This post was going to be a direct refutation of the assertion by Rick Segal, President of GyroHSR, that B2B marketing is obsolete. But before rereading the B2B Magazine article, “Is B2B Marketing Really Obsolete?” by Sean Callahan, I did a quick Google search [B2B marketing is dead] to see what others had to say.

The search results made me laugh. Here I thought I was being way cool and timely and following David Meerman Scott’s advice with regard to real time marketing . . . . and dozens of people have already beaten Mr. Segal to the punch.

Judging by the search results, everything is dead, from traditional marketing and white papers to SEO. (Whether Elvis is dead is questionable.)

Here’s the deal: B2B marketing is definitely NOT dead! B2B marketing is alive and well and thriving, thank you very much.

What is dead, however, is the ability for high-overhead agencies and clueless consultants to pass on crappy marketing advice — and then charge mega dollars for it (case in point: an SEO firm charging $4,000 a month for regurgitated Google Analytics reports, cough, cough).

Why is that? Because now everything is measurable. In the old days you could get away with suggesting a huge ad spend in trade journals and then design image ads where you can’t even read the URL and even worse, sending people to the home page versus a (trackable) landing page. Not anymore ducks.

(The above link goes to a great Chasers column in B2B Magazine about print being the doorway to the Web. Be sure to read it.)

What do you think? Is B2B marketing dead or do you agree with me that it’s alive and thriving? Leave your thoughts below.

(Image by Frances Ellen Speaks!)

According to the new 2009 Lead Generation Benchmark by ExperiGenExperts and Mac McIntosh, Inc., the vast majority of B2B lead generation professionals use multiple methods to reach key groups of prospective customers.

“Leads from Website” topped the list of most productive lead generation tactics at 59.4%, with Inside Sales/Telemarketing (51.7%), Outside Sales/Account Executive (47.2%), and Email (39.4%) rounding out the top four lead generation methods.

B2B companies continue to use tradeshows (27.2%), direct mail (20.6%), and social networking (14.4%), but these sources don’t yield high conversion rates.

That companies see high conversion rates from Website leads isn’t surprising. According to a June 20, 2009 B2B Magazine article, “Natural Search Adherents Learn the Value of Tweets and Tweaks,” B2B marketers have realized in the last six months that search engine optimization (SEO) is the “most effective way to get traffic, leads, and sales.”

According to the article, SEO is on the rise due to the drop in PPC ad spend.

Both the survey and the article struck me as a bit funny. I feel like I’ve been preaching the benefits for SEO for years and only now companies are “getting” it.

These days, not having an optimized site is just plain stupid and short-sighted given the fact that we’re now a linked economy — and that SEO and search is dramatically changing.

Due to these changes, simply having a Website won’t suffice if a company wants to remain in business.

Interestingly, about one third of benchmark participants believe that some lead generation activities generate responses that should go directly to sales for follow-up, including leads from tradeshows, Web inquiries, leads from channel partners and responses from email campaigns.

I found this interesting because the benchmark survey didn’t define the type of lead coming from the Web — someone who downloaded a white paper? Attended a Webinar? Signed up for a free trial or a demo?

A person who downloads a white paper for example, is not as qualified as someone who signs up for a free 30-day trial.

However, according to the benchmark survey, the majority of respondents “believe that most responses from lead generation activities need to be further qualified before being passed on to sales as leads.”

The benchmark survey also asked respondents who should provide the list or database for lead generation. Two-thirds (66.7%) stated that marketing was responsible for providing prospecting lists for lead generation.

As the benchmark survey points out, while two-thirds of respondents believe that marketing is responsible for lead generation, a little more than half said they tie marketing strategies to sales goals — with nearly one in five indicating they seldom or never tie their marketing strategies to sales goals.

This piece of data lead me to ask, “How does marketing get in tune with sales?” I often hear anecdotal evidence that marketing will develop great campaigns that sales does not bother to take advantage of.

Clearly, it behooves marketers to work with sales to learn what they need as well as learn how to determine campaign ROI and ensure their efforts are tied to business objectives. (Which is why I’ve stated in the past that B2B marcom professionals need more than the ability to manage multiple projects and write well.)

You can purchase the 2009 B2B Lead Generation Benchmark at introductory price of $159. The report includes all data plus detailed conclusions and recommendations by Patrika Hardnett, President and CEO of ExperiGenExperts, and Mac McIntosh, the B2B sales and marketing consultant.

This is one of the few reports to provide B2B benchmarking data — and with all the chatter about social media, inbound marketing, etc. — is a timely resource all B2B marketing and sales professionals need in order to help justify larger investments for lead generation or to justify existing budgets.