So LinkedIn decided to shut down the SlideShare lead generation product. Are you walking around aimlessly wondering what to do with your content and how you will produce leads this month? So many questions without answers.
Snap out of it, this is great news! The sunset of SlideShare’s lead generation services may actually prove to be a win, as this product may have been underperforming on your goals (whether you realized it or not). Yes, you had an easy to use self-service performance-based product, all good — BUT where was the quality aspect? You paid a nice low CPL and in return received a list of leads that included every person who requested your content in your set geographic region, whether they fit your accepted target customer persona or not…to be clear that included: students, interns, contractors, retirees — all of the above were acceptable leads by SlideShare standards.
Yes, maybe you saw high top of funnel volume, but if 75% of the leads did not match your companies accepted job function, job level, company, or industry, how far did these campaigns actually take you? Starting to see the light? Let’s keep going…
Onto Bigger and Better Things:
Now, you’re shopping for a new solution to fill this big lead generation hole in your life, here are the features I believe you want and need:
- Content syndication
- Lead generation
- Cost-per-Lead (don’t waste your money paying for traffic or impressions if you want leads)
- Controlled budget
- Volume and scale
- Self-service management
- Professional-level targeting capabilities — NEW!
- Lead criteria — NEW!
- Campaign reporting — NEW!
…am I right?
Professional-Level Targeting & Lead Criteria
The biggest voids in SlideShare’s solution were professional-level targeting and lead filters; but maybe you didn’t realize these were possible? To run the most effective CPL campaigns (first of all, always go CPL over CPM and CPC) you need these two elements:
Identify who you want to capture – your target audience: Going beyond the basics of geographic region, gender, and affinities, narrow in on your company’s target personas by job function, job level, company size, industry, and geo.
Run a lead generation campaign that only accepts leads matching your lead criteria: Only pay for a lead when the professional that requests your content matches the requirements YOU set, including: by job function, job level, company size, industry, and geo. You may find that one or two of the lead criteria options are critical, while others such as ‘industry’, you are willing to accept professionals from all industries.
These two factors sound so obvious, but are not available in many solutions today. It’s quite simple, do not pay for leads you can’t use.
Campaign Reporting:
Yes, SlideShare provided a report listing the leads captured per campaign; however, it would be nice to go a bit deeper wouldn’t it? Marketers want to get their hands on the meaty insights that are going to help optimize campaigns — and they want them fast. Understanding the variations in the type of content requested by a professional’s job level or industry can be extremely valuable — and also visualizing performance in comparison to your lead generation goals can be quite eye opening. Access to more advanced campaign insights empowers you and your team to make quick pivots to run the most optimized campaigns and generate the leads you need to be successful.
So, What Now Day Dreamers?
It is important for B2B marketers to know that SlideShare was not the only solution offering low cost self-service content syndication lead generation, nor was it the best in show. Clearly, I know these features exist or else I wouldn’t be spouting off about them.
The first company offering B2B marketers of all industries and company sizes full control to create, manage, and optimize content syndication lead generation campaigns is NetLine Corporation. NetLine’s self-service solution, NetLine Portal, reaches 125 million unique monthly visitors and generates 70 thousand leads monthly across 300 industry sectors. Marketers can upload content, set their target audience, lead criteria, and budget to launch a campaign in minutes. Campaigns are performance-based so you only pay for leads that match your criteria. Campaigns start at $9 per lead and you can create a free account instantly on their homepage without commitment or a credit card.
A second lead generation provider is TechTarget. While specifically focused on enterprise-level technology buyers, this company offers a variety of lead generation and content marketing solutions, driving 18+ million monthly visits. Pricing is not disclosed on their website, users are asked to fill out a contact form to receive more information.
A third company also heavily focused on enterprise-level technology buyers is IDG. This company offers a range of lead generation and content marketing services across 147 countries via a database of 44 million IT and business-decision makers. Pricing is not disclosed on their website, users are asked to fill out a contact form to receive more information.
It’s a New Day
Have I convinced you to stop mourning the loss of the LinkedIn SlideShare lead generation product? I sure hope so. You can do better. Just remember, if your goal is lead generation, run a campaign that is structured to deliver leads via a COST-per-LEAD pricing model — and while you’re at it only pay for leads that meet your specified criteria.