I recently visited a Big Data conference and asked exhibitors how they planned to follow up with attendees.  Some exhibitors admitted that they could do with help on post conference follow up, but many said they had good lead generation processes in place.

A day or two after my return from this conference, my inbox began to fill up with emails from those exhibitors’ marketing departments.  All impersonal, all saying much the same about their BI / Big Data proposition, all were filed in my BI “to-read-later” folder.

Over the coming weeks I got more emails from the same companies, some companies were sending me multiple impersonal emails a day.  Not one of these companies called me to speak to me in person about my interest in Big Data, the challenges my company faces in accessing and analysing data and how I would ideally like to use this data to make better business decisions.

When software companies are asked how they generate leads, many will talk about email and digital campaigns.  These marketing activities certainly have a lot of value but I would question whether these campaigns alone demonstrate effective lead generation.

An email is a one-sided conversation.  Imagine picking up the phone and being talked at, without the person asking whether this is a subject you are responsible or interested in, what part of your current role is causing you the most challenges, what solutions you have in place to address specific business issues…That one-sided conversation would be at best irrelevant and out of context and at worst rude.

Unless you know the recipient is definitely interested in what you have to say and has responsibility for that area, your emails can be well off target.  Email and digital campaigns also miss a large subset of the market.  Busy people can view these mass emails dropping into your inbox as simply irritating “white noise”.

At G2M we look to engage with your target companies over the phone or in person.  We find the best person to speak to, introduce them to your proposition in a way that is relevant to them, qualify their interest and determine the best way to follow up and when.  We work with your sales and marketing department to ensure you have a joined-up marketing strategy that embraces both digital campaigns and the good old fashioned art of conversation to open the right doors and find you well qualified leads.