The Funnelholic

So, this guy, Brian Carroll, has a great B2B Sales and Marketing Blog that I hope to bite from quite a bit. As you know in the blogosphere, biting is actually honoring and I will always link back to his articles. He covers alot of things that I live by in my day-to-day life in B2B marketing. This is not one of his newer articles, but it is one that is near and dear to my heart — creating a unified lead definition. I cannot agree with this article more. He details some of the steps along the way to creating this definition, but I would say at a high level is:

1. Sales and Marketing need to come to agreement on the definition. Frankly, part of the key to this agreement will affect the type of quantity sales may receive. In other words, if you put too many restrictions on the lead definition (has to be C-level, has to have budget responsibility, etc), this will affect the number that Marketing can/should agree to.

2. The definition drives everything. Brian is right: the definition needs to be blasted out to everyone. Once decided, relevant parties need to know this. NOW, proper targeted marketing programs can be developed (what lists to buy, where to get registrations, etc) and the handoff is cleaner and lead-to-pipeline conversions are higher as sales can be prepared for what to expect.

3. Define More. My experience has been every step from marketing to sales should have a definition and that definition should include who handles what.

Read: B2B Lead Generation Article on the value of a clear lead definition

So, i just read this article by Bambi Francisco about Linkedin.com. The article itself is interesting because the internet renaissance is putting tremendous value on these networking sites ala Facebook. I like Linkedin alot for reasons I will list below but never thought of it as a billion dollar company. Let me preface this, I am not subscribed for any of their services so I may not be as qualified as others to talk about this, but it is my blog so I will. It sounds like things are really moving for these guys: “Today, Linkedin has 70 employees and estimates to be a year behind popular social network Facebook in generating sales…That means Linkedin is set to generate between $45 million and $60 million next year. Linkedin CEO Reid Hoffman boldly predicts the company will hit $100 million in 2008.” And just like the other networking sites, Hoffman threw up Linkedin and figured out how to make money on it later.

This is The Funnelholic so I want to shart the value I believe Linkedin.com has for me:

1. Recruiting — it really is a great place to recruit bottom line. Not only can really find out who is doing what where, it is invaluable to figure out if you have an “in”.

2. Lead Generation — Linkedin today likes scale for this type of activity. For instance, I would not recommend the Oracle marketing department use Linkedin for lead generation. I will however say that for real target account selling, leveraging Linkedin is a great call. This is especially true if you are selling to Sales and Marketing. You can figure out who you want to talk to, who else is in their group, and if you have an “in”. It is a great tool for this.

3. Linkedin spam — I am not as popular as some but linkedin spam is a growing concern. I get a bit but not as much as Bill Gates did. (see below)
4. Bill Gates — There is a rumor that Bill Gates loves Linkedin and that he has been a user for awhile. He had a public profile but was getting inundated with link requests. The word is that he has a hidden profile on Linkedin and is a regular user.

Read the linkedin.com article.

So, my third post is another “Why the Funnelholic”-esque article. I am not trying, this article just hit my desk. These stats come courtesy of B2B’s “2007 Marketing Priorities and Plans” survey

Here are some important points from the article:

Continue Reading »

Amendment #1; the first two blog posts are the hardest. Anyway, I want to continue to answer the question “Why the Funnelholic”. There is a major movement going on in Lead Generation/Marketing Optimization. Venture Capitalists are giving money to new startups coming up in this genre. I am not sure exactly what spurred this as I have been in this business for awhile now. There are many theories such as Google adwords which has given life to a new world of remote controlled lead generation and some fairly solid reporting tools to go with it. Adwords has made the position of lead generation hip once again.

Overall, many of us we have been around the world of lead generation are starting to get excited with some of the new tools at our disposal. Trade shows, print media, and to a large extent cold calling are still part of the repertorie but are fast showing the least ROI. Don’t get me wrong, you have to do it. Continue Reading »