At this point you’re expecting me to give you the magical answer, yes! However, instead I am going to be completely, 100% honest with you – I have no idea. I think we can all understand that each buyer needs to closely evaluate how lead scoring could benefit their operations to be able to answer that question appropriately. The first step for buyers is to determine what questions are they looking to have answered by lead scoring. Answering this question will get you on the right path to deciding whether or not lead scoring is right for your company.

Last week I had the pleasure of traveling to the wonderful town of New Orleans to attend TARGUSinfo’s Lead Scoring Summit. The intimate conference is an excellent conference to get the lowdown on all levels of lead scoring. Whether your a newbie or a lead scoring pro you can rub elbows with the best and pick up tips and tricks that will push your lead scoring strategies to the next level. What was refreshing about the show is that I got a chance to hear all points of view. One session included a school that implemented lead scoring a year ago and was still struggling to make work. There was not coverup agenda in place to say that lead scoring is easy. In fact, it’s hard and companies should be serious about the investment of time and resources that it takes for lead scoring to reap the intended benefits. On the other hand I spoke with a number of buyers that saw clear benefits as soon as they implemented scoring. From being able to optimize their lead buying efforts to targeting the right demographic and geographic segments they were able to better place their marketing dollars and effectively manage leads to a higher conversion rate. The point learned at the show is that lead scoring is not always an e-Ticket to the front of the line.

If you have questions regarding lead scoring and if it is right for you, feel free to reach out to us here at GearyPMG and will help you get pointed in the right direction.

Trying to decide if we should head out to SXSW this year. What do you think? Should we “just did it” and be our “south by south best?”

John McKusick is the Co-Founder of Geary Group and GM at GearyPMG.

Session Details:

“I am excited to moderate this panel on behalf of GearyPMG, as it’s an area that we are extremely passionate about,” said Ferree of his panel participation. “We are committed to providing our clients with the highest quality customers that address their long term marketing goals like retention. I am excited to speak alongside our peers about approaching lead generation in an ethical, accurate and strategic way.”

In addition to Ferree’s panel, the TARGUSinfo Interactive Insights Summit will focus on how third-party online targeting data can help marketers justify increasing their advertising investments.

On the forefront of discussion for many marketers was how to reach their audience in the online space and how to do it with shrinking budgets?  Session after session seemed laden with these questions, and all the while these same marketers have the task of trying to be savvy with today’s technologically-sophisticated students. Social media is ingrained in the today’s student lifestyle. The fact of the matter is if you don’t exist in online, then you don’t exist. A speaker at one session revealed data that showed nearly three fourths of high school seniors expect college and universities to participate in social media.

Balancing marketing dollars, while feeling the pressures of trying to be innovative and engaging online with millennials, leaves education marketers in a difficult position. So what’s the answer?  After attending several sessions that attempted to provide insight on this problem, it seems quite evident that the answer is elbow grease!

“We are like carpenters,” positioned Karine Joly as she presented “Measure Twice, Cut Once: A 7 step plan to Your Measurement Strategy for Online.” While I’ve never thought any of my clients as being anywhere close to a carpenter, the analogy definitely painted a picture of the current state of education marketing. My clients hammer away fighting to meet higher expectations of both the schools they work for and prospective students while the nails in their toolbox are limited. Joly further described education resources as “a busy toolbox… we have to use the resources that we have in our toolbox, and cut what doesn’t work!”

Here are a few tips I extracted from the eduWeb conference for today’s budget-minded education marketers:

1) Crunch the numbers and then cut.

95% of higher education marketers reported that they use Google Analytics, but 72% say that they spend less than two hours a week actually analyzing the numbers. Most people revealed they don’t analyze the numbers because it seems hard but, as Karine Joly put it “analytics is like exercise,” and I completely agree. You don’t need to be a pro-body builder to see results; just put in effort, be consistent, and you will see RESULTS.

2) Don’t be afraid of social media.

If you are afraid of trying something, don’t be. Jason Mark who spoke on college branding pointed out, as marketers we have to let go of some control because “the odds are it’s already happening whether you want it to or not.” The tip: identify your biggest communication fears, and ask yourself how can this be an opportunity? Try it and if it doesn’t work, well then refer to  #1.

3) Content! Content! Content!

You may need to rethink your website. I saw quite a few case studies at eduWeb that reported that short, more engaging, do-it-yourself content speaks better to the prospective student audience. Take a look at the eduWeb winner of Best Website Re-Design, Indiana University East as an example. And if you what to know type of content students want, here are the top items you’ll want to consider when vamping up your website’s messaging:

Do you have my program?
Can I afford your school?
Can I get in? Are we a good match in that way?
Is the location right for me? (This generation tends to want to be closer to home)
Fit? Age/Ethnicity
For online programs… does the system work?

While it’s clear that there is no one path or quick fix to working on a tight online budget, after attending the eduWEd conference this year I am convinced that putting in a little elbow grease will certainly ease your struggles. Learn to analyze your data (or find someone who can do it for you), face your social media fears by getting involved, and lastly find out what your perspectives student REALLY want to know and give it to them.

This year’s NYC event had an excellent selection of content, and they specifically blocked off 2 hours of private sessions for lead buyers. These sessions covered “10 Biggest Legal Pitfalls” that buyers need to avoid, lead buying tips and why speed to contact is so important. I spoke with a few buyers from a number of different verticals, and they all said it is worth attending and that they will be taking information learned during these sessions back to their own companies.

How to Contact: Man vs. Machine

On the topic of speed to contact, there was an excellent session entitled “How to Contact: Man vs. Machine” that delved into the technologies and practices associated with improving speed to contact. The panelists for this session included Beau Bratton of Consumer Transfer, Kenneth Krogue of InsideSales.com, and Irv Shapiro of Ifbyphone. The session was moderated by Sammy James of Speak2Leads.

The session began with Kenneth discussing the study they conducted in partnership with MIT and how the findings dramatically helped improve their clients’ lead conversions. If you have never read the study and its results, please take the time to visit the link above and familiarize yourself with it. Prior to performing the study Kenneth claimed that only 27% of leads were being contacted, and after improving their speed to contact, this number increased to 90%. It is not difficult to understand that the more leads a company can contact the more leads will convert into sales.

Kenneth also proved the importance of speed to contact by sharing before and after numbers from Aflac. Simply by improving the speed to contact, Aflac was able to bring their 3.2% conversion rate up to 7%. Not only is the margin of improvement impressive, but they also realized the change in only 3 weeks.

If you are interested in learning how you can improve this extremely important step in closing leads, I recommend that you reach out to GearyPMG and we can personally introduce you to any one of these companies.

Headwinds or Tailwinds? An Update on Education Lead Gen

At GearyPMG we help companies in a number of different verticals including financial services, telecommunications and the for-profit education space. Our experience is deeply rooted in the EDU space with over 10 years of marketing experience helping schools of all types generate quality leads. With that said, it was interesting to listen to sessions covering all verticals. It seems like topics surrounding Title IV, gainful employment and appropriate marketing practices are at the top of everyone’s list.

Another topic during this session included whether or not there is any room for new lead generation sources. Steven Isaac, CEO at Education Dynamics claimed, in jest, that there was absolutely no room, but then he conceded that there are fairly low barriers to entry so companies will always be able to enter into the space. He does believe that there is a limited supply of quality leads, and new companies responding to an increase in demand will ultimately result in decreased lead quality.

Conclusion

Overall it was a great show. It is always nice to have face-to-face meetings with our current clients, future clients and marketing partners. Along with the networking opportunities, the session topics are always aligned with what GearyPMG is interested in, so it really makes it an all-around great event.

Edu Web

Exhibitor + Sponsor

July 26-28, 2010

Chicago, IL

http://www.eduwebconference.com/

Leads Con East

July 26-27, 2010

New York City, NY

http://www.leadscon.com/