The 7 Second Website Test for B2B Marketers

Posted by Jeff Ogden on October 19, 2011

B2B Lead Generation | The 7 Second Website Test

This is one of our most popular posts from 2010 and since it is relevant today, we want to bring it back.

At the Social Media Camp on Long Island, we got into an interesting discussion about how to get attention to drive sales leads. When I shared the “7 Second Test,” one of the experts agreed “That’s why every comedian makes sure his first joke is his best. That’s what grabs the audience.”

The idea of the “7 Second Test” is that you have 7 seconds to get the attention of the visitor to your website. In those first few seconds, they decide if your website is worth further investigation. If the conclusion is “yes,” they continue on. If it’s “No,” They leave.

As a B2B marketer, what can we do to measure how well we are doing in the “7 Second Test”

Here’s what I suggest:

Get a stopwatch and a swatch of black felt.
Find someone who is unfamiliar with your company. (Your mom’s a good candidate.)
On a computer, go to your company’s home page.
Cover the monitor with felt, so she cannot see it.
Sit your mom down in front of the monitor. Don’t tell her what you’re doing, only that you want her to tell you what she sees.
Start the stopwatch and uncover the monitor.
When the stopwatch gets to 7 seconds, hit the power button on the monitor to turn it off.
Ask your test subject (mom) to describe what she saw.
1. Can she describe your company?
2. Can she articulate your value?
3. Can she state your value proposition?
4. Can she identify your target market?

If she did not do very well, rethink your website design. How can you grab the reader in 7 seconds?

I think this will open some eyes in your company and you’ll see why Simplicity is one of my “6 Keys to B2B Marketing Success Today.”

What do you think? We love comments and people who share.

Jeff Ogden (@fearlesscomp) is President of the B2B lead generation consultancy, Find New Customers. Find New Customers helps companies rapidly grow revenue by transforming how they attract, engage and win new customers. Contact Find New Customers at (516) 495-9350 or by emailing sales at findnewcustomers.com.

Why Sales needs Content Marketing and Marketing Automation

Posted by Jeff Ogden on September 20, 2011

B2B Demand Generation | The Benefit to Sales

If you’re in BtoB Sales, you may be thinking that this great content stuff and demand generation talk belongs in marketing. After all, you need to close deals! “This mumbo-jumbo’s not for me. I need to be out there talking to prospective customers.”

I think the problem is us. We’ve been talking about the marketing point of view for a long time. Now let’s talk about your world in Sales.

Let’s examine a Sales scenario to illustrate the power of content marketing and marketing automation software. The point we want to make clear is this:

The primary beneficiary of content marketing and marketing automation is Sales.

Sales Scenario 1: Without content marketing and marketing automation

Sally Smith, a Sales rep for us, calls target customer and leaves a message. Sally waits a few days and leaves another voice-mail message. Sally sends an email. After a few weeks, after more voice-mails and e-mails - with no response, Sally gives up.

Sales Scenario 2: With content marketing and marketing automation

Sally calls prospect and leaves a message. Prospect visits website and checks out the company. Though he did not fill out a form, Sally knows who it is and edits the anonymous visitor record with the contact name and company.

Seeing what the prospect did, Sally calls again and leaves a personalized message. Prospect visits again and downloads a white paper - completing a form. (And since she edited the record, both visits are captured. The prospect is automatically added into lead nurturing - and valuable information is shared over time. Because we’ve implemented lead scoring we’re able us to see exactly when they are sales-ready - ready to talk to Sales.

45 days later, Sally is notified that she has a new lead. She calls the prospect and the prospect answers. “Sally, great to hear from you. I’ve been getting so much great information from your company and I’m convinced you can help me. I look forward to meeting you.”

I hope you can now see how content marketing and marketing automation actually benefits Sales.

If you’re in B2B Sales and you feel you’re not getting the quality leads you really need, please share this post with your Vice President of Sales.

What do you think? We love comments and those who share. And we’re proud to be syndicated by many services like CustomerCollective, B2C, and many others.

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Jeff Ogden (@fearlesscomp) is the President of the B2B lead generation consultancy Find New Customers. Find New Customers helps companies dramatically improve revenue results by transforming the way they attract, engage and win new customers. Contact Find New Customers by calling (516) 495-9350 or sending an email to sales at findnewcustomers.com.

“If more companies listened to (Find New Customers) a lot more would be sold.” Dan McDade, Pointclear.

Partners of Find New Customers

Posted by Jeff Ogden on July 26, 2011

B2B Demand Generation | Partners of Find New Customers

We wish to share a quick update on where we are today with Find New Customers strategic partnerships. We value these partners a great deal:

Find New Customers is a Gold partner for Silverpop
Find New Customers is a Referral partner for Eloqua (new)
Find New Customers is a partner with the Eloqua services company, Demandgen (new)
Find New Customers is partnered with the content framework company, Avitage
We also have relationships via partners, like Marketo, (DemandGen, our partner is a Marketo partner) However, we also have our own strong relationships - Marketo sponsored our superb white paper, How to Find New Customers.

Feel free to contact us if we can be of help for you.

Bonus: Here’s the answer to the question we will ask at 3pm ET on Twitter. “What is the three word business slogan of Find New Customers?” The answer: Always Be Helping

The first person to answer correctly will win a copy of Launch by Mike Stelzner.

We also offer a cheap and easy way to get started – with our $49 demand generation training course (via email). Just click the highlighted words.

Jeff Ogden (@fearlesscomp) is President of the B2B lead generation consultancy, Find New Customers. He has continually adapted and learned as the years passed by, becoming an expert in social media, demand generation and content marketing.

To learn about Jeff, please click Who is the Fearless Competitor?

Find New Customers helps companies (with between 150 and 5,000 employees who sell complex products to businesses) to implement world-class lead generation programs. As companies struggle to create quality sales opportunities, they turn to lead generation companies like Find New Customers.

Expert Advice for B2B Marketing: 5 Tips from Thought Leaders

Posted by Jeff Ogden on July 11, 2011

B2B Demand Generation | 5 Tips from the Pros

In this terrible economy, business leaders need simple, actionable information to improve revenue results. This post shares that.

Jon Miller, Co-Founder and VP Marketing at Marketo distilled advice from top experts in B2B marketing, I thought we should share it with you, as it’s simple and clear.

It’s is our hope it gives you action items to work on today.

Thanks for sharing it, Jon.

The Top 5 Tips for Better B2B Marketing are:

1. Start with a Solid Base. According to thought leader Paul Dunay, a successful, high-yield B2B marketing program relies on a solid lead nurturing platform. In order to make best use of the leads that come in, marketers need a system that can track, qualify and contact leads regularly in order to effectively nurture and follow-up with prospects. (Editor’s Note: We’ve often compared B2B demand generation to building a house. The quality of the foundation is paramount. This means rock solid buyer personas, agreed lead definitions, strong value propositions and more.)

2. Use Push AND Pull Tactics. Many B2B marketers focus on the push tactics in order to find new customers. While this is a necessary component of B2B marketing, the majority of B2B purchasers seek out a vendor when they are ready to buy. Thought Leader Craig Rosenberg emphasized that the most effective demand generation campaigns utilize a combination of both types of marketing tactics. B2B marketers should ensure they can easily be found by prospective customers through a comprehensive program of website optimization and cultivating an online presence via:

Industry Blogs
Relevant Social Networks
Media Sharing Sites
Social Bookmarking sites
Paid Search

(Editor’s Note: Find New Customers uses all of these approaches - except paid search. We stay away from paid advertising. We rely on our many fans to spread the word.)

3. Integrate Your Efforts. The previous tip underscored the importance of a varied marketing strategy. Within the different venues a B2B marketer uses to reach prospects, consistent messaging is vital. Thought Leader Dianna Huff highlights integrated messaging as a key component of a successful B2B marketing communication strategy. As prospects seek out and interact with B2B vendors in multiple mediums, an integrated marketing message can ensure a given vendor stands out and is remembered. (Editor’s note: Integrate marketing database, email, landing page, call to action, nurturing messaging, social media approach, etc.)

4. Innovate. It is easy for B2B marketers to get stuck in a rut by sticking to what has always worked. However, in a time where he marketplace is constantly changing, marketer might want to re-think this approach. Thought Leader Hunter Boyle advises B2B marketers to adapt their methods and test bold moves in order to both effectively reach and resonate with prospective clients for demand generation. Whether new ideas work or fail, B2B marketers can use the results to refine their processes and develop even more successful ideas. (Editor’s Note: We agree 100% on the need to test “bold moves.” We suggest marketers “let their freak flag fly.”)

5. Test, Test and Retest. While developing innovative new tactics is important, it is also important to thoroughly test these tactics before jumping in head-first. Thought Leader Mark Klein stresses the importance of testing as a quick and easy way to jumpstart your marketing ROI. An idea may seem promising, however until a tactic starts generating results there is no way to be certain. Even successful tactics can be improved upon, and testing and retesting is the best way to determine which aspects to refine in order to reach the campaign that will yield the highest ROI. (Editor’s Note: Amen on testing. Marketing is all about continual experimentation and testing.)

What do you think of those five tips? We love comments and those who share. Please enter your comment below.

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Jeff Ogden (@fearlesscomp) is President of the B2B lead generation consultancy, Find New Customers. He presented “How to Build an Awesome Personal Brand” at the 140 Social Media Conference and appeared to discuss B2B lead generation on Sales Lead Management Radio. To learn more about Jeff, please click on Who is the Fearless Competitor?

Find New Customers | Great content on B2B demand generation and always FREE

Posted by Jeff Ogden on June 28, 2011

B2B Lead Generation | Free content at Find New Customers

“The content at Find New Customers is so good, you really should make it a pay site.”

That has been suggested several times. Problem is, that is not our business strategy.

We use the Elevation Principle (as Mike Stelzner spoke of in this book Launch.) Click highlighted words for “My Totally Awesome Review of Mike Stelzner’s book, Launch.”

The elevation principle says that great content combined with other people and without marketing messages will help your business rapidly grow.

The Elevation Principle:

Great Content + Other People - Marketing Messages equals Success.

With about 1/2 of salespeople failing to make quota today (from CSO Insights) it’s clear they need a lot of help.

With CMOs saying the lack of quality sales leads is their #1 challenge (MarketingSherpa), they need a lot of help too.

This is why Find New Customers will always be free - if salespeople and Chief Marketing Officers are struggling, we’re here to help.

With this new form of marketing you rapidly grow by giving gifts free of marketing messages while your competitors struggle to survive.

As Mike Stelzner says, we believe in giving the gift of free content to those struggling sales and marketing leaders.

What will you find at Find New Customers today?

A free Education section on B2B demand generation.
A Thought Leadership page with articles, podcasts and events for your learning.
Free tools you can use to measure your existing B2B demand generation programs.
A CEO page for business owners and leaders.
And last but not least, our remarkable white papers on lead generation (How to Find New Customers), B2B sales (Definitive Guide to Making Quota) and email marketing (Moving from Transactional to Conversational Email Marketing).

If you manage salespeople or head marketing, why don’t you visit Find New Customers today and take advantage of our gift of great free content on how to solve your most vexing problems?

What do you think? Please post your comment below.

Jeff Ogden (@fearlesscomp) is President of the B2B lead generation consultancy, Find New Customers. Find New Customers helps companies rapidly grow revenue by transforming the ways they attract, engage and win new customers. Contact Find New Customers by calling (516) 495-9350 or sending an email to sales at findnewcustomers.com.

To learn more about Jeff, please click on Who is the Fearless Competitor?

“Find New Customers, can certainly help your business dramatically improve the flow of sales-ready leads to salespeople.” Paul Dunay, Buzz Marketing for Technology.

The 140 Conference on Long Island

Posted by Jeff Ogden on May 20, 2011

Jeff Ogden

I’m one of the featured speakers at this social media conference today. My featured talk is at 12:45pm. I’d love to see you there.

Here is the full list of speakers.

“Passionate” “Informative” “Personal” “Inspirational” “Fast-Paced” “Unpredictable”

The world has changed, is changing right now, and you know it; it’s exciting and terrifying all at once. The 140 Characters Conference is your opportunity to learn what this change in the world is, how it affects us here in Long Island and how it affects your life and your business personally. When you leave this conference you will walk away with real answers.

The #140conf events provide a platform for a worldwide community to: listen, connect, share and engage with each other, while collectively exploring the effects of the emerging real-time Internet on business. On Thursday May 26th 2011, Long Islanders become an important part of that community.

The schedule is unique and fast paced. We will provide a platform for as many people as possible to share their thoughts and engage in conversation with the audience. Individual talks are 5 minutes, “Featured talks” are 10-15 minutes and Panel Discussions are 10-15 minutes.

Jeff Ogden (@fearlesscomp) is President of the B2B lead generation consultancy, Find New Customers.

We help companies with between 150 and 5,000 employees who sell complex products to businesses to implement world-class lead generation programs. As companies struggle to create quality sales opportunities, they turn to lead generation companies like Find New Customers.

The 140 Conference on Long Island

Posted by Jeff Ogden on May 18, 2011

Jeff Ogden

I’m one of the featured speakers at this social media conference today. My featured talk is at 12:45pm. I’d love to see you there. But don’t be late, as I only get 5 minutes.

Here is the full list of speakers.

“Passionate” “Informative” “Personal” “Inspirational” “Fast-Paced” “Unpredictable”

Jeff Ogden (@fearlesscomp) is President of the B2B lead generation consultancy, Find New Customers.

The 140 Conference on Long Island

Posted by Jeff Ogden on May 17, 2011

Jeff Ogden

I’m one of the featured speakers at this social media conference today. My featured talk is at 12:45pm. I’d love to see you there.

Here is the full list of speakers.

“Passionate” “Informative” “Personal” “Inspirational” “Fast-Paced” “Unpredictable”

Jeff Ogden (@fearlesscomp) is President of the B2B lead generation consultancy, Find New Customers.

White Paper | Email Marketing

Posted by Jeff Ogden on May 3, 2011

Lead Generation Companies | Moving from Transactional to Conversational Email Marketing

“Email is the lynchpin of B2B marketing today”
Joel Book, ExactTarget

It may be the lynchpin of B2B marketing, but the competition for the inbox is more competitive than ever. It’s clear that the “batch and blast” approaches of the past no longer work.

If you wish to learn what does work today, download this free white paper, sponsored by Genius.com - by clicking the image. It contains insights from top experts at Exact Target, e-Dialog and other top firms.

Click the image below to download it. (Your information will be shared with Genius.com, our sponsor, but it will be simple to opt out.)

What do you think? We love your comments and re-Tweets.

Jeff Ogden is President of the B2B lead generation consultancy, Find New Customers. We help companies with between 150 and 5,000 employees who sell complex products to businesses to implement world-class lead generation programs. As companies struggle to create quality sales opportunities, they turn to lead generation companies like Find New Customers.

How to Find New Customers - the highly acclaimed white paper

Posted by Jeff Ogden on April 28, 2011

Lead Generation Companies | How to Find New Customers

This classic white paper, originally penned many months ago, has won broad acclaim, like this CEO. “I think this white paper is excellent.” The Funnelholic called it a “must read.” And another CMO wrote “It’s a great read. I printed it and gave it to my entire marketing team.”

I discuss this white paper in the video clip below.

I share one more review below. But since it’s widely acknowledged to be the simple guide to B2B lead generation and it’s free, why not download it now?

(Valid email address required. Your information will be shared with the sponsor of the white paper, Marketo, but you can easily opt out.)

Click Here to Download How to Find New Customers

Kevin Temple of Enterprise Selling read it and said

“I reached out to Find New Customers to ascertain if I should introduce (them) to my sales effectiveness clients. The short answer was yes! Find New Customers has not only distilled the science of lead nurturing into a work of art, but they are a walking, talking billboard for the process. If your sales people need more qualified leads, get Find New Customers onto your team asap!”

Kevin Temple, President and CEO, The Enterprise Selling Group (916)939-1939 [email protected]

Do your sales teams need more qualified sales opportunities? Then click on the image below to download this free white paper on B2B lead generation.

(Please note that we share your contact info with the sponsor, Marketo, but you can easily opt out if you wish.)

How to Find New Customers

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