Every Marketers Dilemma

Several weeks ago, a colleague conveyed to me that a Chief Marketing Officer at a
30 million dollar per year company is at risk of losing his job at the end of 2010. My colleague said, "The board of directors told him to generate 1,000 leads per month through the end of the year or you'll need to find a new job!" Every marketers dilemma is to generate a steady flow of leads for the sales team.

Unfortunately, what I've discovered in the past four months of talking to marketers
at about 50 medium to large U.S. companies is very few of them could define what a
lead is to them. The experience was shocking because many of these marketers are
paid six figures for their skills, experience, and educational background. However, that is not the unfortunate aspect of this scenario.

What's unfortunate is the tremendous amount of financial resources that are being wasted on ineffective marketing activities meant to generate leads. How do you define a lead? My thought process includes the following steps:

1) Think about demographics, and psychograpics to first identify your target audience. Formulate buying personas based on findings.

2) Then determine what problem or goal they share that your product/service helps resolve or achieve.

3) Figure out the easiest way to reach them. Consider engaging influencers in your marketing effort. For example, if you're buying persona describes a single mom, look for popular bloggers that cater to your target audience to review your product.

4) Develop the strategic positioning to communicate on the tactical level. (e.g., educational, pricing, guarantee)

This a similar thought process used by Business to Consumer (B2C) marketers. Business to Business marketers add size of company, function/role, revenues, etc to process. No matter whether you're a B2C or B2B marketer you absolutely must go through some process of lead definition or you'll unnecessarily waste time and capital.