BtoB Lead Generation Using Traditional Media is Dead

The Chief Marketing Officer for a highly targetable vertical BtoB market told me that the traditional method of generating leads using direct mail plus telemarketing and Internet support was dead.

He now uses online marketing without print, outbound telemarketing or direct mail support to qualify prospects and set up appointments.

After one year using this approach, he claims that he achieved his sales objectives and was pleased with the ROI.

He did admit that the cost for using the Internet marketing only approach exceeded the cost of an intensive traditional approach in year one.

The decision to use new media alone was done without the benefit of testing.  

His universe consists of less than 5,000 decision makers in several market segments that exist on rentable mailing lists. These lists represent the actual names, titles, addresses and current phone numbers with a penetration of over 90% of the available target markets. The list accuracy and overall quality is excellent.

I’ m interested to hear your reaction to this story. Have you heard of or tested a similar approach? What were the results?

Ted Grigg

Ted Grigg is a direct response strategist who helps growth-focused companies reduce risk by identifying weak assumptions before they become costly mistakes.

Over the course of his career, Ted has evaluated several hundred million dollars in direct response testing across direct mail, digital, print, television, telephone, and other channels. His work combines direct response strategy, acquisition economics, customer analysis, creative evaluation, offer development, and disciplined testing.

Ted has worked on both the client and agency sides of the business. That experience gives him a practical understanding of the pressures facing executives, marketing teams, agencies, and service providers—and of the problems that arise when activity, media volume, or creative preference replaces a clear economic objective.

His consulting work helps organizations examine such questions as:

  • Are acquisition goals economically realistic?

  • Is the allowable Cost Per Sale supported by customer value?

  • Are targeting, offers, creative, media, and response paths working together?

  • Are tests structured to produce reliable business decisions?

  • Are unproven assumptions being treated as facts?

  • Is the organization measuring sales outcomes rather than convenient proxies?

Ted’s experience includes the development of direct mail and multichannel acquisition programs for insurance, healthcare, financial services, technology, nonprofit, manufacturing, retail, transportation, communications, government, and business-to-business organizations.

For a national direct-to-consumer insurance company, he developed a direct mail format that defeated established controls and helped expand the productive use of compiled prospect lists from less than 10 percent to more than 30 percent of total direct mail circulation within one year. He also planned Medicare lead-generation programs for more than 60 regional and national HMO and PPO organizations, with some programs exceeding sales projections by as much as 60 percent.

Ted founded Wyse Direct, a direct marketing division of Wyse Advertising in Cleveland, where he developed acquisition programs and helped launch a new technology product for Seiko Instruments by generating a predictable flow of qualified sales leads for its national sales organization. As vice president of new business development for the Grizzard Agency, he helped broaden the agency’s strategic capabilities and pursue new commercial and fundraising opportunities.

He is the author of The HMO/PPO Marketing Plan—A Step-by-Step Guide, published by Executive Enterprises, and has written numerous articles and conducted webinars on direct response strategy, testing, creative development, and marketing economics.

Ted earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Abilene Christian University and completed two years of graduate study at Texas Tech University. He is the founder of DMCG, LLC.

http://www.dmcgresults.com
Previous
Previous

Turning Your Advertising Agency into a New Business Winning Machine

Next
Next

Direct Mail Still Core Medium for Fundraisers