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Funnel Optimization: Why marketers must

embrace change | MarketingSherpa Blog
Jen Doyle

3 minutes

We just wrapped the production of our 2012 B2B

Marketing Benchmark Report. The overwhelming theme
in this study of 1,745 B2B marketers is that the B2B
marketing environment is becoming increasingly more
challenging over time.  In year-over-year (YoY)
comparisons of the research, the perceived
effectiveness of tactics has seen severe declines.
MarketingSherpa wanted to get to the bottom of what’s
really happening.

Marketers are all aware of the changes that have taken

place in the market. Buyers research their purchasing
decisions online, not by calling Sales. Marketers get that.
But what are they really doing about it?

In our recent study, we uncovered some pretty shocking

statistics that indicate marketers resist the adoption of
new, critical best practices in funnel optimization,
inhibiting their success to win over the modern B2B
buyer. For example:

68% of study participants have not identified their

Sales and Marketing funnel
61% send all leads directly to Sales; however, only
27% of those leads will be qualified
 79% have not established lead scoring
65% have not established lead nurturing

(Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing

Benchmark Survey; Methodology: Fielded June 2011,
N=1,745)

If we want to succeed in our evolving marketplace, we

must embrace change. After all, we cannot anticipate
better results if we continue to market our businesses
the same way over and over again.

Organizations stand to receive great benefits by

embracing change and adopting funnel optimization
techniques. In fact, organizations practicing formal
processes for funnel optimizations strategies achieve a
56% lift in lead generation ROI over organizations
without any funnel optimization process (Source: ©2011
MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Benchmark Survey).

Embarking on a funnel optimization campaign can be

daunting; there is so much to be done. You need to:

Qualify leads
Score them
Nurture them
Manage them

It’s far better to get started with some optimization than

pay no regard to it at all. First, define the criteria of a
qualified lead and begin to screen leads from Sales, then
offer basic nurturing using repurposed content. You can
build and optimize campaigns over time but the key is to
get started.

Jen Doyle will next be speaking at B2B Summit 2011 in

San Francisco, October 24-25, in a tactical training session
about lead scoring.

Related Resources:

2012 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report