Well, it’s the eve of 2005 and I find myself pondering again what the next year’s marketing and design initiatives will bring. One thing is clear (at least from my corner of the woods) — brand awareness, though not dead, has taken a back seat to lead generation and customer acquisition in marketing departments this year and will continue into 2005, with only 17% of marketers saying brand awareness will be their primary marketing goal (BtoB’s 2005 Marketing Priorities and Plans Survey, December 13, 2004).

With the pressure to have more marketing programs drive sales results measurably and demonstrate ROI, the lion’s share of whatever budget we have will be devoted to lead generation and customer acquisition. In a recent study, 61% of marketers say their role is to generate leads or demands (Patrick Marketing Group, Trends in Marketing – Autumn 2004 in the November 8, 2004 issue of BtoB Magazine). So, come January 3 we have to be ready to hit the ground running. But the real bit of crystal ball gazing going on is how to determine the number of leads that have to be generated to meet (and hopefully exceed) the financial targets…

For a quick idea, I suggest a gem of a tool I discovered back in October when I was fortunate to be able to attend MarketingSherpa’s Business-to-Business Lead Generation Summit (Read the summit wrap up here). Aside from an excellent presentation, Mac McIntosh of Sales Lead Experts graciously pointed us to a free Marketing Lead Calculator he created and posted on his site. It’s good for a sanity check to help focus your efforts (or give you heartburn, depending on how big a gap you discover the need to fill).

Happy New Year!

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