This report summarizes the findings of a survey of 435 business leaders and marketers on their lead generation strategies. It finds that companies with a "Superior Strategy" focus on improving lead quality over quantity and are more likely to segment leads. Those with an "Inferior Strategy" have more challenges converting leads to customers. Across companies, generating high-quality leads and optimizing lead conversions are the most difficult goals. Email is the most effective tactic while content marketing is difficult to execute. Companies vary in their strategies based on their sales cycle length and types of products or services sold. The report provides a framework for developing a Superior Strategy through a SWOT analysis of a company's lead generation program.

1. LeadGeneration
Strategy Outlook Report
What lead generation success
will look like in the year ahead and
how marketers plan to achieve it
Client Connection Research™ conducted by Ascend2 in partnership with Research Underwriters

2. 2
Lead Generation Strategy Outlook Report
Client Connection Research™ conducted by Ascend2 in partnership with Research Underwriters.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
You may adapt, copy, distribute and transmit this work. However, you must attribute the work as produced by Ascend2 and its Research Underwriters but
not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

3. Lead Generation Strategy Outlook Report
3
Table of Contents
Lead generation is the lifeblood of marketing 4
Distinguishing between Superior and Inferior Strategies 5
Viewing lead generation survey results from 30,000 feet 12
The sales cycle and its impact on strategies and tactics 19
Strategies and tactics for type of products or services sold 26
How company size influences strategies and tactics 33
Actionable advice for developing a Superior Strategy 40
Survey methodologies 42
About Ascend2 44

4. Lead Generation Strategy Outlook Report
4
Lead generation is the lifeblood of marketing
Nothing pumps new life into a stagnant sales program like a boost in the quantity and quality of leads
generated. That’s why lead generation is the lifeblood of marketing. During the week of April 1, 2013, Ascend2
in partnership with Research Underwriters completed survey interviews with 435 business leaders, marketing
executives and practitioners from around the world. We would like to thank these busy professionals for
sharing their valuable insights on lead generation with you.
This report features a methodology that distinguishes companies with a superior strategy for accomplishing
marketing objectives from those having an inferior strategy. It includes actionable advice on using this research
to develop a superior strategy beginning with a SWOT analysis of your company’s marketing program.
This Client Connection Research™ has been produced for your use. The charts may be used in your own
strategy planning and presentation materials, blog content and social media posts, credited as published.
Sergio Balegno
Chief Strategy Officer
Ascend2
800-762-1595 ext 701
sergio@ascend2.com
PS: This report may be rebranded for marketing agencies, consultancies and marketing automation firms to
license as marketing content. Learn more about this Research Underwriter Program at Ascend2.com.

5. Distinguishing between Superior and Inferior Strategies
5
In this section, the disparity between companies with a Superior Strategy for lead generation and their Inferior
Strategy counterparts is clear. These benchmarks are provided to show you what social marketing success looks
like, and how those companies with a Superior Strategy plan to achieve it.

6. Success is the difference between a Superior Strategy
and an Inferior Strategy for generating leads.
Determining which lead generation strategies
are worth emulating requires identifying
characteristics of the most successful marketing
organizations. Performance criteria, based on
the success of a lead generation strategy, is
used to differentiate between companies with a
Superior Strategy and those with an Inferior
Strategy.
The highest performers (18% of respondents
rated Very Successful) are identified in this
section as having a Superior Strategy. The
lowest performers (11% of respondents rated
Not Successful) are identified as having an
Inferior Strategy.
In the following charts, marketers rating their
company’s lead generation strategy as only
Somewhat Successful (71%) are not
represented.
6

7. Superior strategies focus on converting more leads to
customers by improving the quality of leads generated.
7

8. The obstacles to success are much more challenging for
companies with an inferior strategy.
8

9. The same tactics top the list for effectiveness whether
you have a superior or inferior lead generation strategy.
9

10. Companies with an inferior lead generation strategy are
much more likely to have difficulty executing tactics.
10

11. Segmentation enables the targeting and nurturing of
higher quality leads that are more likely to convert, a
distinct characteristic of a superior strategy.
11

12. Viewing lead generation survey results from 30,000 feet
12
The charts in this section represent the aggregate of all responses. The data has not been segmented, as it has
in all other sections of this report, so results represent the overall “average”. It is a view of the lead generation
landscape from 30,000 feet.

13. Generating a sufficient quantity and quality of sales
leads that will convert to customers is a universal goal.
13

14. Generating the level of lead quality expected by sales is
consistently the most challenging obstacle to success.
14

15. Email is universally the most effective stand-alone
tactic however the integration of inbound tactics (SEO,
content and social media) is rapidly gaining popularity.
15

16. While gaining in popularity, inbound tactics (SEO,
content and social media) remain among the most
difficult tactics to execute.
16

17. There is no correlation between the degree of difficulty
and the effectiveness of lead generation tactics.
17

18. Creating and maintaining lead segmentation fields is no
easy task but well worth the time, effort and expense.
18

19. The sales cycle and its impact on strategies and tactics
19
The charts in this section break out survey results by type of sales cycle. For the purpose of this survey, there
were two sales cycle types which were defined as:
 Long and complex sales cycle involving multiple decision-makers
 Short and direct sales cycle involving one or two decision-makers
There were twice as many responses from marketers with a complex sales cycle (62%) than a direct sales cycle
(31%), however, the results in this section are weighted equally.

20. Lead generation success is comparable in companies
with complex and direct sales cycles.
20

21. Complex sales goals are more focused on lead quality,
while direct sales is pursuing lead quantity. Both are
hoping to convert more leads to customers.
21

22. A majority of companies with complex and direct sales
cycles are not producing the quality of leads expected.
22

23. Paid and highly targetable outbound tactics like paid
search, online ads, and direct mail are more effective
for direct marketers than are inbound tactics.
23

24. Social media and content marketing are most difficult
for the complex sale. While email is not a difficult tactic,
it is more difficult in the direct sales environment.
24

25. Marketing databases are much smaller in complex
sales, making data segmentation easier to manage and
more prevalent than it is for direct marketers.
25

26. Strategies and tactics for type of products or services sold
26
The chart breakouts in this section are by the primary type of products or services the responding company
sells. The survey was segmented by three type of products or services sold; Business, Consumer or Marketing
Services. The following charts represent sellers of Business Products or Services and Consumer Products or
Services, but do not represent responses from providers of Marketing Services.

27. Consumer marketers are less likely than business marketers to
straddle the fence between very successful and not successful
when it comes to lead generation.
27

28. One notable point in this chart is business marketers
are about twice as likely to set a goal for automating
lead generation processes than consumer marketers.
28

29. There isn’t much disparity between the lead generation
challenges facing business and consumer marketers.
29

30. Search – whether organic or paid – has a significantly
different effect on lead generation results for business
and consumer marketers.
30

31. Mobile marketing stands out as the most difficult tactic
for consumer marketers to execute, while business
marketers are wrestling more with content marketing.
31

32. With fewer contacts to manage in their databases,
business marketers are more likely to get granular with
segmentation fields enabling more targeted campaigns.
32

33. How company size influences strategies and tactics
33
The charts in this section break out survey results by size of the respondent’s company. The three segments
broken out in this section include:
 Small companies: 10 to 100 employees
 Medium companies: 101 to 1,000 employees
 Large companies: More than 1,000 employees
Micro companies with fewer than 10 employees are not represented in this section.

34. The smaller the company, the more positive the
attitude about their lead generation success.
34

35. Smaller companies will target both lead quantity and
quality, and larger companies will focus more on quality.
35

36. Optimizing visitor-to-lead-to-customer conversion rates
are more science than art, and a bigger challenge for
medium and larger companies to overcome.
36

37. Search tactics – both organic and paid – are more
effective for medium and larger companies.
37

38. Two of the newest tactical channels – social media and
mobile marketing – are significantly more difficult for
medium size companies to execute.
38

39. There is little difference in the lead segmentation status
in marketing databases for companies of all sizes.
39

40. Actionable advice for developing a Superior Strategy
40

41. A Superior Strategy is the goal, and developing one
begins with a lead generation SWOT analysis
41
This research was conducted to help marketers develop a Superior Strategy for effectively achieving their lead
generation objectives. The process begins with a SWOT analysis of your company’s lead generation program by
applying the questions asked in this survey, then comparing your analysis to the lead generation strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats of companies with a Superior Strategy (shown here).
Tactical
Strengths Weaknesses
Most Effective Tactics Used Most Difficult Tactics to Execute
1. Email marketing
2. Search engine optimization
3. Content marketing
4. Paid search or online ads
5. Online events (webinars etc.)
1. Social media marketing
2. Content marketing
3. Offline events (tradeshows etc.)
4. Mobile marketing
5. Search engine optimization
Strategic
Opportunities Threats
Most Important Objectives to Achieve Most Challenging Obstacles to Overcome
1. Convert more leads to customers
2. Improve the QUALITY of sales leads
3. Convert more website visitors to leads
4. Automate more lead generation processes
5. Increase the QUANTITY of sales leads
1. Optimizing lead-to-customer conversions
2. Generating expected QUALITY of leads
3. Generating projected QUANTITY of leads
4. Lead generation budget limitations
5. Optimizing visitor-to-lead conversion rate

42. Survey methodologies
42
Ascend2’s Client Connection Research™ surveys are conducted online from a panel of more than 30,000 US and
international marketing decision-makers and practitioners representing a range of roles, company sizes, regions
and industry segments. Survey findings are examined in a quantitative context by experienced analysts and
reported objectively.
An important goal of Client Connection Research™ is differentiating the performance of companies with a
Superior Strategy from those with an Inferior Strategy. To identify these groups, performance criteria is used
based on the success of a company’s marketing program in accomplishing business objectives. This model for
segmenting Superior Strategy is then used to analyze and present for comparison marketing performance in
the form of charts and a Marketing Program SWOT Analysis by topic and, for Research Underwriters, by
individual prospects. The questionnaire is standardized to incorporate these methodologies across all studies
while maintaining the proven 3-Minute Survey format.

43. Survey respondent and company demographics
43

44. About Ascend2
44
Connecting Agencies to Clients with the Power of Research
Ascend2 partners with marketing agencies, consultancies and marketing automation firms to accelerate new
business growth. An integrated research, content creation and lead generation process delivers the inside track
on prospective clients’ real-life strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and will position your
marketing firm as a thought-leader for solving a client's specific challenges. Learn more at www.Ascend2.com

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