A recent report reveals how marketer generate leads, their biggest challenges and what problems need to be solved in 2016. The report released by Formstack, also breaks down the ways B2B and B2C marketers evaluate and optimize campaigns, determine return on investment and track metrics.
Among the key findings:
- 45% of the marketers surveyed can’t confidently tie marketing ROI to specific touchpoints.
- 78% percent of marketers surveyed said they rely on Google AdWords and social media advertising to get their messages out…
- …But when it comes time to prove their return on investment (ROI) on those paid campaigns, 34% said they don’t know where to start. Another 30% said they struggle to align various marketing channels in reports.
- Turning more website visitors into sales was a top three priority for 42% of marketers…
- …Yet new sales ranked fifth as a key metric they track regularly.
- Although sales isn’t high on the list of metrics being tracked, marketers do appear to be seeking more insights on which paid campaigns are driving sales:
- 28% use the number of sales resulting from paid ads to prove ROI.
- Only 9% are relying on site traffic alone to prove ROI on paid ads.
Respondents were asked what mediums they rely on to attract potential customers. The biggest generator of high-volume leads is on-page website conversions (24%), followed by email marketing (18%) and pay-per-click ads (17%).
Seventy-eight percent of marketers surveyed said they rely on Google AdWords and social media advertising to get their messages out. Within these two overarching categories, 29% use AdWords, 22% use Facebook Ad Exchange, 15% use LinkedIn Ads, and 12% use Twitter Ads.
The report shows how social media advertising differ between B2B and B2C.
B2B | B2C | |
LinkedIn Ads | 20% | 9% |
Twitter Ads | 13% | 12% |
Facebook Ad Exchange | 18% | 25% |
Analytics was the most-used method at 27%, for paid optimization strategies, followed by conversion rates at 20% and A/B testing at 17%. Ranking lowest were feedback from sales teams (12%) and lead attribution data that ties conversions to specific touchpoints (9%).
When asked to choose the primary goals they’re trying to reach with paid campaigns marketers indicate quality leads is at the top.
Goal | B2C | B2B | All Respondents |
Better quality leads | 45% | 67% | 54% |
Greater volume of leads | 41% | 52% | 46% |
More sales | 35% | 50% | 42% |
Higher conversion rate | 40% | 40% | 40% |
Prove ROI | 21% | 29% | 25% |
Higher CTRs | 27% | 13% | 21% |
Which mediums currently give them the best quality leads?
- 23% attributed their best leads to organic website traffic.
- 17.5% credited referrals
- 16% selected email marketing.
According to the report the top 3 lead capture problems to solve in 2016 are:
- Misaligned and cluttered reporting are clouding ROI. Proving ROI on paid campaigns seems to be a big challenge for marketers. Many are wrestling with an overwhelming number of apps that make it hard to know where to get their data.
- Key performance indicators aren’t aligning with goals. Many marketers appear to be tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) that are not in line with actual goals. For example: While sales conversions is a key metric for some marketers, most still rely on “vanity” metrics such as overall website traffic and new visits—numbers that may indicate interest but don’t track actual purchases.
- A lack of information is making it difficult to prove lead quality. Many marketers want to capture more high quality leads that end in sales, but they lack the data to show if, when, and how that happens. This makes it difficult to know which marketing channels are truly worth the investments.
Lead generation is an essence part of any successful digital marketing campaign. How is your brand focusing on aligning your company goals, metrics and mediums to capture more leads and land more sales?
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