10 most popular B2B Lead Generation blog posts of 2012

Remember Casey Kasem’s year-end top 40?

Okay, so there may be some of you out there who don’t. For those of you who were merely twinkles in your parents’ eyes back in the day, Casey Kasem is a radio personality and voice actor who just turned 80 this year. I remember sitting in front of the radio as he would countdown the year’s top hits every New Year’s Day.

If you want to amuse yourself while gauging societal mores over the past 40-something years, you might want to check out this link:  American Top 40 Year-end Countdowns. Did you know, for instance, that Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Waters was the number one hit in 1970? Contrast that with the number one hit in 1988: Walk Like an Egyptian. (Let’s hope this doesn’t define the difference between the Boomers and Gen X. Ouch.)

That said, as this is the last blog before 2013, I was inspired by Mr. Kasem to do our own version of a year-end countdown. I compiled a list of the top 10 most-tweeted blog posts from the B2B Lead Roundtable Blog. Here’s an at-a-glance analysis that could provide a glimpse of the most pressing issues lead generation professionals have faced in 2012:

• Understanding and leveraging social media. Four blog posts focused on some aspect of social media. This interest is also reflected in lead generation budgets. Social media came in second for budget increases in 2012; 74% of the 1,915 marketers who responded to MarketingSherpa’s 2012 Lead Generation Benchmark Survey reported they intended to increase their social media budget this year.

• Understanding leads and their place in the sales and marketing funnels. Five blog posts outlined the importance of understanding where customers are in the buying cycle, and responding appropriately. We obviously hammer on that topic because it’s key to optimally generating leads. Yet, most marketers, 64% to be precise, send leads directly to sales whether they’re ready to talk to them or not, according to the MarketingSherpa 2012 Lead Generation Benchmark Report.

• Making the most of their lead generation investment. The year’s most-tweeted B2B Lead Roundtable Blog post focused on driving return on trade shows. This post received hundreds of tweets – twice as much as the next most-tweeted post! (Unfortunately, that tweet-count disappeared due to blog platform changes.) These high numbers reflect where lead generation budgets are going: For the past seven years, trade shows have surpassed websites, email marketing and paid search to secure the top spot as B2B marketers’ biggest investment, according to the MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Benchmark Report.

Now, without further ado, here’s the list of the top 10 B2B Lead Roundtable Blog posts for 2012:

1. Nine Simple Tactics to Drive a Higher Return on Trade Show Investment
2. B2B Public Relations: 7 tactics to pull more leads into the funnel
3. Lead Generation: How 64% of marketers starve Sales of opportunity
4. B2B Social Media Marketing: Focus on leads, not likes
5. Lead Generation: 81% of marketers use email marketing
6. Universal Lead Definition: Why 61% of B2B marketers are wasting resources and how they can stop
7. Why 75% of Marketers Are Experiencing Lead Generation Pain and How to Stop It Before It’s Too Late
8. Social Media Marketing: 6 tips for running a valuable LinkedIn group that attracts prospects
9. B2B Sales Cycle: 4 steps to avoid the wasteful ‘no decision’
10. How IntraLinks Used Social Media to Generate Twice as Many Sales-ready Leads as Any Other Channel

Thank you for reading the B2B Lead Roundtable Blog. May your holidays overflow with peace and joy, and remember, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”