The recently released report, Trends in Industrial Marketing 2009: How Manufacturers are Marketing Today revealed that 29 percent of respondents named lead generation as their primary marketing goal. This response was topped only by the 44 percent of respondents who pointed to customer acquisition as their primary target. Customer retention was the primary focus for another 13 percent, while brand awareness rounded off the list with 11 percent.
The report, which was published by GlobalSpec, also found that while lead generation is of primary importance for many industrial marketers, lead quality takes precedence over lead quantity when it comes to distributing funds. Fifty-three percent said they will “choose marketing programs that are measurable.” While sixty-nine percent said they will “closely evaluate the performance of marketing programs and reduce or eliminate programs that don’t perform well.”
The survey revealed that three out of the top four marketing channels for generating quality leads are online. The online sources industrial marketers are turning to most often are online directories/websites, e-mail marketing to house lists, and SEO. More than 60 percent of those polled said they are including each of these in their marketing strategy this year.