The Thomas Blog

MQLs Vs. SQLs: What's The Difference

Studies show that 68% of B2B marketers struggle with generating quality leads. And lead generation strategies are successful for only 13% of marketers in the space.

All in all, only a mere 5% to 10% of B2B leads actually turn into paying customers. So what can be done to boost these numbers?

First, industrial marketers must understand that not all leads are created equal — and the industrial buyer's journey is actually pretty complicated. 

Lead Nurturing: How To Convert Website Traffic To Leads

Sellers know all about leads. You know the difference between marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and sales-qualified leads (SQLs). You know you need more of the former in order to get more of the latter.

That’s great. You can see the destination. But what about the traffic that's on your website? How can you identify MQLs in your sales pipeline and, more importantly, how can you offer effective nurturing that turns them into SQLs? Let's break down the basic steps.

Supplement Word-Of-Mouth Referrals With Inbound Marketing

For many years, word-of-mouth referral was a tactic that used to occur offline. For small industrial businesses looking to gain new leads, word-of-mouth referrals can still be effective, allowing businesses to expand brand awareness organically. But over time, they began to learn that relying solely on word-of-mouth can hinder efforts lead generation efforts.

With the emergence of social media and the digital transformation of sales and marketing, the ways of traditional marketing and how referrals are shared have shifted. Rather than asking a friend in person for a business recommendation, most people might post a status on one of their social media networks (like LinkedIn or Twitter) and wait for someone from their network to comment their suggestions. Others are more likely to do a Google search.

Inbound Marketing Case Study: How One Manufacturer Increased Leads by 285%

If you were to ask any business leader what their main goals for their company are, the answer would most likely be something along the lines of increasing sales and leads. In fact, even if they mentioned other goals, such as improving website performance and SEO, or redesigning a website for better user experience — the main objective behind these actions is to get more people onto the site, ideally leading to more sales.

For Corrugated Metals, Inc., these were the goals in a nutshell. But as with many companies in the industrial space, carving out time to improve their online footprint was a daunting task. As a roll forming manufacturer creating necessary products for the construction, equipment, transportation, and defense industries, focusing on customer needs usually trumped their own business development.

Why Quality Is More Important Than Quantity For Website Traffic

It’s common sense that you need to drive traffic to your website in order to increase leads. And if you’re showing signs of growth, that’s a great start! But many companies get fooled by statistics showing heavy site traffic and essentially disregard how qualified — or unqualified — those visitors actually are.

SEO and PPC tactics can be extremely effective in getting people to your website, but you also need to have some metrics in place in order to discern how many of your visitors are serious buyers and how many are merely tire kickers.

30 Industrial Lead Generation Tips, Tricks And Ideas

Generating leads is the most important component of marketing.

When you turn a site visitor into a lead, and then that lead becomes a customer, you’ve done your job, but you need to follow up on that accomplishment. As the experts at HubSpot say, “A successful lead generation engine is what keeps the funnel full of sales prospects while you sleep.”

5 Easy Tips For Creating A Lead-Generating eBook

Creating an eBook for your business is one of the best ways to generate leads and increase brand awareness among potential buyers. In fact, 65% of today’s B2B businesses are incorporating eBooks into their content marketing campaigns.

Allowing for the dissemination of in-depth, detailed content, eBooks enable businesses to connect with a target audience based on their specific stage in the buying journey.

How Can You Tell If A Lead Is Qualified?

As an industrial marketer, your primary goal is to generate leads for your manufacturing business. However, not every person that fills out a form, downloads an eBook, or requests a call makes for a great prospect. In fact, many of these folks are not a great match for your products or services.  

Unfortunately, however, very few manufacturing companies have a system in place to separate good leads from bad ones. This results in sales people wasting a lot of time and effort chasing down less-than-ideal prospects while ignoring more serious opportunities. 

That's why you need a proven process for qualifying your leads. 

More Than 11,000 Manufacturing Companies Use This Tool To Drive Leads

Imagine if you could immediately and continuously identify the companies that are researching you online.

Imagine being able to track those companies throughout the buying journey, ensuring you never miss a sales opportunity.

Imagine having all of this actionable information at your fingertips, so that your sales team can have more meaningful — and more successful — calls with prospects.

More than 11,000 manufacturers don't have to imagine any of this at all. They can do it, with Thomas WebTrax.