Corporate websites are valuable sources for business-to-business (B2B) lead gen marketers, said an eMarketer report.
The IT market tracker cited research from Demandbase, in conjunction with Focus Research, that the corporate website was a top source of leads for B2B marketers, second only to personal connections and referrals.
Though websites are a positive lead source, marketers expect more: 84% of US B2B marketers felt their ability to generate new sales leads using their website needed moderate to strong improvement, said eMarketer.
Other top areas of improvement for company websites included tracking and reporting on unregistered and anonymous users.
Importantly, the company said that the most important benchmark for gauging overall website effectiveness is quality — not quantity. Unfortunately, less than half of marketers tracked metrics that shed light on lead quality, said eMarketer. Only 20% tracked user companies, and 49% tracked post-registration user activity, said the study.
Free content in the form of white papers, collateral and enewsletters — in exchange for user registration — is one way to boost lead count, said eMarketer.
