Get the Best Bite for Your Buck when Buying Leads!

Small companies and new businesses do not always have the budget they need for large-scale marketing activities. In light of this, they limit their spending to only the most important activities, some of these being lead generation and improving their marketing efforts. When it comes to their marketing issues, sure enough they can handle it. As for lead generation, well, therein lies the problem. Not every company has the capacity to do effective lead generation, and thus is why they rely upon B2B leads providers or other such companies.

When you buy leads, you can get them in lists, entire databases, and even individually. As your business grows, you'll find yourself having an increasing need for more B2B leads. That being said, you'll want to get the best leads your money can buy. Let's now talk about how you can buy B2B leads of quality and get the best bite for your buck!

• Buy qualified leads – When you're buying leads, buy nothing but qualified leads. Based on your own qualification criteria, you can purchase business lists containing the contact information of prospects that have already been qualified by a leads database/leads list provider. So, what should you be looking for in a qualified lead? Well, aside from using your own criteria as a basis, look for B2B leads that have been qualified through BANT (budget, authority, need, timeline). Ask your provider how they qualify their leads and build their lists to see if they meet your parameters as well.

• The price is NOT always right – You'll find dozens of providers flocking towards you in order to sell you their leads. Also, they'll be pitching you different prices and all sorts of offers. However, in choosing a B2B leads provider, you must keep in mind that the price of each individual lead, or the price per list and database does not always denote the quality of the leads being sold. You could buy a business list for cheap and still get good results out of it, and in opposition to it buy a much more pricey one but not even get a single warm reply from your business contacts on that list! So to speak, you can't base everything on prices.

• Quality or quantity? – It is quite obvious that we want to get both quantity and quality when we buy leads. However, that is not a luxury we can always hope to have. Even if leads providers say that they can provide both quality and quantity, we must not forget that they too are businesses and can encounter problems with their production rates. So, that being said, would you rather go for quality or quantity? The answer to this question is quite subjective. If you have a solid marketing strategy in play, then you can live with buying more and more leads and turn them into warm sales-ready prospects. But if your own marketing scheme doesn't seem to be able to reel in the fishes, then quality may be what you need in order to start closing deals with your prospects.

Getting your money's worth means getting results; you'll need to see a positive ROI before you can say that buying B2B leads has proven effective to your campaign. All you need to do is pick a reputable leads provider, work with them and consult with them, then plan your marketing approach to be able to utilize the leads you bought to the best possibility.

Buying Lists from a List Provider – What you could be Getting Into

Maybe you've already considered using telemarketing as part of your marketing strategy in order to make more sales. You've maybe even already considered using direct mail and email marketing to produce even more results. To tell you the truth, these approaches do indeed get you the desired results. However, they can only ever be as effective when you use good leads and lists, or have an extensive business database filled with high-quality business contacts. That is why when wanting to launch a telemarketing campaign, or a mailing campaign, procuring a telemarketing list and mailing list is something that should be on the top of your to do list. That being said, you may need the help of a list provider.

So, just what are the benefits to working with a list provider? Well, for one, you can get customized lists which can help your cause and fuel your campaign. Here is what you could be getting:

• When buying telemarketing lists – Buying a telemarketing list is something you may want to consider as part of your preparations for launching a telemarketing campaign. Some people believe in generating their own leads through the implementation of their telemarketing campaign, but some of these people are sorely mistaken if they think that that alone will be enough to help them with closing sales and give them a steady incoming flow of leads. When you buy a telemarketing list from a list provider, you can expect these lists to be of good quality. Also, these lists were created with privacy-compliance in mind, meaning that you don't have to worry when using them as the list has already been “cleansed” and you won't be making contact with anybody who doesn't want to be contacted by a telemarketer, or any prospect that could be on the DNC list.

• When buying mailing lists – Buying a mailing list is good for any direct mail and email marketing campaign. By buying one, you can get a list of email addresses of even c-level executives! Also, these lists are created and done all the while adhering to privacy-compliance, something that makes sure that you only have access to business contacts that have already opted-in as part of the mailing list. Business contacts that opt-in are usually good to have especially since they most probably opted-in because they are looking for a better provider, or are in the market and looking for one. So if you're planning a mailing campaign, consider buying a mailing list to get the best results with your campaign.

• When buying from a list provider – Nothing is entirely wrong with buying business lists, telemarketing lists and mailing lists from a list provider. However, when working with one, you should always work with one that knows how to do effective lead generation. After all, lead generation through cold-calling is the best way to produce optimal results, something which applies even to the creation of these lists. So when picking a provider, it s best to work with one that specializes in and employs expert lead generators to create their lists for them.

If you're still planning to go through with a telemarketing campaign or even a direct mail and/or email campaign, then buying lists are sure to help a lot for your company.

2 Tips for Better Direct Mailing Campaign Results

Email marketing yields a good amount of B2B leads. A large percentage of marketers agree to this, and even statistics show that it is more effective at generating revenue and finding new B2B leads. That being said, it looks like direct mail is about to be left in the dust as it is expensive and inefficient. However, some marketers are seeing a revival in direct mail and other still use it for marketing purposes. If you’re using direct mail, then here are some tips for your campaign.

• Proper targeting for better results – When using direct mail for marketing and generating B2B leads, it is important to know which industry you want to focus on. You can’t just randomly send mail to every business contact listed on your direct mailing list, no, you have to be precise and accurate just like a sniper with a single shot left in his rifle. Although you have a lot of chances to do so, metaphorically speaking, your single shot should matter and get results. So when you’re using direct mail to generate leads, get yourself a direct mailing list that is targeted to the industry you want to focus on. If you’re targeting C-level executives, then get a mailing list of C-level executives. Accuracy matters in direct mail as you will have to really be visible in the correct mailbox, and not just to everyone else.

• Relevant content for high chances of success – A large percentage of direct mail remains unopened, and there’s no telling just how much of it has been tossed out the window or into the trash by prospects who don’t want to even bother with such mails after getting past the first few lines. That being said, if you are using direct mail and sending them out to your B2 leads; make your content relevant and interesting to your prospects. Your content should capture their attention when they scroll their eyes over the first few lines, something that keeps them reading on and wanting to finish the letter. If a prospect is interested, he/she will most likely respond to your direct mail and you may have yourself a warm B2B lead on your hands.

Direct mail is still worth giving a shot, even if it does turn out to be expensive and sometimes inefficient in lead production, as well as getting feedback from prospects. However, as a marketer, every avenue for marketing that is available counts and can help in producing both leads and sales.

Top 4 Mistakes to Avoid in Newsletter Headlines

There could be a mind-boggling number of reasons why some of your B2B newsletters doesn't get good readership rates. One of these reasons could sometimes be your choice of headlines. You may not know it, but you might be making simple headline mistakes that have a profoundly-negative impact on your business list contacts. Here are the top four headline errors we should avoid.

1. A Lack of Originality. Poor newsletter response rates can sometimes be due to unoriginal and unimaginative headlines. If you rely on worn-out bits and pieces of marketing speak to stimulate your business list contacts’ interest, then you’re just wasting your time and effort in your newsletter campaigns. Develop your own headlines and make sure that they represent the characteristics you want to project to your recipients.

2. Being Too Predictable. When you’re at a point where your readers begin to anticipate and predict your upcoming headline with frightening accuracy, your approach to newsletter writing is in desperate need of a major overhaul. Avoid reusing the same or identical headlines. Instead, try to approach your labeling from a new angle or perspective. So, if you’ve already used the phrase “how to…” in newsletters to contacts in a US business list, don’t use it anymore.

3. Using Weak Words/Phrases. If your newsletter headlines don’t pack a strong punch, chances are your content won’t get much attention. Try using, but don’t overuse, more powerful phrases like “the truth about…” or commands like “boost output” in your headlines. Make sure your choice of words is appropriate to the type of contacts in your business list.

4. Becoming Excessively Promotional. Every reputable email marketing expert or business list service provider will tell you to avoid too much self-promotion in your campaign. As such, you should also refrain from using promotional newsletter headlines. Your headlines should avoid mentioning your offers and instead capture the value you want your readers to get from your newsletter.

How to Develop Effective Exit Strategies in B2B Email Marketing

A good marketing plan leaves no loose ends untied. Just as how your plan prepares how you enter your target market, it should also describe exactly how you would leave. Some email marketers tend to overlook this important part of the campaign and fail to come up with effective exit strategies. Here are three ways to incorporate exit points in your email prospecting business leads campaign.

Include opt-out link. Having an easily-visible opt-out link as part of your email as well as providing clear instructions on how your recipients can end their subscription is a good practice to keep in mind. Not only are you legally-obliged in some cases, like US business leads, to provide these items in your email, but you’re also able to show how highly you value your subscribers’ interest by giving them this choice.

Automate the process. Another way to make a graceful exit from your prospects’ inbox is to automatically stop sending emails to contacts who have not responded to a specific number of emails. Regardless of their reasons, it’s clear that sending any future emails to non-responding subscribers is pointless. Before you implement this strategy, it’s best to consult email marketing consultants or your business leads provider regarding the appropriate conditions to end some subscriptions.

Conclude your campaign. Once you decide to wind your campaign up for whatever reason, you should make it a point to notify your subscribers accordingly. Your subscribers should feel that you truly appreciate their interest and participation in your campaign as well as to have the option to subscribe to future emails from you. This is an ideal way to maintain good relationships and preserve continuity in generating business leads if you decide to resume or launch a new email campaign.

In email marketing, exit strategies are as crucial as your entry points. Consider the issues discussed above to make the appropriate plans. The key thing to remember is to always have the option to unsubscribe available to your subscribers and to base your exit strategies on the idea that opting out is not a setback but an opportunity for you to take advantage of.