HOW TO

IMPROVE
A LEAD
GENERATION
CAMPAIGN
The world’s leading experts
share their secrets

Copyright © 2018 | Act-On Software www.Act-On.co.uk

Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
6 Practice Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Step 1: Think Big and Think Strategically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
John Jantsch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Step 2: Put Your Target Market’s Needs Ahead of Your Own Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Erik Qualman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Step 3: Develop World-Class Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Ian Cleary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Step 4: Use Integrated Social Media... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Lon Safko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Martin Shervington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Step 5: Create Landing Pages Designed to Convert... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11

Brian Massey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Jason Swenk & Dave Kerpen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Step 6: Nurture Your Leads from the Top to the Bottom of the Sales Funnel . . . . . . 12
Dan McDade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
A Final Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
About Act-On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

www.Act-On.co.uk Experts Tell How to Improve Lead Gen Campaigns | 2

Wouldn’t it be great if you could talk to the world’s best B2B marketers and ask
them to share their secrets on how they drive tens of thousands – or even
hundreds of thousands – of visitors to their websites each month?

Good news!
We’ve reached out to a number of the world’s leading experts and asked them to share
their lead generation secrets in this eBook. These are the tips and techniques that
these pros have used to grow their businesses from start-ups to thriving enterprises.

You’ve heard of most of our experts – people like New York Times bestselling
author Dave Kerpen, Duct Tape Marketing founder (and author) John Jantsch,
author and Pulitzer Prize nominee Erik Qualman, and Top 40 Digital Strategist
winner Ian Cleary.

We’ve rounded out the list with Lon Safko, author of the bestselling
Social Media Bible; Brian Massey, author of Your Customer Creation
Equation; Martin Shervington the author of Developmental Coaching and
Peak Performance; Jason Swenk founder of JasonSwenk.com; and
Dan McDade, the author of The Truth About Leads.

Interestingly, despite their diverse backgrounds, all our

experts have one thing in common. What is it?

They care enough about making our common business

ecosystem healthy and functional that they’re willing to
share what they know with the world.

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Lead eBook | 3
Gen Campaigns
We’ve Created Six Practice Areas,
with Expert Commentary in Each
Feel Free to Jump to Your Areas of Concern First

Step 1. Step 5.
Think Big and Think Strategically Create Landing Pages Designed to Convert the
• John Jantsch on the power of narrative
Maximum Number of Prospects
• Brian Massey on the two jobs of a landing page
Step 2. • Jason Swenk shares a sassy form strategy
 ut Your Target Market’s Needs Ahead of
P
• Dave Kerpen has something to add about forms
Your Own Needs
• Erik Qualman on self-interest Step 6.
Nurture Your Leads from the Top to the Bottom of
Step 3.
the Sales Funnel
Develop World-Class Content
• Dan McDade talks about the three important
• Ian Cleary’s very, very strategic tactic
things to make lead generation (and the
Step 4. company) work well
Use Integrated Social Media Campaigns to Drive
Prospects to Your Landing Pages
• Lon Safko: When 1+1+1=10
• Martin Shervington on Google+

www.Act-On.co.uk Experts Tell How to Improve Lead Gen Campaigns | 4

Step 1: Think Big and Think Strategically

John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing, Duct Talk about what a world with their problems solved could
Tape Selling, The Commitment Engine, and
The Referral Engine suggested that anyone who wants to
look like, tell them it’s not their fault they have the problem
take their business to the next level should start by building they have, and then paint a picture of the problem solved.
a story around their offering.

.
“ Make it easy in or out. Tell
people right up front that you
are going make an offer and
that if they don’t want to
hear about it they should
click here now and you’ll
never bother them again
with this campaign – when
you build a narrative first, “
you can be bold in your
commitments!

JOHN JANTSCH

Experts Tell How to Improve Lead Gen Campaigns | 5

Step 2: Put Your Target Market’s Needs Ahead of
Your Own Needs

“
Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics, Digital Leader,
and What Happens in Vegas Stays on YouTube had
an interesting take on putting your target market’s
needs first. Suffice it to say we had
more leads (for speaking
engagements) than we
could handle and the
. book has been translated
into eight languages.
“
ERIK QUALMAN

Experts Tell How to Improve Lead Gen Campaigns | 6

Step 3: Develop World-Class Content
Internet rock star (and founder of RazorSocial.com)
Ian Cleary recommends building your lead generation
campaign around content that isn’t easily replicated
by others.
.
As soon as someone signs up, offer them the option of taking
the next step in your sales funnel. That could be signing up for
a demo of your product, signing up for a webinar or maybe
even buying your product (an entry-point product purchase
would be best).
“
Create a thank-you page for people
that go to the next step in your
funnel (e.g., buy your product). Use
Facebook retargeting ads to target
people who went to your blog post
but didn’t opt in and another ad for
people that went to your offer page
(e.g., “join webinar,” “buy product”)
but didn’t get to the thank-you
page.
This retargeting will make a big
difference to your conversion.
“
IAN CLEARY
Experts Tell How to Improve Lead Gen Campaigns | 7
Step 4: Use Integrated Social Media Campaigns to
Drive Prospects to Your Landing Pages

“
Lon Safko, author of the immensely popular and
groundbreaking book The Social Media Bible as well as
the follow-up book The Fusion Marketing Bible, said his
secret to success is to enhance the impact of his campaigns Remember, each social
by connecting the dots between each platform.
media platform builds
upon the others, so by
using this integrated
. Fusion Marketing
approach, 1 + 1 + 1 doesn’t
equal 3, it equals 10!
Give it a try and you’ll see “
what I mean.

LON SAFKO

Experts Tell How to Improve Lead Gen Campaigns | 8

Step 4: Use Integrated Social Media Campaigns to
Drive Prospects to Your Landing Pages

“
Martin Shervington, a man with over 1 million
Google + followers and the author of several books
including Developmental Coaching and Peak
Performance, had this to say about using Google+ So, here is the secret: find the
people who are engaging on
the content of people ‘like
you’ and reach out to them
The thing with Google+ right now is the strength of the privately. Build a micro-
community building around ‘Collections’ (released in 2015). community, ideally with those
With the ability to niche your content tightly, it’s likely these who already have a network.
Collections of curated content will surface in Google Search in They are the ones who can
their own right. People are building authority, connecting their
social and their site activity, and generating leads using help spread the word, driving
this approach. traffic through social media.
I know many people haven’t embraced Google for social
An added bonus is that your
media, but putting it simply, those that do can carve out a niche content can show up on
and build their tribe. Google Search as well.
After all, it is Google. “
Editor’s Note: As of June 2016, Google Plus isn’t getting much respect in
the media. But some companies enjoy great success with it, and Google MARTIN SHERVINGTON
continues to invest heavily in improving it, so it may well be worth your
consideration, and perhaps a test.

www.Act-On.co.uk Experts Tell How to Improve Lead Gen Campaigns | 9

Step 5: Create Landing Pages Designed to Convert
the Maximum Number of Prospects

“
Of course, there’s no point in doing steps 1 through 4 unless
you work hard on step number 5, which is to create effective
landing pages that can convert leads into prospects. Here’s
what conversion scientist Brian Massey, author of Anything distracting –
Your Customer Creation Equation has to say about
landing pages: such as links away from
the page or corporate
navigation – are all
. opportunities for the
visitors you’ve bought
or earned to abandon
the page.
“
BRIAN MASSEY

Experts Tell How to Improve Lead Gen Campaigns | 10

Step 5: Create Landing Pages Designed to Convert
the Maximum Number of Prospects
Jason Swenk, who has an extremely successful
membership site for marketing agencies at
JasonSwenk.com, has some great tips on how New York Times bestselling author Dave Kerpen, who is
he structures the forms on his landing pages. also the CEO of Likeable Local and Chairman of Likeable
Media, echoes Jason’s comment above. (At first, you’ll think
His secret is about forms. Really? Yes – according to Jason, Dave is saying the opposite of what Jason is saying, but
if you handle forms correctly, you might achieve the 94% read closely – he’s actually saying the same thing.)
success rate he’s experienced.

.
Want to generate leads? The more forms people have to fill
out, the less likely they are to become your next lead. What
information do you really need from them? Consider using
fewer forms than you’re using today.
If you must use more forms in your lead gen campaign, only
show 1-2 at a time, so prospects won’t be overwhelmed and
leave you before clicking that all-important “Submit” form.

It’s important to think of every customer as an online

celebrity with followers, friends and above all, influence.

Experts Tell How to Improve Lead Gen Campaigns | 11

Step 6: Nurture Your Leads from the Top to the
Bottom of the Sales Funnel
Dan McDade, the author of The Truth About Leads and
the President of PointClear believes that companies that do
the best job with lead generation do three important things.
Here’s Dan’s take.
Companies with optimized sales and marketing achieve
kickass results by doing these three things well. Not fifty things.
Three things:
1. They have clarity:
Ask your sales executives and marketing executives these three
questions and you will get eighteen different responses:
• How do you define your market?
• What constitutes a good lead?
• What are we selling?
2. They narrow their focus:
An average company’s sales reps close about one out of fve
leads they qualify. To make matters worse, they qualify only
about one-third of the leads they are provided. Because of that,
close rates are often less than 10%. Optimized companies close
30% of sales-qualifed leads. Optimized companies do this by
focusing sales reps on fewer, but better leads.
3. They qualify leads:
Marketing is paid, in fact rewarded for, lead quantity – not
lead quality. Technology solutions make it possible to send
a greater number of poor quality leads to sales faster than
ever before. The result is that the average company closes
about 20% of the new business an optimized company closes.
Optimized companies increase the percent of accepted and
qualified leads by sales and close rates resulting in significantly
increased revenue.
Experts Tell How to Improve Lead Gen Campaigns | 12
A Final Note

No matter what you do, remember that there’s no point in learning something unless you
put it into action. By reviewing the techniques outlined here, you’ll be well on your way to
achieving the success that the experts in this eBook have experienced with their
own businesses. Good luck!

About the Author:

Jamie Turner, is the co-author of How to Make Money with Social
Media and Go Mobile. He is a regular guest on CNN on the subjects
of social media, mobile marketing, and branding. He also
runs 60 Second Communications, a marketing optimization
firm, and the 60 Second Marketer, an online magazine for
marketers around the globe.

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