How are portals changing B2B marketing for
lead generation?
A Web portal, in the traditional sense, is a super site that serves as
a broad gateway to other information on the Web. Portals include
a variety of services such as Web searching, news, white and yellow pages
directories, free e-mail, discussion groups, online shopping, links to
other sites and more.
Portals are changing. They are becoming tailored to specific areas
of interest and industries. There are three types of portals:
- General-purpose portal – a consumer-focused super site usually
used as a jumping off point to the Web such as Business.com
- Corporate portal – usually an internal Web site (or Intranet)
that is specific to a particular company and works as a centralized communication
hub for its employees around the world.
- Vertical portal – a Web site that provides information and services
to a particular industry or interest. Some examples are Globalspec.com (for
engineers) and Fool.com (for investors).
Vertical portals are extremely helpful for B2B marketing. The Web
sites offer marketing opportunities to targeted businesses, which may be
just what you need to increase prospect leads, grow your customer base
and increase profits.
Different approaches:
- If you have a company Web site that provides timely information to
a niche market, you can start your own vertical portal. Many of
the major portals started this way.
- Linking. Yes, it will cost you
to link to Business.com or another large portal but the leads you generate
could be more targeted than Google or other pay-per-clicks.
- Consider advertising on a like-minded portal. The
rates are usually lower than traditional advertising—and more effective,
giving the audience an opportunity to click-through to your company
via the embedded link. This strategy is a great opportunity for
business to business lead generation.
Portals should create more targeted leads for your organization. You can
purchase some of the leads immediately, and others over time. So take a
guess as to what would be the perfect marketing tool to stay in touch and
educate all of the new prospects? You guessed it – eNewsletters.
For information on eNewsletters, visit Proven Systems at www.provensystems.com.
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