XANT Lead Generation Research Featured in Online Publications

Research conducted by XANT’s business intelligence team on the effectiveness of various lead generation methods has been featured in several online publications including: MarketingProfs, CIO.com, eWeek, TMCnet, NetworkWorld.com and Computerworld.com.

The study identified 27 specific marketing methods that are being utilized in 2013 and ranked them by which ones were most used and most effective at generating leads and awareness. All of the articles featuring the research focused on one of the more interesting findings: social media is overrated for generating leads.

MarketingProfs published “The Most Effective B2B Lead Generation Methods,” which gave a good general overview of the study.  The article states:

“Social media tools–specifically, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest–are the least effective for generating leads or driving brand awareness. However, LinkedIn and Facebook have more than 50 percent adoption among those surveyed. Many flashy and interactive Web 2.0 tools were mostly ignored, including podcasts, virtual, on-demand events, and other Web 2.0 tools.”

Jennifer Lonoff Schiff wrote an article for CIO.com that was republished on a few other websites, “9 Proven Ways to Generate Sales Leads.” Schiff’s article looked beyond the study and asked a handful of other sales and marketing professionals which lead generation methods worked best for them. Some of her findings included: customer referral, content generation and cross-promotions.

An article by eWeek, “Social Media Tools Overused, Search Marketing Underused in Lead Generation,” also referenced the study, focusing on the ineffectiveness of social media and explaining the alternatives. The piece quoted XANT’s report:

“We find that generating leads is a more common problem for companies than driving brand awareness. Companies should more frequently use executive events, telemarketing, webinars and search marketing to improve results in this area. Webinars not only effectively generate leads, but are also rated highly in driving brand awareness.”

TMCnet’s piece, “Telemarketing Better than Social Media Marketing According to Study,” suggested looking past the hype and basing strategy on data.

Before the study went viral, XANT’s Sales Insider published an article on the study.

Click here to access the research.