B2B Digital Lead Generation Forecast
Branding or lead generation? That seems to be the most common question amongst marketers who are trying to serve two masters (CMOs and CROs). If only there was a way to get the best of both worlds where branding and lead generation worked together for a positive return on advertising spend (ROAS), recognized with enthusiasm by both chief officers and those they need to motivate as well.
This gets even more complicated in organizations where assigning lead values and crediting success to specific initiatives gets messy with flawed or unrealistic attribution processes. Customer journeys can look more like snowflakes than flowcharts, so take a step back and give your B2B digital marketing plan a fresh perspective. Programmatic B2B has developed a basic template to help you do just that, and to apply your own empirical data to the model. Nothing is perfect, but this model is helping set realistic expectations for lead costs in a time when platform minimums alone can crush a small to mid-sized business.
How it Works
The B2B DIGITAL LEAD GEN FORECAST is a structured approach to projecting the cost of sales qualified leads based on a total multi-channel digital marketing investment. Color coded fields are intended to be populated by the user -- everything else should calculate automatically.
The fields in green are color coded for channel selection and estimated or average platform bids.
The fields in blue are color coded for audience size, conversion rates and digital ad channel volume entry.
The remaining fields in orange are color coded for interaction rates, which for the most part are the corresponding historical click-through rates by channel. The exceptions here would be paid search (Google and/or Bing) and Linkedin Lead Generation programs paid on a CPL basis.
For Google and Bing paid search, just enter your expected click-to-conversion percentage.
For Linkedin Lead Generation, enter 100% if you're already paying on a CPL basis. If not, then don't use this option.
What You Need to Know
Even with the most powerful algorithims and artificial intelligence, it's highly unlikely you'll get it 100 percent right. There are just far too many variables involved and while machines can be programmed for consistency, people are not. For this reason, focus on excellence and not perfection as you make progress with a realistic approach to your internal or external clients' lead generation programs.
This model won't work for everyone and it's constructed based on data from dozens of high-value campaigns running on multiple platforms across several continents.
It is free and for most small to mid-sized businesses selling to other businesses (B2B), it's a pretty good start.
Don't Like It?
Disagree with the approach? Not relevant for your organization?
Please let us know.
Every Programmatic B2B client receives their own custom reporting module, so our team is happy to build something that works for you. Just share a bit about your current process, and how much or how little you want to spend, and you may be surprised at how quickly you can get exactly what you need.
For more information or to create your own custom B2B digital marketing forecast model, contact us today.