
monthly fees.
- Leverage
our community of buyers who actively
use our service when making business
purchases.
- Leads posted to
your CRM, delivered by email or
accessed from dashboard for quick sales
conversion.
- Free automated
live transfer of leads to your sales
number.
- View analytics, reports,
billing, credits, leads and more.
InsideUp was founded to solve a critical
market need – to help firms effortlessly
connect with a community of businesses
actively looking to purchase services.
What We Provide
Ready to Learn More?
Contact UsToday
Call
(800) 910-7638
Click
insideup.com/getleads
Email
As the leading platform to acquire new business customers, InsideUp has
pioneered new ways of connecting service providers with buyers.
Our unique and proprietary platform, designed specifically for business services
firms, allows our customers to be matched with and provide custom quotes to
targeted, ready-to-buy decision makers. InsideUp also offers a lead clearinghouse,
which lets lead buyers pre-select the type of leads they wish to purchase

The leading platform to
ACOUIRE NEW BUSINESS CUSTOMERS/
For additional information
Visit
Email
Call
www.insideup.com/getleads
(800) 910-7638

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