Marketing Process Mapping for your next Marketing Makeover

02 September 2010

The diagram above and the explanations below provide a high-level view of a Lead Generation Marketing Program. Does your marketing group have a map? If you're not sure, see if they can provide key metrics for each step along the customer acquisition process. A marketing team's ability to provide basic performance indicatiors is often an indicator of that team's clarity of purpose and focus.

Here are some brief descriptions for the Lead Generation Process Map:

Step 1: Search - There are future customers looking for your product right now. Can they find you on the Web? In-bound visitors are the best leads you can get, because they were already looking for your products before the first impression was made.

Step 2: Landing Page - Visitors to your website might land on any page. To them, that first page is your home page. Most companies will spend extra time on their home page when what is really needed is to make every page a home page. The page should have a focused call to action and enough information about the product and the company to make the visitor feel comfortable about completing a request form.

Step 3: Form Submit - There is a science to forms and human behavior. To find out what makes the best form, you need to test it. At most corporations, we understand testing, but we just don't have the discipline to make it happen.

Step 4: Lead Qualifying - Web-based forms can be used to help you collect qualifying information and instantly route prospects to the most appropriate offer. They can even be used to suggest that unqualified prospects keep in touch until they are ready to buy. This is often called Lead Nurturing and consists of ongoing customer contacts, such as newsletters, as you wait for the opportunity to mature.

Step 5: Sales - The true test of your lead generation program will be measured by the sales you make. Your sales team may never like the leads, but if they can sell off the leads, you win. Measure everything, tweak the process, scale it up, and report your successes to upper management so that your program will get funded next year.