The Science Behind Lead Generation and Cultivation

Why do some lead generation programs succeed while others fail? If you’re expecting a complicated answer, you’re reading the wrong article. The answer is quite simple. Lead generation and cultivation is a science rooted in proven, repeatable formulas. It’s not subjective.

Executives and lead generation firms that understand how lead generation works know it takes a scientific process to generate revenue. Consequently, they entrust the creation and implementation of their lead programs to leaders who understand the scientific and analytical aspects of marketing.

Believe it or not, one of our most talented lead generation experts worked as a chemist for 13 years, before joining Promote On Purpose. She strengthened our science, and improved ROI dramatically by applying an analytical approach rooted in chemistry.

The numbers don’t lie

As a general rule, B2C companies need 1,000 website visits to get 10 interested leads, which should result in one sale. That is the global average. For B2B companies, 100 website visits typically translates to 10 leads and one sale.

When you consider that premise, if you’re a B2C company, 1,000 new visitors to your website every month may sound exciting at first, but a true lead generation “scientist” who understands the process knows those 1,000 hits will only amount to one sale. To ensure the lead generation program generates a ROI, many more paying customers must be generated by the lead acquisition strategy.

If it takes that B2C company 10 sales per month to reach its revenue goal, website visits need to increase 10-fold. Talented lead gen pros know how to devise a strategy to increase website traffic, grow sales and improve ROI based on those numbers.

The data reveals what’s working (and what isn’t)

Another key to a successful lead generation program is finding the right message and the right medium to deliver that message. A lead generation program should consistently “make the phone ring and the email bing.” So, if the typical B2C benchmark is 1,000 to one, yet your company runs a program that delivers one sale for every 500 website visits, your lead gen team did something right. Either the message or the medium struck a chord with buyers.

Scientific-minded, analytical lead gen pros dig deep to crack the code by testing different messages and delivery methods to home in on what drives revenue and what doesn’t.

Lead cultivation improves ROI

Five years ago, B2C prospects needed to interact an average of seven times with a brand before making a purchase. Today, it takes 14 touches to make the cash register ring. The science behind lead cultivation is rooted in devising a strategy that offers prospects multiple opportunities (>14) to interact with a brand.

All of these interactions should be designed to help the prospect build a relationship with you and increase loyalty for your brand.

**Focus on building relationships before the sale**

This strategy is similar to the relationship building found at successful brick-and-mortar stores. For example, say you need to buy a new shirt. You walk into Store A and the salesperson isn’t very helpful, so you feel like you’re on your own. Unless you find a shirt you really love, you leave the store empty handed.

Conversely, you walk into Store B, the salesperson greets you in a friendly fashion, she asks what you’re looking for, guides you to the shirt section of the store, checks on you in the dressing room, asks if you need a different size, even brings over a scarf or tie that nicely complements the shirt.

You walk out of Store B with two shirts, accessories to match, and you plan to return next time you need to buy clothing. Why? Because the salesperson took the time to get to know you, she was trying to serve you before you made a purchase. The sales person added value before she made the sale.

Like the Store B scenario, successful lead cultivation programs include a relationship building strategy, where multiple interactions build upon each other over time, from initial interest to sale. Most importantly, the cultivation should add value, rather than be promotional.

Those 14 touch points may include a website visit, website revisit, email drip campaign, webinar, snail mailer, follow-up email, follow-up phone call or face-to-face meeting. The interactions just need to occur regularly and provide value to the prospect.

When providing valuable resources to prospects, remember to be authentic, too. Read our recent post Truth Sells: Five Keys to Authentic Promotion to learn more.

Get your lead generation program back on track

The world of marketing and lead generation has changed drastically in recent years. Executives with a broken lead generation program that isn’t generating the revenue their company needs to grow should switch gears to a scientific approach.

If your lead gen team doesn’t know how to analyze buyer patterns and behaviors or understand the science behind lead generation, they also won’t know how to grow your business.

We can help! The Promote on Purpose team of lead gen “scientists” are trained in lead generation analytics and know how to devise strategies that get phones ringing and emails binging. We also guarantee results.