This document discusses strategies for improving website conversion rates through demand generation. It recommends understanding the buyer's journey, segmenting audiences, mapping content to the buying cycle, and using contextual engagement. It also emphasizes the importance of testing and optimizing through A/B testing. Key technologies discussed include web content management systems, site search, analytics, and marketing automation to provide personalized experiences across channels based on a common understanding of the customer context.
Turn Your B2B Website into a Demand Generation Engine
1. A Digital Solutions Firm delivering
Marketing and Technology Solutions
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Turn your B2B Website into a
Demand Generation Engine
2. 1
$88.5 billion was spent in
the year 2012 on generation
website traffic , however only
22% of the companies were
satisfied with their conversion
rates
ZenithOptimedia, Econsultancy – research @2012
3. 22
Websites Don't have a TRAFFIC
problem, rather a CONVERSION
problem
Source:@ Bryan Eisenberg
4. 3
Buyer 2.0
There is a new buyer in control of the acquisition process; they
drive the process and the website is a key tool of engagement
Source: marketing Sherpa B2B benchmarking
report
7. 6
YOU HAVE 0-8 SECONDS TO MAKE A
COMPELLING HEADLINE AND LANDING
PAGE. AFTER 8 SECONDS, THE MAJORITY
OF VISITORS LEAVE Source - interactivemarketinginc.com
APPROXIMATELY 96% OF VISITORS THAT
COME TO YOUR WEBSITE ARE NOT READY
TO BUY Source - @hubspot
PRODUCT VIDEOS CAN INCREASE
PURCHASES OF THE PRODUCT BY 144%
1 SECOND DELAY IN YOUR SITE SPEED
CAN RESULT IN A 7% REDUCTION IN
CONVERSIONS
Source - @internetretailer
Source - @kissmetrics
8. 7
So, how do you make you generate
demand from your website?
10. 9
• Rethink how you turn traffic to leads
• Your website is on the critical path to conversion
Integrated
Demand
Generation
• Experience and structure are key to driving conversion
• Dynamic experiences are in vogue
• Content strategy
Contextual
Engagement
• The most important driver of conversion
Testing and
optimization
• Technology that enables conversion
• CMS Technology
• Analytics
• Site Search
• Many more..
Technology that
enables
HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE CONVERSION
12. 11
• Critical totarget customers at each stage of the buying
lifecycle
• Website influences many stages at varying degrees
Target customers
13. 12
The B2B Customer Life Cycle
Website influences the buying lifecycle across many
stages
1 2 3 4 6
RetentionAcquisition
Digital Marketing
Awareness Search Evaluation Purchase Support
5
Upsell
SEO
Analytics
CRM
Content Marketing
Campaign Marketing
CMS
Social Media
Community
Marketing Automation
Digital Marketing Technology
Website
14. 13
Issocial media important for lead generation?
• 56% of B2B marketers acquired new customers using social
media in2011
Social Media drives demand and
engagement
15. 14
Link social media toyour main content asset – your website
Drive social messaging tocontent assets onyour website
Approaches
TwitterforLeadGen
■ Organic and promotional
Facebook
■ Your customers are people, people who are on Facebook
Slideshare
Linked-In
YouTube
Google+
Social Media
16. 15
Build link traffic back to the website by using online article distribution,
public relations, blogging and social media. Search engines use that
traffic to determine relevancy.
Regularly publishing new content containing “long tail” key words
Long tail traffic can precisely target articles, micro-sites and web
content.
SEO
Generate link-back traffic and long-tail searches through internal
and external article distribution, social media and blogs
15
19. 18
• 82% of prospects say content targeted totheir specific
industry is more valuable
• 67% say content targeted totheir jobfunction is more
valuable
• 49% say content targeted totheir company size is more
valuable
• 29% prefer content targeted totheir geography
*MarketingSherpa2012
Contextual Engagement drives Conversion
20. 19
1. Understanding the customer—step intotheir shoes
2. Align withtheir expectations—understand their mindset
3. Know them better than themselves—augment your data
Understanding Context
Context is about leveraging information about the visitor to
optimize the interaction and engagement across all channels
“Although the rudiments of context-
aware computing have been around for
some time now, it is a disruptive
technology that has the potential to be a
real ‘game changer’ in terms of
competitive advantage” Gartner 2009
21. 20
Contextual websites
Matching content to context
Visitor-aligned channel
Listen and then respond
How context drives engagement
Informs delivery of relevant
content
Informs the experience
expectations
Creates a reflective dialog
Builds commitment
Context drives Engagement
Context places the experience in the control of the visitor,
aligning to their expectations, leading them to the next steps
Informational: First-generation
websites that were digital
recreations of brochures
Transactional: Creation of web-
based interfaces to business
applications
Persuasive: Web becomes the
primary engagement channel for
customers
22. 21
Visitor generated: Implicit information captured from the website
journey—the “digital footprints” left by the visitor
Indicators of preference, predispositions, lead maturity
Visitor supplied: Explicit information supplied by the visitor as
they complete questionnaires, quizzes and other facilities
Common demographics—name, age, gender, interests
Externally supplied: Information captured by external service
providers, emerging context-enriched services
Location, presence, social attributes, cross-vendor buying habits
How do you Identify Visitor Context?
Context can be identified through implicit, explicit or external
means.
24. 23
Mastering the Buying Cycle
So, you understand what the prospect wants. When do you
engage?
• Delivering content at the right time iskey tokeeping a
prospect interested.
• Understanding the Buying Cycle is the next step
• When you understand the mindset of the prospect, you
know whatdata todeliver, and when.
25. 24
Understand your buying cycle
Understand your customer’s mindset through the buying cycle journey
Segment your audience
Determine the target groups within your audience
Map the messages
Understand and align the messages with the segment and their objections
Implement the platforms
Implement the multi-channel platforms
Using Buying Cycle to Define Engagement
Use the buying cycle to understand how, when and with
what to engage prospects at each step of buying process
Understand your
Buying Cycle
Segment your
audience
Map the
Messages
Implement the
Platforms
26. 25
Understand your Buying Cycle
Typically, prospects pass through 5-6 stages, from the point of
need recognition to a purchase decision.
27. 26
Segment your Audience
Who is buying from you? Understand the distinct buying
groups within your prospect population
Understand your
Buying Cycle
Segment your
audience
Map the
Messages
Implement the
Platforms
28. 27
Align Content to the Segmentation
Identify content that addresses customer expectations. Consider
buying cycle, segmentation, pain points and motivators
Understand your
Buying Cycle
Segment your
audience
Map the
Messages
Implement the
Platforms
29. 28
Mapping content
Per stage in the buying cycle
Per segment
Put yourself in their shoes
What questions would they
have at this stage?
What information would they
need to move forward?
What fear, uncertainty and
doubt (FUD) must be
overcome?
Map the Messaging
Objective: Understand prospect needs and motivations per
segment per stage, walk the buying cycle like they would
30. 29
Target content against the buying lifecycle
The types of content should be valuable and meaningful to
buyers ineach stage
Having the right content available whenabuyer is looking for it
can make or break the possibility of you winningthat business.
Content Strategy should be driven by
buying lifecycle
Buyers will seek out different kinds of content depending on
where they are in the buying cycle
32. 31
Need
Recognition
Information
Search
Evaluate
Alternatives
Decision Engagement
In-House
counsel –
Manufacturing
Industry
How do we solve
these problems
What type of
employment issues
do we have to
protect ourselves
against?
Deeply evaluate
preferred option
Shortlist providers
Other ongoing
issues - help with
corporate law
What services are
necessary to reduce
our risk?
what risks are
exposed to?
ReferencesEvaluate Each one
Research website to
find information
Who is an expert in
this field? Who are
the providers out
there?
How have they
solved similar
problems
who in the firm is the
best attorney?
Build Relationship
Example of a Buying lifecycle
In-house counsel (segment) in a
manufacturing firm searching for a firm
to handle an employee dispute
34. 33
Personalization Matters
Users need data relevant to them. The more effective you are at
delivering it, the more likely you’ll turn that visitor into a lead.
• When you deliver content that matters tothe visitor, inreal-
time, visitors take notice.
• The less time a user spends searching, the closer they are to
converting.
• When you align the data tothe customer’s expectations,
you’re leading them downthe path toconversion.
35. 34
Do you segment and target your marketing based
on an integrated view of the consumer’s behavior?
The Integrated View
Top performers use an integrated view to deliver personalization
across multiple channels
Forbes | Insights Bringing 20/20 Foresight
To Marketing 2011
What information does this integrated view include?
36. 35
Get Personal
So how do you put it into practice?
1. Understand customer context, develop holistic view of the
customer
2. Develop the content that matters
3. Deliver the content and engage the customer inreal-time
withaligned, unified, multichannel messaging
37. 36
• Technology has enabled marketers tofocus on quality over
quantity.
• Mapping content tospecific audience segments and profiles
allowsmarketers todeliver highly refined messages to small
groups.
• Targeted messaging –delivering the data prospects are
looking for, sooner –leads the prospect downthe conversion
path.
Understanding Prospects
Micro-segment your prospects to target and elicit a higher
response
38. 37
Personalization Example
Based on user behavior and digital footprint you can segment
users…
Next time the
person
comes back
to the site,
relevant
information is
presented on
the home
page banner
Navigates to
services page
and related
content
39. 38
Personalization Example
Based on user behavior and digital footprint you can segment
users…
Determines user is
customer depending on
footprint
User is
an
existing
customer
40. 39
Drive Experience wrapped around Buying
lifecycle
An experience that gives prospects what they need and when
they need it by reading their Digital Body Language
42. 41
•Merchandise your product –
make whitepaper seem like a
significant item
•Create Scent - Cues that people
use to drive if path is interesting
•Simple and persuasive content
•Obvious and Engaging call to
action
•Simple forms
•Relevance, value and what
happens next
Call to action tips the prospects
Call to action is key to driving conversion
43. 42
- Call to action buttons, offers,
copy and navigation
What tactics drive conversion?
Simple tactics drive leads
46. 45
- Several capabilities in marketing's
hands
- A/B, Analytics review and
Segmentation are must haves for B2B
marketers
- 53% said it was “highly valuable” and
a further
- 42% said they believed it was “quite
valuable”.*
- MVT is not widely used despite
effectiveness
- If you do this – you will see
improvement
- “The majority of client-side
respondents (70%) reported
improved conversion rates in the
past 12 months.” *eMarkerter
Test, Test and test some more!
Testing and optimizing is the most important strategy to
improve testing;
*eMarketer
47. 46
Test, Test and test some more!
A/B testing is becoming the preferred method that has brought a
lot of the companies the most success.
50. 49
Trends to watch
Vendors are focused on
differentiation, as CMS
capabilities are commoditized
Vendors are encroaching on
other solutions: marketing/email
automation, digital asset
management
Focus on customer
engagement through
personalization and context
Acquisition and consolidation
Web Content Management Systems
WCMS is typically the center of a digital platform strategy that
becomes the foundation for other surrounding solutions
Considerations
Technology platform
Focus on how rather what
Beyond CMS; extension of core
capabilities
User expectations
Ease of use
Same features, different
approach
Platforms
Sitecore, Day, SDL Tridion,
Microsoft, Drupal , Autonomy,
Fatwire, Ektron
51. 50
Trends to watch
Solutions are providing unified
search across platforms
Semantic search will quickly
become common place
Faceted search is now available
in most search solutions
Site Search
Site search has typically been included as part of many CMS
platforms, but search must now work across digital platforms
Considerations
Will the CMS-integrated search
work across platforms
Structure bias of your content
Control over the search results
Sophistication of visitors
Out-of-the-box connectors
Platforms
FAST, Coveo, Autonomy,
Endeca, Lucene
52. 51
Industry Trends
Vendors focus on driving
actions, not just reports
Support of integrated marketing
across channels is common
Social media listening tools are
gaining notice and value
Measurement of visitor
engagement across sessions
Mobile analytics become an
integrated part of the picture
Analytics
Analytics is becoming more common within CMS platforms, but
cross-platform analytics may warrant an external solution
Considerations
Will pre-integrated CMS
Analytics work across platforms
Using platform-specific Analytics
platforms
Out-of-the-box connectors
Fewer options
Platforms
Omniture, Unica, Coremetrics,
Webtrends, Nedstat
53. 52
The Trifecta for Richer Engagement
Unifying three technology platforms delivers an customer
experience based on a common context
Web CMS
Marketing
AutomationCRM
Common
Customer
Context