Sales and marketing sometimes have a bit of a contentious relationship. However, I have always felt that they are different sides of the same coin.
One of the main disconnects between sales and marketing is typically the sales side of the business perceive that leads from marketing aren’t that strong. To quote a rather famous movie line, “The leads are weak!”.
Many times that is true. Traditionally marketing has thrown any and every lead over the fence to sales. So yes the leads may be …let’s say inconsistent. However, with inbound marketing, we have the chance for marketing to nurture leads that come into the funnel.
We know where these “sales ready,” leads are in the buying process and maybe some hints on what they are most interested in buying.
Not too bad, huh?
If sales receive properly nurtured leads the chance of closing a sale is more likely. And sales wastes less time and resources chasing leads that aren’t going to pan out.
So how can marketing turn better leads over to sales? In many cases, it starts with your home base, your website. You need an informative and helpful website. The old axiom that people buy from people they like is still true, and one way to ensure that people like your company is to help them.
Content creation is one of the best ways to educate your customer. From blogging to video to case studies and e-books, each piece of content needs to have the goal of moving a prospect down the funnel.
You can also combine live events and material handling trade shows with inbound marketing techniques to increase the ROI of your events.
Want to learn more about how you can help market your company? Download our parent’s company’s Guide to Marketing for Industrial and Manufacturing Companies.
Or contact us today.