Benchmark study of B2B lead management practices

SilverpopFrom First Click to Lifetime Customer

Engagement Marketing Solutions

How Do You Score?Silverpop benchmark studyof lead-management practices

STUDY

The other 70 percent remain in limbo; as prospects, they may not qualify immediately for a follow-up sales call, but there’s nothing that would send them to the discard pile, either. They are, however, a great opportunity for the marketing team to deploy an automated lead-nurturing program, which uses timed or triggered messages to engage prospects and help move each one to a sales-ready state.

Study Objectives

Silverpop researchers sought to:

• Uncoverlead-managementtrendsfromacrossSilverpop‘sEngageB2Bclients• Provideinsighttomarketersabouttheuseofsingle-messagevs.dripcampaigns,leadnurturingandmarketingautomation• Furnishbenchmarkdata—soB2Bmarketerscanseehowtheycomparetoothers

Tomeasuretheimpactlead-nurturingprogramshaveonthesalesprocess,Silverpopanalyzedsixmonthsofdatafrom250B2BclientsusingitsEngageB2B.Industriesrepresentedinthestudyincludedtechnology,publishing,financialservicesandprofessionalservices.

Key Questions for the Study

Whenplanningthestudy,weidentifiedseveralquestionswehopedtoanswerorgainfurtherinsightinto,including:

• Whatistheaveragedatabasesizeandleadgrowthrate?• Whataretheoverallresponseratestoemailssentaspartofalead-nurturingprogram?• Isthereasignificantdifferencebetweendripcampaignsandsingle-messagecampaigns?• Howmanytouchesdoesittake,onaverage,toscorea“win”?• Whatcanwelearnfromtheopt-in/lead-qualifyingforms?• Whatistheaveragenumberoffieldsusedinaform?• Doesthenumberoffields,numberofrequiredfieldsoraveragetimetocompletetheformhaveanimpactoncompletionrates?

HOW DO YOU SCORE?Silverpop benchmark study of lead-management practices

What happens to the leads your marketing department generates from initiatives suchaswhite-paperdownloads,referralsandtrade-showbusiness-carddrops?

AccordingtoresearchfirmMarketingSherpa,12.5percentaregenuineleads,readyorwillingtobuyandgetmovedintothesalescycle,while17.5percentgetdiscardedrightawaybecausetheyclearlydidn’tqualifyorcouldn’tbeverified.

SURVEYEngagement Marketing Solutions


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Survey FindingsDatabase Size and Growth


DATABASE SIZE AND GROWTH

Q1 Q2

TotalUnder 10K

10K-49,999

50K+ TotalUnder 10K

10K-49,999

50K+

AverageDBSize 46,810 2,813 20,996 128,807 56,116 3,635 26,283 155,528

Average Growth 10,446 1,007 5,620 27,303 9,201 958 4,736 24,593

Average Growth Rate 38.0% 49.5% 32.2% 29.4% 32.8% 42.2% 30.9% 26.9%

Analysis: ThetypicalB2Bdatabaseisgrowingatamonthlyrateequivalenttoabout5percentto10percent.

Otherstatistics:• Averagedatabasesize:+/-50,000range• Mediandatabasesize:Quarter1,2008=16,700;Quarter2,2008=21,000• Quarterlygrowthrange:1-160percent• Medianoverallgrowthrate:Quarter1,2008=21percent;Quarter2,2008=16percent

Key takeaway for marketers:Usethisinformationtobenchmarkyourcompany’sdatabasegrowthrate.Whilegrowthratesobviouslycanvarywidelybasedonsizeandgoals,anaverage-sizeddatabasethatisn’tgrowingatleast5percentper month is probably underperforming.

Email Nurturing

EMAIL RESPONSE RATES - DRIP CAMPAIGNS

Q1 Q2

Total Top 25%Bottom

25%Total Top 25%

Bottom 25%

OpenRate 33.3% 48.5% 30.7% 32.4% 51.0% 25.9%

EMAIL RESPONSE RATES - SINGLE CAMPAIGNS

Q1 Q2

Total Top 25%Bottom

25%Total Top 25%

Bottom 25%

OpenRate 19.6% 27.7% 14.9% 18.7% 27.2% 14.7%


Q1 Q2

Total Top 25%Bottom

25%Total Top 25%

Bottom 25%

Click-ThroughRate 10.1% 26.7% 0.4% 10.0% 28.0% 0.6%

Click-To-OpenRate 27.9% 55.4% 4.4% 25.8% 53.5% 4.2%


Q1 Q2

Total Top 25%Bottom

25%Total Top 25%

Bottom 25%


Click-To-OpenRate 14.3% 32.2% 2.9% 13.8% 30.2% 2.6%

Analysis:Dripcampaignresponseratesconsistentlyoutperformedsingle-messagecampaigns,often2-to-1andeven3-to-1.Surprisingly,thelowest-performingdripcampaignsoutperformedalmostallofeventhebest-performingsingle-messagecampaigns.

Dripcampaignsgeneratedopenratesthatwereconsistentlynearlydoublethoseofsingle-messagecampaigns.Also,dripcampaigns consistently generated click-through rates that were three times those of single-message campaigns.

Key takeaway for marketers:Theseresultsdemonstrateprettyclearlyhowwelldripcampaigns—eventhosethatdon’tperforminthetop25percent—willengageprospectsandoutperformsingle-messagecampaigns.Thiscanbeapowerfulargument when you need to sell your top management on moving away from the single-message approach and the potential need for additional resources.

Form Completion




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Analysis:Timetofilloutaformwasakeyfactorincompletionratesforbothnewleadsandthosewhopreviouslyhadcompleted a more basic form and were given a more detailed one to enable the marketer to gather further information. Theformsthatwereabletobecompletedquicklyweremostlikelytobefinished,whilethosethattooklongerweremoreoftenabandonedmidwaythrough.However,thenumberorpercentageofrequiredfieldsappearedtohavelittleimpactoncompletion rate.

Thestudyfoundthat“update”formswerecompletedatarate20percentto25percenthigherthannew-leadforms.Updateformsoftenrequirefewerfieldsbefilledbecausemarketersarepopulatingfieldswithexistingdata.Prepopulatingformssaves people time and, when done effectively, reinforces a positive relationship with the prospect.

FORM COMPLETION RATES - NEW LEADS

Q1 Q2

Average of Total

Top 25%Bottom

25%Average of Total

Top 25%Bottom

25%

Average completion rate 33.7% 54.0% 12.9% 34.1% 60.5% 10.3%

Averagetotalfields 11.5 10.9 12.7 10.9 10.7 11.1

Averagerequiredfields 8.1 8.3 6.8 7.9 7.7 8.2

Average percentage # requiredfields

72.7% 76.2% 57.2% 77.1% 77.0% 76.6%

Timetocomplete:%ofaverage

100% 81.0% 109% 100% 87.9% 112.8%

FORM COMPLETION RATES - UPDATES

Q1 Q2

Average of Total

Top 25%Bottom

25%Average of Total

Top 25%Bottom

25%

Average completion rate 63.7% 82.7% 42.1% 62.5% 80.8% 40.4%

Averagetotalfields 9.1 5.5 10.8 9.4 7.7 8.2

Averagerequiredfields 7.2 4.9 8.4 7.2 6.9 6.9

Average percentage # requiredfields

80.6% 90.6% 76.3% 81.9% 83.4% 84.8%

Timetocomplete:%ofaverage

100% 81.0% 108.8% 100% 94.9% 96.0%

Additionally, higher completion rates of update forms most likely occurred because prospects recognized the relationships they had already established with the company and the time they’d already spend providing information.

Key takeaway for marketers:Fornewlead-captureforms,theredoesn’tappeartobeamagicnumberofoptimumformfields.Butwebelievethereisanoptimumnumberorrangeforeachcompany.Obviously,fewerrequiredfieldsgenerallywillproducea higher completion rate, but you need to balance that against gathering information you need to begin qualifying or nurturing leads.

Thestudyresultsdoappeartosuggestthatthetimetocompleteaformmaybemoreimportantthanthenumberoffields.Therefore,makesureyourformpagesaresimple,clearandbrief.Theformfieldsshouldbedesignedandwrittensotheycanbecompleted without any hesitation.

Forupdateforms,considerincorporatingprepopulatedfieldstospeedcompletion.

Thefollowingbestpracticescanhelpyousharpenyourqualificationprogram,weedingoutmarginalprospectswhileengaginghot leads and moving them quickly to your sales team:

• Standardizeyourlead-capturequestions,includingonlythosethatcanhelpyouquicklyidentifyhotprospectstobemovedontosalesorthoseinneedofnurturing.Avoidopen-endedquestions;giveusersdrop-downmenusthatdefinechoicesandallow you to evaluate leads more uniformly.

• Useformsthatbothpopulateautomaticallywiththeinformationyourprospectshavealreadygivenyouandprovidenewfieldsforyournextroundofinformation-collecting.Thisreducesthetimeareturningprospecthastospendenteringinfor-mationandallowsyoutousefewerfieldsinyourupdateforms.

• Allowhand-raiserswhoindicateontheformthatthey’rereadyforademoorasalescalltobypasstherestofyourlead-nurturingprocessandmovedirectlyovertosales.Customerswhoreceiveasalescallwithinhoursofindicatingthey’reready to talk will be much more impressed with your program than if they sit for days without a contact.

• Toprovideagoodcustomerexperience,progressivelygathermoreinformationovertime,ratherthanforcingeveryonetofillout a long list of questions early on in the relationship.

Touches/Contacts Before a Customer Win




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Analysis:Highperformers(asmeasuredbyclick-throughrates)“touch”leadsmorefrequently—atleastthreetofourtimeseachmonth—comparedtoanaverageonetouchmonthlyinlower-performingprograms.Wealsofoundhighperformerssendmorefrequently to fewer people in small batches of relevant email triggered by behavior and time-based events.

Key takeaway for marketers: This further demonstrates the value of relevant messaging as found in drip versus single-message campaigns. The combination of more frequent messaging and emails sent in smaller, targeted batches culminates more often in customer wins. While frequency and cadence play a key role by staying top-of-mind with prospects, using a drip approach to touch leads with the right message at the right time is the key driver of success.

Bounces and UnsubscribesAnalysis:Averagehard-bouncerates(messagesthatareundeliverablebecauseofinvalidaddresses)areaboutthesameforsingle-message and drip campaigns. This seems logical, as the driver of these rates is likely mostly about the opt-in form ap-proach and nature of offers, which should be fairly consistent across single- and drip-message approaches.

The unsubscribe rate, however, is slightly higher in drip campaigns, possibly because of higher frequency and a more aggressive or transparent sales approach.

AVERAGE TOUCHES - WINS

Q1 Q2

Total Top 25%Bottom

25%Total Top 25%

Bottom 25%

AverageTouchesPerMonth 1.8 3.0 1.0 2.7 4.3 1.1

Key takeaway for marketers:Thebounceandunsubscriberesultsdidnotrevealanycompellinginsight.However,ifyourratesare well outside of the averages cited, you likely have problems with your opt-in forms, permission practices, or frequency or content.

Impact of Frequency




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Q1 Q2

Total Top 25%Bottom

25%Total Top 25%

Bottom 25%

HardBounceRate 4.8% 4.4% 3.9% 4.4% 4.7% 4.0%

UnsubscribeRate 0.5% 0.4% 0.4% 0.5% 0.3% 0.9%


Q1 Q2

Total Top 25%Bottom

25%Total Top 25%

Bottom 25%

HardBounceRate 4.3% 5.0% 4.2% 5.2% 5.0% 5.7%

UnsubscribeRate 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%

Analysis: The top performers had two to four times as many email sends as weaker performers. The number of different creative approaches used, however, did not vary greatly, ranging from about two to three different email versions.

Top-performingdripcampaignsgenerallytargetedlessthanaquarterofthenumberofrecipientsthatotherB2Bmarketersinthestudyemailed.Infact,companiesinthetop-performingquartilesenttojustsevenpeopleonaverageversus150to170forthelowperformers.Theseresultssuggestthatthehigh-performingcompanieshadmoreclearlydefinedtargetsorsegmented their email databases by behavior as the entry criteria of their campaigns.


Q1 Q2

Total Top 25%Bottom

25%Total Top 25%

Bottom 25%

#EmailSends 80 109 26 69 69 35

#CreativeMessages 2.4 3.1 2.1 2.5 2.6 2.8

#Contacts 2,855 757 4,367 3,070 602 5,461


Key takeaway for marketers:Themajorlessonis,“thinksmall,small,small.”Inotherwords,themoretightlybatchedandnarrow your emails are, the better. This means sending each drip message in real time, triggered by an event or change in user behavior rather than batching the emails manually once per week, for example. Small groups of messages that are highlyrelevantdeliver“therightmessageattherighttime”andarethecoredriverofhigherresponserates.

Summing Up: Using This Information to Improve Your Own Lead-Management Program

Thereareseveralwaysyoucanusetheinformationandfindingsinthisreporttoengageprospectsandadvanceyourleadnurturing.

• First,studythebenchmarkfindingstoseehowyoustandrelativetoothers.However,don’tstopthere.• Next,benchmarkagainstyourgoals:

TofindoutmoreaboutSilverpop’sEngageB2Bsolutionandhowitcanbenefityourcompany,pleasecontacttollfree at1-877-484-7704

Visit us at www.silverpop.com/b2b

o Where could your program be if you changed your structure from single-message campaigns to drip campaigns using messagesbytimeandrecipientbehavior?

o Whatwillittaketogetyouthere?• Assesswhatreturnyoucouldexpectintermsofleadquality,volume,customerwinsandrevenue.• Determinehowtoreallocateyourresourcesandadaptyourcontenttoworkinadriporlifecycleapproach.• Createalead-scoringprocessthatattachesavaluetoeveryactionprospectstakeuntiltheyscorehighenoughtobe

moved over to the sales force for action.• Utilizeautomationtoachievemorewiththesameresources.Thiswillrequiremoreupfronttimetocreatemessagesanda

scoringsystemaswellascreatetimeandbehaviortriggersformessagesequencing.Butafterthat,theprogramwillrunlargely on autopilot.

Resources

Definitions of Key Terms

Single-message campaign: These are campaigns, usually including periodic newsletters or solo promotions, in which every subscriber receives the same message each time, regardless of his or her place in the sales cycle, preferences, interests or behavior.

Drip campaign:Acampaign(emailand/ordirectmailandtelesales)usingaseriesofmessagesdistributedbasedonprospectdata,timingand/oruseractions.Messagestypicallyincludecallstoactionthatwhenactedonmayincreaseaperson’sleadscore and potentially move that person into a new message track or lead status.

Multitrack/multistep campaign: A campaign that mixes automatically launched messages in a timed sequence, but which assigns participants to one of several tracks based on their data or behavior at the launch. The lead will likely move to a new trackbasedontime/completingatrack,takingcertainactionsorhavingachangeindemographicsorfirmagraphics.

Key differences among campaign types: Single-message campaigns typically do not build on previous responses, are launchedmanuallyandreflectcompanygoalsmorethanrecipientinterestoraction.Drip-campaignmessagestypicallylaunchautomaticallybasedonanactionsuchasadownloadorinformationrequestandcenterontheprospect.Multitrack/stepcampaigns also use a series of timed messages designed to move the prospect further into the sales funnel but which differ according to the track and reflect the prospect’s own data and actions.

Top and bottom quartiles:Foreachmetricweanalyzedtheoverallaverageaswellasthetop25percentandbottom25percentquartiles.Foreachmetricanalyzed,wesortedthedatabythat,oranother,metricdeemedtobethebestindicatorofperformance.Wethenreportedthetop25andbottom25percent.Forexample,weusedclick-throughratestosortthequartilesfor most of the email response rates.




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Benchmark study of B2B lead management practices