Leaner times call for bigger marketing accountability and ROI. These 5 strategies are guaranteed to deliver leads for less.

1. Keep Your Customers First!

Before you run out in a panic looking for new business. If your company is like many, you took a bit of a beating the last couple quarters.. so the obvious focus becomes ‘new business yesterday!’ This sounds good, but remember, it costs 500% more to get a new customer than to get more revenue from an existing customer.

A recent article by Harvard Business Review recommended at the very least a very earnest call with all customers may help keep you off their cost-cutting list, and or even uncover opportunities to do more business with them.

2. Nurture Your Database!

Many companies with a little creative thinking and some effective segmentation, can drive as much as 20% increase in top-line revenue just by doing more with their existing database. Are you leaving big money on the table?

3. Social Media Marketing Basics

The payoffs of social media marketing for lead generation and branding are too numerous to be neglected. Almost every B2B firm should consider at very least a well-optimized and engaging blog strategy, and utilize some social media strategy around this.

The good news about social media, if you think it’s a ‘time-suck’ there may be some unlikely contributors in your firm; it doesn’t have to be a marketing-only task, take a poll you might be surprised where you find some hidden talent in your firm.

4. Pay Attention to Google AdWords

If you’re using AdWords already, take a deep-dive on your account, and make sure you’re not wasting money:

• test variations of ad text
• remove low-performing keywords
• modify bid prices on secondary keywords to get you in the #3 or 4 position without paying any more than you have to

Not doing AdWords?? Get started. Many B2B companies site AdWords as one of their top ROI generating strategies, and if times are tough, it will bring leads in the door quickly!

5. Work Closer With Your Sales Team!

Where does your B2B Lead generation accountability end? Do sales reps clearly understand where the leads are coming from? Do they understand the needs of that specific market? Have they ‘bought in’ to the campaign?