The world of online, inbound marketing is not a crazy place. It’s a world of facts, planned options and organized, analyzed data. And at a recent CAMA lunch hosted in our Calgary office, Woodruff Schweitzer’s Sam Hudson was its perfect pitchman.

New ways to pitch and connect

Through his work on the client side of our industry, Hudson became a discerning consumer of great client service. Now, as a Woodruff account manager, Sam supports both ag and non-ag clients with what he learned – which currently includes encouraging them to use online marketing to solve problems. Specifically, he talked to the CAMA audience about attracting traffic, converting traffic, converting leads and analyzing data – the process of online, inbound marketing.

It’s perfectly suited, explains Hudson, to a marketing world where “serving is the new selling” and where marketers and communicators act as “Brand Butlers.”And while it’s true that the mechanics of “Brand Butlership” are new, the theory would have been no surprise to ad pioneers like Leo Burnett who famously stated, “Advertising says to people, ‘Here’s what we’ve got. Here’s what it will do for you. Here’s how to get it.’ “

Woodruff Schweitzer's Sam Hudson

Following through and following up, online

In the process of attracting people to a client’s product or service, Hudson spoke at length about the “online lead machine.” The language is a great analogy, with its implications of a great churning, mechanical beast that consumes raw materials at one end and delivers a fine, finished product at the other. Online, he explained, it’s a process divided by landing pages, contagious content and lead management – a process that uses software to score leads, nurture leads and finally to integrate them using the CRM tool of choice.

And how does inbound marketing for business-to-grower (B2G) companies work for his clients? It’s something that has been very functional for a long time, says Hudson. Unfortunately, “…we don’t always see lead generation as a process. We think instead in terms of a seasonal cycle and campaign.” But he has faith that will change, slowly.

At the end of the day, Hudson acknowledges that finding and working with leads is still faithful to the “Kenny Rogers Principle”:

Knowing when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em, and when to walk away.

Any lead generation secrets or Kenny Rogers stories you’d like to share?

Warren Fick adores Facebook. His big picture thinking gives our clients a unique face in agribusiness. And he writes. Contact him directly at warren.fick@adfarmonline.com