As a full-service sales and marketing company for the financial services industry, we do our best to help clients execute successful campaigns throughout all stages of the customer journey. Success is measured by the ability to generate, evaluate, nurture, and close leads. And for the most part…that means “digital leads”.
It’s not unusual that the success or failure will be attributed to the lead itself versus the total process by which it takes to close it. And it gets even harder to judge if you make too quick of an assessment…which is easy to do with the distraction of so many alternative “best leads ever” choices.
For the most part, if there’s a company touting a “single source/silver bullet” for financial leads that works, I would ask them how many people have used them for multiple years. Or, better yet, you may have tried a number of platforms that sounded great but never seemed to work out the way they said it would.
After executing thousands of campaigns and working beside a lot of smart people, we can tell you the things to watch out for. If you’re mindful of the items below, you’ll see it in your results. But it doesn’t mean you won’t get smacked in the face with a “clunker” now and then…that’s all part of sales and marketing.
Connectivity
- Is your current digital campaign connected to other complimentary platforms? Facebook is great…but it’s better if you have it connected to email nurturing, remarketing, a great landing page, etc. It’s a lot of work, but important to have a digital media mix.
Time
- Are you giving your campaign the appropriate time to be effective? Remember that adjustments and hands-on management need to be made along the way. We suggest 3 months for most campaigns.
Unrealistic Expectations
- Consider the offer, the budget, and the commensurate return. Also, know that as the campaign is optimized the metrics should improve over time. The expectations should be based on the number and the quality of the leads from the marketing entity… and closing is on you.
Sales Ability
- All sorts of marketing campaigns fail due to a lack of sales capabilities and infrastructure. This is particularly dangerous when a firm appears to be closing a fair amount of business…but they “could be” closing a lot more, and get frustrated because they inaccurately judge the value of a campaign. At the end of the day, sales is a skill and is something that should be tended to…and it fixes a lot of marketing “problems”.
The lure of the next “great thing”
- Don’t get distracted by other types of campaigns and lose the will for your campaign. There is an overwhelming amount of noise around “the next great lead source”… some might be great but all of the above rules apply…but some are just not good.
Digital marketing, at every level and in every industry, is tricky and ever-changing. As a result, it’s wildly misunderstood which makes it hard to buy and hard to judge. BUT…we are in a digital world, and the better you know how to compete the better off you’ll be.
About the Author: John grew up in Schenectady, NY & received a scholarship to Norwich Academy. He began his broadcast management career at WOR, learning spoken word marketing from the best in the business with a specialty in financial and long form. John managed broadcast sales for some of the best known sports teams in the world, at the most legendary stations. However his true passion is in the world of direct response advertising to baby boomers and their parents. In this space he has worked with some of the best brands in America. John lives in Boston with his wife, Melissa who is also a broadcast executive, and French Bulldogs Lou and Sal.
