By Michelle Etherton, The Partner Marketing Group
We all know by now that marketing is an investment in the future of our businesses, not an expense, which is why it’s important to know how to get your greatest Return on Investment (ROI). The Partner Marketing Group’s 2014 Technology Marketing Survey combined feedback from a wide variety of VARs, ISVs, and other technology providers to provide statistics on marketing trends and share their experiences.
The first section of the survey focused on lead generation – who uses what tactics, where $$ are currently being spent, and what means they felt were most effective in terms of generating true leads.
It is easy to understand why email marketing was ranked #1in terms of most of the marketers using it (90.5%). It’s cheap compared to other tactics such as SEO and events. It makes one wonder why the other 9.5% don’t use it or what they’re using instead! Actually, by looking at the statistics on page 3 of Lead Generation Tactics, the trend appears to be in direct correlation (mostly) for the rank of the marketing tactic used (1 to 15) to how much each tactic costs (cheapest to most expensive).
However, that statistic only illustrates the breadth of marketing tactics used. On page 4 of the survey, the marketers weigh in on the most effective tactics. Although inbound versus outbound marketing techniques are still being employed around 50/50 each, the trend is definitely shifting toward inbound. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ranked #1 for “Effectiveness in Lead Generation” whereas social media was at the bottom. It is easy to see why SEO tops the rankings as it can be targeted, therefore is EXPECTED to yield results. However, if social media ranks at the bottom, why is it employed so much? Again, it could be similar to email campaigns in that it is a low flat cost (regardless of leads), or maybe you regard it as a way to introduce potential leads to your firm and demonstrate your differentiation.
Learn more about what your peers are doing for lead generation tactics in the 2014 Technology Marketing Survey along with a bevy of other statistics, trends and “Things That Surprised Us”! (After all, isn’t that what we ALL want to know? What’s working for other VARs and ISVs?!?)
