Im WhitePaperSource-Newsletter von Michael A. Stelzner schreibt Brian Carroll, Autor von „Lead Generation for the Complex Sale
WhitePaperSource: Explain the buying process for a complex sale and how white papers relate.
Carroll: I’m a big proponent of educational marketing tools such as white papers, because they allow you to reach people early in their buying process. Just remember they are „early“ in their buying process.
In a complex sale, my experience is that most of the selling actually happens when the salesperson isn’t there. I know there’s a lot of emphasis on lead generation (that’s a good thing), but getting a ton of leads doesn’t mean that increased sales will follow.
After doing numerous lead qualification programs, we have found that only 5 to 15 percent of those who download white papers are truly sales-ready leads. So don’t pass white paper inquiries to your salespeople until they’re more rigorously qualified as sales-ready leads.
Lead nurturing is all about having consistent and meaningful communication with viable prospects regardless of their timing to buy. It’s not calling up every few months to find out if a prospect is „ready to buy yet?“ Lead nurturing about building solid relationships with the right people.
Fünf bis fünfzehn Prozent sind zwar nicht viel, aber im Vergleich zu anderen Marketingmaßnahmen immer noch sehr gut. Aber einmal mehr denke ich darüber nach, ob es sich überhaupt lohnt, den Zugriff auf Whitepaper durch Registrierung zu beschränken. Ein zentrales Argument ist dabei für mich, dass gute Inhalte auch aus einem semi-interessierten Leser einen echten Interessenten machen kann und dass Suchmaschinen den Inhalt von Whitepapern indizieren und somit zu weiteren qualifizierten Besuchern einer Website führen können.
