They call it lead nurturing for a reason – developing leads into actual business takes time and effort. That effort is compounded when services are on, shall we say, the lighter side of tangible. That’s why advertising, marketing and public relations firms face a particularly challenging environment.
We wanted to know how sending email blasts to prospect lists affects the typical 6 month sales cycle.
Our research, based on a survey of over 300 agency marketing executives, shows that 83% of companies that utilize email marketing as a lead gen tool close business in 6 months or less, while only 63% of companies who do not send email blasts to business prospects close business in the same time period.
Furthermore, 64% of companies that utilize email marketing close business in 3 months or less, while only 43% of companies that do not send email blasts close business in the same amount of time.
The breakdown shows that email marketing is more than a B2C device. By building relevant, regular email messages that focus on the CMO and senior decision-maker crowd digital savvy advertising, marketing and public relations agencies are pushing the sales process along.
Email marketing can help move leads through your company’s sales funnel, but this is just one component of a successful digital communications program. For this to work you’ll also need great content in the email message, a straightforward call to action that a CMO can appreciate and other supporting digital assets that help frame the story.
How have digital tools helped reduce your the time it takes to close a sale?
