Lead Generation Success Step 1: Audience Preparation

For any campaign to stand any chance of lead generation success you need to ensure you’re sending out the right message to the right group of people. The right message to the wrong group will fall on deaf ears. Audience preparation is a key element to the initial stages of any marketing strategy or campaign.

It might sound onerous and complicated but this step by step guide will give you all the factors you need to prepare your audience for lead generation success. 1. Identify your data source

• Choose a data partner that can provide accurate, regularly cleansed, up to date, GDPR ready data with lists containing not just contact details but infrastructure intelligence to inform your campaigns

• Or, if you hold your own data, ensure it is up to date and ready to be used

2. Define your broad target audience database

• Who

• What

• Where

• Create buying personas to target individuals with messaging that resonates

3. Carry out some desk-based research on each company

• Size

• Vertical

• Location

• Organisational structure / divisions

4. Telephone profiling

•  Relevant contact credentials and buying personas

• Current IT environment and preferred suppliers

• Challenges and paint points

• Preferences, i.e. how they choose suppliers, what’s important to them from a supplier etc.

• Renewal dates

• IT decision making hierarchy

5. Analyse

• Analyse your findings

• Group contacts / companies with similar sales triggers or challenges into segments

• Remove any companies that you’ve profiled as unsuitable, i.e. no UK IT autonomy, fully outsourced, closed down etc.

In summary, to achieve lead generation success, integrate your marketing and sales ideas, keep the audience small, research until you can’t research anymore and keep it personal!