What’s “Worth” More Budgeting Dollars: Lead Nurturing vs. Lead Generation-Part 1
We’re excited to have a two-part guest post by Jude Fischer at Adventive Marketing, Inc: What’s “Worth” More Budgeting Dollars: Lead Nurturing vs. Lead Generation. Jude’s post fits in nicely with our methodology and commitment to lead nurturing. We so often hear “lead generation” as a catch-all for ad agency new business development, but don’t hear nearly enough about the importance of lead nurturing and why the two should be considered separately. In the course of two posts, Jude lends some insight to the importance of lead nurturing within the context of budgeting for 2011.
I’ve been involved in a couple of LinkedIn B2B Lead Generation Roundtable Group discussions over the past week, both centered in one way or another around the importance of balancing lead generation programs – and budgeting – with lead nurturing activities.
The first discussion has centered on ways in which companies can improve the alignment between sales and marketing, a topic we’ve covered in our blog and in our white paper, Lead Nurturing and the Role it Plays in Sales Development.
Much of the conversation has focused on increasing the dialogue between the two groups so both parties become more closely aligned on the same end game – increasing sales and profitability. Many of us have commented that the first step toward doing this is to pay more attention to the process.
The selling process, and even more importantly, the customer’s buying process.
The second discussion was started by someone who asked whether we thought it was “worth” more to invest marketing dollars in lead generation or lead management and nurturing. As B2B marketers are busy budgeting for 2011, this is certainly a very timely topic.
So which is it?
The simple answer is that both are important and, thus, should be appropriately funded. But when push comes to shove and management has rejected your first round of budgeting, what are you going to cut in round two?
As a long-time media guy, I’ve planned more lead generation campaigns than I care to remember, so I certainly understand the desire to keep new names flowing into the funnel, but if it were my money, I would forego my lead gen activities for as long as it took to develop and implement a lead management/nurturing program. It just makes good business sense.
In part 2, Jude further discusses budgeting for 2011, and the results other companies are realizing through their lead nurturing efforts:
Jude Fischer is a Partner and Director of Advertising Services for Adventive Marketing, Inc. in Arlington Heights, IL. As Adventive Marketing’s Director of Advertising Services, he plays a role in all phases of client marketing. From development of creative, to audience segmentation, to strategic planning and campaign management, he has a directive hand in the successful execution of all Adventive communication solutions and strategies.
Lee McKnight Jr
I'm the VP of Sales at RSW/US. We specialize in working with services firms to help drive and close new business-if you need help with that, email me at lee@rswus.com. What I actually do: drive sales efforts to bring ad agencies and services firms on board with RSW, create content around successful new business tactics and help drive RSW/US marketing objectives, including social media channels, blog content, webinars, video and speaking engagements. Dig it.
