Using measurement strategies and tools to manage your website as a B2B sales channel can help you to easily determine what's working and what's not

SIX TOOLS TO MAKE YOUR ONLINE STRATEGY WORK HARDER... For Oriental Motor U.S.A., a worldwide leader in motion systems like motors and cooling fans, the web is central to a sales strategy. The company sets specific sales targets, and continually monitors its web analytics to make sure that its content is helping them to meet revenue goals. The strategy is working: For the past three consecutive years, Oriental Motor U.S.A. has enjoyed 100 percent annual growth in online sales. Like Oriental Motor, to get the most out of your online marketing investment, you need to analyze your overall strategy, and carefully look at each element in your online marketing plan -- most importantly, your company's website. Your website is no longer a "marketing piece" and is, in fact, the No. 1 influencing factor in B2B buying, according to a May 2007 Enquiro B2B Survey.
Using measurement strategies and tools to manage your website as a B2B sales channel can help you to easily determine what's working and what's not. Then, you can take the necessary steps to make sure you're getting the best ROI possible. Keep in mind that you cannot effectively manage what you don't measure, so measurement is critical to your success. Many people are intimidated by the concept of measurement because they think they have to be a research pro to analyze their marketing efforts. This is not the case at all. Following are some simple-to-execute steps you can take immediately to truly manage your website as a sales channel and foster its success in helping you improve your company's bottom line.
Set business objectives...
Clearly identifying your business objectives is the only way you can start to establish the success metrics for your website. Think about how you currently outline goals for your salespeople, and hold them accountable. Start by asking yourself, "What are my top three business objectives over the next 6 to 12 months?"...For example, a company that makes testing instruments for manufacturers might seek to increase sales in the medical products sector by 20 percent, increase international business by 10 percent, and increase "add-on" sales to existing customers by 5 percent. So the company's first question would be, "How can my website help me achieve these objectives?" The metrics for doing so, in this example, would include tracking RFQs by company, by country, and by current customer that originated from your website rather than, or compared to, your sales representatives.Identify your most relevant numbers. Consider which of these common quantitative metrics used by B2B marketers are relevant for you to track your website's contribution to sales goals:

* Number of qualified leads generated. It's not about quantity but about quality. You need to understand what types of leads convert into sales and how you can secure more of them. It's a waste of time processing and pursuing unqualified leads, so less will undoubtedly be more when you look at this metric.

* New sales revenue. Do you know what your cost per new business sale is? Is this a number you can justify from an ROI perspective to management for securing new business?

* Incremental sales revenue from existing customers. This metric may help you to reduce your "cost per up-sell" to current customers. It will help you compare the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of your website versus your sales team in generating this incremental revenue.

* Conversion rates. This metric is most directly related to the source of the leads on your website. Understanding what types of conversions (new sales, up-sells, etc.) are happening and where they originated gives you the opportunity to go after those that deliver the greatest ROI.

* Time to conversion. This speaks to the efficiency of specific leads to contribute revenue. For example, if leads that are generated through your website's "product profile" pages convert twice as quickly as those that downloaded a whitepaper, then you can make sure those pages have the greatest visibility and easiest access on your website.
Voice of the customer...What customer-centric metrics are meaningful for you to measure? Customer-centric metrics involve behavioral profiling and mapping the buyer's journey on your website from initial interest to final purchase. For example,

* Where do your visitors come from and which sites are referring traffic to you?

* What keywords do visitors use in searches that lead them to your site?

* How many of your website visitors download spec sheets or whitepapers?

* What pages do they view most often, and what "path" do they most frequently take to get there?

* From what page do most visitors leave your site? Are they in and out from your homepage, or do they bail once they get to your "contact us" form?
If the majority of your website visitors leave once they get to your "contact us" form, maybe you are asking for too much information, or the form isn't working properly. There is likely a simple fix you can make that could increase contacts almost immediately.
A great trick to try here is to complete the form yourself so that you can experience what your prospects do. Maybe you really need visitors to only complete a few form fields, and that just isn't clear from the instructions provided. This problem, of course, can be easily alleviated by adding red asterisks or a footnote stating which fields are required. Or, you could test different versions of your contact form.
Consider how much information you expect from the prospect versus what they are getting in return -- is it worth their time to fill out a long form with lots of detailed information being requested? You might also test the "button" or hyperlink text that you use as the call to action ("contact me" versus "Yes, I want to grow my business.") Remember to evaluate these test results from the perspective of quality versus quantity of generated leads.
Determine what all this means...Analyze the data. Dig below the surface to take advantage of what the information tells you. For example, what did the customers who eventually purchased from you do differently on your website? How can you use this knowledge to engage more prospects? If every new customer that came from your website downloaded a whitepaper, perhaps you need to put a link to that whitepaper right on your homepage.
Riten Industries, a manufacturer of workholding devices, is a case in point. By monitoring conversion numbers, the company learned that the downloadable CAD drawings featured on its website led to increased sales: Eight out of 10 times that prospects tried out the drawings, they placed orders, and some of those orders were worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Test...Test placing content on different pages of your website and in different or multiple places on any particular page. Testing can be simple or it can be extremely sophisticated, but even simple testing can yield knowledge that can make a big difference. For example, a company that provides custom services might benefit greatly from sharing case studies or client testimonials. So, one simple test a company like this can try is to present case studies and/or client testimonials with a "contact us" button just under this new content on pages that previously only featured general product information. Use your website tracking tool and compare the number of contacts received from this new page versus the previous page. While you can test many types of content and offers (RFQs, sample requests, free analyses, webcast invitations, etc.), it is important to have a base to compare the changes with and not change everything at once, or you will not be able to pinpoint what made the difference -- for better or worse. Then, capitalize on what's working and keep testing.
KPIs... Create a key performance indicator (KPI) dashboard for your website that you share with key stakeholders on a regular basis. Report on both the current time period and on the trending of the data, as this can illustrate declines and other changes, as well as growth. When thinking about what to include on your KPI dashboard, you should certainly report on the metrics that directly correlate with your objectives for your website, but there should be some basic information too. For example, you should report on:

* Number of user sessions
* Top referrers
* Top search terms
* Top domains (e.g., users from what companies came to your site)
* Top pages viewed (this metric is important so you can understand what type of information is being looked at and if it is sufficiently detailed, allowing your visitors to evaluate your company and contact you from those pages)
* Top entry pages (relating to your organic search results)
* Top exit pages (to understand where you are losing people)

Being transparent with your website's performance will elevate its status as a key contributor in helping the company meet its business objectives. This will help ensure that the funds are there to continue to manage and build your website because you can prove its ROI. Again, you want to view your website as a sales performer, and since you ask your top salespeople for their progress reports on a regular basis, you should be doing the same with your website. By measuring and analyzing these types of metrics, you can determine if your website is a sales superstar, if it needs a makeover, or even if it needs to be "fired." By following these guidelines, you'll find that the ability to continually measure online success, and hone your site in response, will give you a competitive advantage and move your business forward.
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