Coronavirus has been top of mind for all marketers worldwide. Now that this pandemic put a screeching halt to foot traffic the question now is who is going to lead the online space with? Prospects that used to walk into stores are asked to reevaluate their habits and socially distance themselves. Colleges and universities are now facing a disruption. While online interactions were widely adopted in many verticals the education sector was late in adopting this. This sudden change in how classes are held online has been difficult for educators.
Marketers are faced with a challenge – how do you drive demand? Demand for B2B products and services without tradeshows, events and with less and less f2f meetings. Paid and organic search drive prospects to landing page to complete a form and download an eBooks or register for a webinar. Those are still fine but conversions are going to be tough. These leads will sit in your automation until these prospects bubble back up if they re-engage and hopefully give you a contact number or setup a calendar event.
Content syndication publishers require you to complete a form, enter information before downloading the asset – one of the fields on these form asks for your wok email and phone number, almost 99% of the time the phone number is incorrect. But BDR/ SDR could take the domain name, verify the prospect on LinkedIn or discover.org and get their work number (through company lookup) and can always call and ask for the prospect. That’s not happening anymore – the prospect works from home these days. His extension at his desk will ring with no answer.
Marketers can’t rely on things that worked pre-corona days. They need to train their inside sales teams to interact with prospect as they land on their webpage. Use an interstitial pop-up with a give-away if the prospects is ready to setup a time on a calendar with a BDR. This usually works since you’re giving away something in return for a 15 minute meeting. Giveaways can range from a $50 amazon gift card or a year subscription to Netflix or if your company has deep pockets than perhaps an Apple TV for every prospect that signs up for a . The other effective thing to do is engage in a conversation using a chatbot. Use interactive playbooks to engage the prospect to have a phone conversation.
Omni channels are going to stay strong during these times. Capturing cookies and serving display/ video ads to drive prospects to keep brands top of mind is going to be very important. One extremely effective method is using a qualified lead from your CRM that did not convert to an opportunity. Upload that list in GDN or Adroll and target them with display banners with value propositions.
While this pandemic has created many obstacles in our global economy, it’s helping to disrupt and accelerate commercialization of several emerging technologies in the education sector that previously received lukewarm public and/or government support.
What’s your demand gen strategy? Connect with me on Linkedin and tell me what’s working for you. Until we come out this, please stay home and be safe!
