Traditional sales and marketing techniques have long sought to capture as many leads as possible by tossing a large net.
During a lead generation campaign, attracting many contacts is frequently valued over lead quality. The theory is that the more leads you have, the more likely some of them will turn into solid sales. Don't we all have the belief that the more, the better?
However, this may not be the case for business leads.
This once-traditional viewpoint is rapidly shifting. Business owners are becoming savvier, with the substantial majority preferring quality leads above quantity in lead creation alone.
Marketers recognize the necessity of focusing on qualified leads, owing to their higher likelihood of purchasing. Compared to most top-of-the-funnel prospects, quality leads are more likely to progress deeper down the sales funnel. Your sales team will save time and effort as a result of this.
Finding these types of leads with the correct marketing mix is problematic.
What are Quality Leads?
The type of prospective consumers you attract, depending on specific characteristics you've defined, is lead quality. These leads are defined as having a strong desire to purchase and financial resources.
They are people or companies looking to buy based on their actions, habits, and encounters with your brand.
Lead scoring is a way of determining the quality of a lead. This strategy is used to rank prospects on a scale that reflects the perceived value of each lead to your company. The score determines which leads are prioritized and what level of involvement is appropriate for each.
Finding quality leads necessitates the use of user data. Analyzing a visitor's behavior on your online platforms or website is one way to obtain data. It is essential to keep your eye on the types of pages they visit (how many product/services page views vs. blog views), the amount of time they spend on each page, how they got to your website (traffic source), and whether they took action (sign-up, purchased, subscribed, etc.).
The more B2B information you have, the more specific your customer profile will be. As a result, the more you understand your potential customer's profile, the better you can personalize and optimize your sales/marketing strategy to reach them efficiently. Understandably, focusing on lead quality has become a top priority for many marketers.
Quantity of Leads and Return on Investment
Getting enough leads to sort through starts with collecting enough leads in the first place. This is when concentrating on lead volume comes into play.
Just as in any other numbers game, more possibilities to play imply more chances to win. Most sales and marketing activities that rely on lead volume are built on this premise, and it's difficult to argue with.
Some conditions may force firms to favor lead quantity versus lead quality, particularly in the early phases of their business when brand awareness is low and gathering sufficient target audience data is difficult. When it comes to less-priced products and organizations with small marketing and sales resources, the need for this technique becomes even more apparent.
Concentrating on quantity is a more realistic alternative for organizations that employ low-cost selling tactics that scale well.
In the end, it's pointless to worry about quality if you're not getting enough quantity.
Quantity and Quality Work Together
Sales teams often value lead quality. In contrast, marketing departments value lead quantity as a sign of an effective lead generation effort. These two teams often disagree since sales focus on conversion rates and marketing focuses on generating additional leads.
It's time to change your perspective and consider both measures vital to your success.
There will always be a trade-off when determining which metrics to prioritize. However, keep in mind that one cannot exist without the other.
Increasing the amount of sales conversions will always need to attract new leads. When a company's operations reach a particular degree of maturity, improving lead quality becomes a must. This becomes a successful strategy for lowering overhead costs and increasing ROI in the long run.
Why Collecting the Right Information Through KPIs is Important
Marketers have employed targeted content that is matched with the sales funnel. This is when the buyer personas and customer journey come into play.
Content is often created based on theoretical concepts that closely match a buyer's day-to-day interests. Still, there is no hard evidence to back it up. More information is needed at this phase to guide your lead generation strategy.
The interests and behavior of internet visitors can help identify what the next steps should be in terms of marketing strategy and general business goals. Fortunately, technological advancements have permitted the development of CRM solutions that can assist in collecting client data at nearly every stage of the buyer's journey.
Marketers can now leverage the information from obtained leads to create content that will appeal to readers and elicit the most positive reaction from their target demographic. This type of information can only be obtained once a sufficient number of leads have been collected to build a clearer idea of the types of potential clients who visit your website.
Based on the outcomes of your data collection activities, improve conversion rates and customize your approach. High-quality data collection and analysis make it very easy to use tools such as tailored content to impact the buyer's journey and increase conversion rates.
Use elements like discount offers, chat boxes, prompts, or exit-intent popups to make it as simple as possible for visitors to complete a purchase.
What do your potential customers care about the most?
Only research can provide an answer to this question.
Finding Balance
There is no one perfect technique for balancing lead quality versus lead quantity. The optimal technique involves regular testing, implementation, monitoring, and analysis. Building on what works is the only way to fully establish the optimal formula for your business.
Should you focus on quality or quantity?
Prioritizing both is correct. In truth, the question should be reframed to concentrate on the bottom line: attracting and getting the correct kind of leads specifically for your firm.
When it comes to lead creation, both quality and quantity matter. Marketing and sales need to work together to develop quality evaluation criteria tailored to your company's needs. Each department's capacity to operate together well will help the business grow.
A high lead quantity provides the best opportunity to collect client data, which can be utilized to acquire insight into customer behavior and help define your target demographic. It also tells you their wants, desires, and motivations and how to address them effectively. To balance lead quantity and quality, sales and marketing teams must work together.
Final Thoughts
A point person must be assigned to establish this balance and coordination between sales and marketing. Setting expectations for both areas is also reasonable. The marketing department must define the target demographic and the lead's channels while collaborating with the sales department (developing a reporting framework).
Many companies use a sales and marketing reward system that keeps high achievers motivated and rewarded.
Finally, the process is not static. Sales and marketing are dynamic departments that need to adjust and evolve as the company learns more about the industry and its client base.
Most companies will need content to test their audience and see what resonates. For this, we are here. Reach out to the Iris Team for more information.