Why are some companies more successful than others?

• Does McDonald’s make the best hamburgers?
• Is Microsoft Explorer the best web browser?
• Does Kraft make the best macaroni & cheese?
• Does Anheuser-Busch make the best beer?

OK, you get my point. The names above are iconic brands. And to build a brand, you must be successful at what you do. So let’s define successful companies as those who achieve sustained growth. They are profitable and continue to grow – but their products are often far from best. In fact, maybe success is what they are best at – they continue to grow month after month, quarter after quarter, year after year.

The Role of Marketing

To grow, you must make a profit. To increase profits a company can raise prices, lower costs, or just plain sell more. The best way to sell more is with more high-quality leads.

Today’s marketers wear many hats. Responsibilities include direct marketing, product marketing, brand marketing, guerrilla marketing, trade show marketing and marketing communications, to name a few. The goal of all of these is to communicate, generate awareness and produce leads. The best marketers produce high-quality leads.

How do you generate more high-quality leads?

When it comes to lead generation, all leads are not equal. More is not always better. Quality trumps quantity every time. Poor-quality leads are a waste of salespeople’s time. Inappropriate leads may just not be ready to buy right now. It’s important to segment your leads based on who they are, and to target where they are in the decision-making process. Categorizing your leads is an important part of high-quality lead generation.

Considering that up to 90 percent of all consumers conduct online research prior to making a purchase, it makes sense to have an online presence to assist them in their journey. But a web presence no longer means having just a website, which is often nothing more than an online product brochure. Providing relevant content online is a strategy that requires vision and planning.

Content marketing educates buyers. It engages them throughout the decision-making process until they are ready to purchase. Educating your prospects accomplishes several things. First, prospects learn more about you, your company, and your industry. Educating is an opportunity to teach and it positions you as a subject matter expert. Second, it provides you with an opportunity to learn more about your prospects. Every interaction with a prospect furthers the relationship, helps build trust and credibility, and positions you as a resource prospects are more likely to do business with.

Like, Trust, Respect

A primary role of marketing is to provide high-quality leads. The right strategy, executed correctly, creates awareness and positions the company as an industry leader. Over time, you earn credibility. Remember, people choose to do business with people they like, trust and respect.

Delivering the right information to the right people at the right time is key to creating high-quality leads. And high-quality leads make the difference between companies that merely teach and companies that grow.

To learn how the best content marketers are generating high-quality leads to get better marketing results, download HubSopt’s free State of Inbound 2014-2015 Report.

What are you doing to generate high-quality leads? What are you best at? Let us know in the Comments section below. A real person reads and responds to all comments.

Thanks,

David

To learn more about Crest, go to www.crestconsultingllc.com or contact me anytime.

At Crest, we help companies

• Create content that separates them from their competition
• Become subject matter experts in their field
• Measure the effectiveness of their marketing $$
• Generate a consistent pipeline of high-quality leads for less
• Turn clients into evangelists