Known buyers with brand loyalty simply cannot be bought. For this reason, many businesses view...
Known buyers with brand loyalty simply cannot be bought. For this reason, many businesses view their B2B marketing contact list as the lifeblood of their sales machine. A new product/service is launched and the list is contacted.
1) Pay Attention to Quality not Quantity
So, we know that in-house databases work really well, but as marketers we should always be striving for more.
When did you last review your contact list? I mean REALLY look at it. Probably not for a while. Do you know how many names on your list have ‘gone away’ or haven’t responded to the last 3 campaigns you’ve sent out? Email databases degrade by 22.5% every year.
You could be doing yourself a disservice. You see, if you remove the deadwood from your list your costs will decrease and your conversion rates will automatically increase. If you need help figuring out how to go about cleaning and updating your file a List Broker can help you.
They have connections with vast databases - some of which offer data cleansing services. So, if you have a huge database of contacts and you’re not sure where to start your housekeeping, an external data comparison is a good option.
This doesn’t mean a jump in sales numbers necessarily but it will give you more accurate results to test and measure. You can start to analyze who your target audience is and how to go out and connect with them.
2) Finding Your Target Audience
Any level of housekeeping will leave a space in your database. Will your management team lose confidence if your prospecting database suddenly drops from 10,000 contacts to 7,000? You know that the data is no less effective, after all you’ve only removed the unresponsive records, but the perception could be that your database is insufficient.
Now is time to start finding your Target Audience so you can grow your database with the right people that you can nurture into becoming buyers. When you start to show management that with this tight audience you are able to bring in NEW buyers thus increasing sales, they will not be as concerned about the size of the database.
Get a clear picture of the Target Audience - Title, Industry, Geographical Area and Buying Influences, Then figure out what they read, what shows they attend and what marketing channel they look at.
With that information find specific quality b2b sources that you can use to reach new people to fit the profile of your audience.
These sources usually have different channels you can utilize -
- Postal List
- Email List
- Banners - Website, Newsletter
- Sponsorship
- Social Posts
If you need assistance doing this time intensive research work, you could consider working with a reputable list broker that has been meeting and working with publishers/conference companies for years. They will be able to save you time by only recommending files that are can-spam compliant and have work for other clients.
3) Seize the Position for a Perfect Opportunity
Make sure that on every website page and with every promotion you send out there is a Call-to=Action at the top that gives the recipient a opportunity to sign-up to be on your promotional database The CTA should stipulate the benefits for signing up - Example:
- Sign-up to hear about future auction announcements
- Stay current with new marketing information to improve your next promotion
- Subscribe to receive New tips on selling manufacturing equipment
Place the CTA in the top right hand corner so that it is one of the first things they will see and take action. We have seen clients increase their database by 7% with targeted quality leads in a few months.
Also, make sure you put a CTA on your Facebook company page. (sign-up).
Bonus Tip: You Should Not Always Be Selling
Remember to offer educational content that offers value -
- 10 Tips For Social Media Success
- Target Audience Worksheet
- 30 Greatest Lead Generation Ideas
It is very important to concentrate on building a relationship instead of making a sale. If you gain trust with a recipient they will eventually buy when the time is right.
In Conclusion
In house database is extremely valuable. It’s quick, cheap and effective. Make sure your database health is on your priority list and keep your go-to resource running at an optimal level.
If you need advice on the best data sources to supplement your in-house database-
Call me today at +1(860)-210-8088
Email me directly at dpeterson@worldinnovators.com.
