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woman in a fintech concept

Win the APAC Market: 5 Fintech Expansion Strategies

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Convenience is a top priority among modern buyers around the globe, and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) is no exception. With a highly-digital population, technology has become an indispensable part of how this region thrives. 

From basic tasks like shopping online and paying bills to more complex ones like investment management and financial planning, technology plays a crucial role in improving the overall quality of customer experience.

The rise of the region’s tech-savvy culture paved the way for quicker adoption of FinTech services. FinTech (Financial Technology) is an umbrella term pertaining to software, mobile applications, and other innovations aimed at enhancing and automating traditional forms of finance for businesses and consumers. Some examples include simple mobile payment apps and complex blockchain networks that hold encrypted transactions.

FinTech companies have always been at the forefront of providing innovative new ways for consumers to access financial services, such as mobile payments, peer-to-peer lending, and online investment platforms.

In just two years, consumers in several important Asia-Pacific economies have increased—and in some cases tripled—their use of services powered by FinTech. Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea all have a 67% acceptance rate for FinTech, whereas Australia has a 58% adoption rate.

fintech hotspots in Asia Pacific

Considering the impressive stats mentioned earlier, it is evident that the region is home to some of the most developed FinTech markets around the globe. Tough competition may help keep things this way.

Here are some additional details about the growth of FinTech in the APAC region:

APAC FinTech Market Analysis

Apac fintech market analysis

Despite the difficulties brought by the year 2020 brought to economies, governments, and people in general across the Asia Pacific, the FinTech industry is a hopeful one. Its rise is attributed to the digital movement that was born during the COVID-19 pandemic. This shift gave FinTech the spotlight.

The FinTech industry is expected to scale at lightning speed in the Asia-Pacific. In the constantly evolving APAC FinTech market, numerous opportunities are emerging. Take for example open banking wherein the financial services market is redefined. Modern technological breakthroughs in the financial sector allow external providers to access data from previously owned bank customers.

In terms of area, financial services are significantly more widely used in China and India. The greatest mobile payment options are already available in Singapore, helping to increase acceptability on the islands. In developed nations like Australia and Japan, cutting-edge FinTech technology is quickly ingrained into the fabric of daily life.

Moreso, let the numbers speak: 

There were over 1230 fintech apps accessible in the Asia Pacific as of 2020, and marketers spent USD 244 million to attract new users in 2020 alone. As a result, the Asia Pacific is quickly overtaking other areas in terms of the popularity of fintech apps. Between Q1 2019 and Q1 2021, there were 2.7 billion installs in this region overall. About half of all downloads of fintech apps worldwide come from India, Indonesia, and Brazil.

Installs of banking apps are often 70% higher in developing economies than in developed markets. Demand for fintech apps increased in 2020 in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

In general, the region’s quick increase in financial app installations reflects changing financial and banking environments, as well as customer preferences in the region.

Singapore and Hong Kong as FinTech Hotspots: A Tale of Two Cities

Known for its large and growing population and rapidly developing economy, the APAC region has created a fertile ground for FinTech innovation with d Singapore and Hong Kong as two of its leading FinTech hubs. Here are some of the

Factors that have contributed to the growth of FinTech in Singapore and Hong Kong:

  • A supportive regulatory environment. Both Singapore and Hong Kong have regulatory frameworks that are supportive of FinTech innovation. This facilitated the easier start-up and operation of FinTech companies in these locations.
  • A large and affluent population. The APAC region boasts a large and affluent population, providing a large market for FinTech products and services.
  • A skilled workforce. The presence of a highly-skilled and well-educated workforce in the region has made it easier for FinTech companies to find the talent required for their success.

On a close look…

Singapore is a leading FinTech hub in the APAC region that emerged as a powerhouse over the past couple of years,  housing 1,580 operating FinTech firms as of September 2022. 

The Lion City attributes its roaring success to the favorable regulatory landscape, government support initiatives, and ample capital and investors eager to support the next generation of fintech successes.

With its attractive taxation rules and digitalization breakthroughs, the country was able to draw in many companies. Being a global financial hub and having many international partners with regional offices in the said area, is aiming towards cross-regional accessibility to connect with more markets internationally.

In the Global Financial Centre Index 2022, the city-state secured an astounding third place, outpacing Hong Kong despite the recent changes that affected its ranking. Now, it follows behind only New York and London in terms of financial prominence.

Furthermore, Singapore is experiencing remarkable growth in FinTech investments, particularly in the blockchain sector. Blockchain has notably experienced a staggering surge, reaching total funding of US$1.48 billion across 82 deals. Such growth demonstrates the city-states strengthening position as a hub for FinTech innovations and investments.

Hong Kong, on the other hand, fell into the 4th rank after being battered by strict COVID restrictions. It is now struggling to regain its role as a global financial hub, continuously following China’s lead in its efforts to keep COVID cases to a minimum while the rest of the world resumed its operations. 

Despite being a small city, it’s one of the most productive startups for FinTech startups to scale up rapidly. A rival to Singapore, It is home to over 800 FinTech companies and over 3,700 startups, and has one of the highest consumer FinTech adoption rates (67%), ranking above markets like USA, France, and Japan. 

In addition, it also has a high B2B FinTech adoption rate, with a total of 66% focusing on the B2B market.

Hong Kong takes pride in its large and diverse FinTech ecosystem, which not only thrives domestically but also exports FinTech developments to the global market. This strong international presence is largely accredited to its strategic location at the intersection of China, Asia, and the rest of the world.

Moreover, the region stands out as one of the most technologically advanced and well-connected cities globally. With a highly educated populace and an entrepreneurial spirit deep-rooted in history, the city is able to establish itself as a prominent leading hub for innovation and FinTech advancements.
Both of these cities are vying to become Asia’s premier financial hub Looking forward, we expect to see the efforts of both areas as they emerge in the FinTech industry, with Singapore serving as a pan-Asian center with a concentration on Southeast Asia and Hong Kong solidifying its position as the entry and exit point for China.

Drive FinTech firm growth in APAC with these strategies

The capacity of new technology to gather and process data in real-time is transforming how businesses perform, how products and businesses are conceptualized in the new economy, and how customers take part in the process. In an increasingly cashless society, platforms and apps were created to create better finance management experiences. FinTech, or Financial Technology, powers this transformation. 

FinTech refers to new technology that aims to enhance and automate the supply and usage of financial services. FinTech, at its heart, is used to assist corporations, company owners, and consumers in better managing their financial operations, procedures, and lifestyles through the use of specialized software and algorithms that are used on computers and, increasingly, smartphones.

FinTech lead generation is challenging since users can rapidly switch to the next rival offering the highest reward, unlike other businesses. Despite this, it becoming increasingly obvious that FinTech will lead the economic sector in the APAC region. 

Take a look at these emerging trends:

Event Marketing

callbox live event in Singapore

FinTech businesses usually depend on events to generate leads. Today, the events space evolved and marketing teams revised their approach to drive high-quality leads. When you think about bringing your brand to life and creating an engaging strategy to attract your customers both online and offline, you should consider event marketing.

Event marketing refers to the planning, organizing, and executing of an event to promote a product, service, or brand. It pertains to a variety of events like tradeshows, conferences, seminars, summits, VIP events, webinars, Q&A sessions, and virtual events. 

In this case, FinTech firms can fully benefit from event marketing especially this year when the said industry is focusing more on events. Events have the potential to be among your most effective marketing tools if handled properly. Keeping updated on FinTech events gives you an edge over competitors by being updated with the latest trends and industry updates.

Check out our Latest Blog: How to Extra Boost Your Event Attendance in 2023

Webinars

webinar poster for fintech industry

Webinars are extremely helpful tools in FinTech B2B lead generation, most especially because it provide opportunities for client interaction while giving you the chance to demonstrate your expertise. Most importantly, it helps build your brand authority and position yourself as a thought leader. 

The leads generated by webinars are, by definition, of high quality. By signing up for the webinar, they have already demonstrated an interest in your industry and your company. That alone elevates them above randomly generated leads.

The goal of hosting webinars is to establish an authoritative voice and position yourself as a thought leader while collecting client information.

LinkedIn Networking

linkedin fintech networking

Having 756 million members and being the world’s most influential social media network and largest platform for professional networking, LinkedIn provides you with a lot of potential contacts for your FinTech business.

Members use this site to connect with clients, co-workers, and business associates. Moreso, it can help you boost your profile, build your brand awareness, and help you recruit the right people for your business.

What makes this social network unique is that it’s focused on professional connections. One feature of this app is called LinkedIn Groups wherein sharing of expertise, seeking and giving advice, and building meaningful relationships. 

Joining this feature will help you find, reach out, and expand your network of connections for your FinTech business since it represents a targeted opportunity, both to help you build your professional community and establish your personal brand on this app.

Account-based marketing (ABM) Approach

Callbox ABM Approach to fintech industries

ABM is a type of marketing strategy that’s focused on crafting hyper-personalized messages directed at a predetermined target, most likely to purchase, and a high-value set of accounts. This makes it a highly-efficient lead generation strategy for leading B2B FinTechs and financial services. 

Related: Account-based Marketing: One-to-one, one-to-few, and one-to-many

One of the most trusted B2B lead generation experts that have helped FinTech companies generate high-quality leads is Callbox Singapore. It offers a multi-touch ABM solution that combines both inbound and outbound channels to support the different stages of your business ABM program. 

Take a look at this case study handled by our team: 

case study about outsourced lead generation services to fintech companies

The Client is a rapidly expanding FinTech company with offices in Singapore and with more than six years of experience collaborating with large companies in Southeast Asia. 

The said business runs a cloud-based platform that provides a comprehensive range of supply chain finance alternatives to large businesses to assist them improve cash flows and access a pool of working capital through the following supply chain financing options, including reverse factoring, invoice financing, inventory financing, payable extension, payable discounting, and supplier payments. 

The company started implementing the ABM program in the previous year to help them identify high-priority accounts in their target markets. The ABM program for the client also outlines the necessity of outsourcing their top-of-the-funnel tasks, such as prospect research and first outreach.

The said company believes that a third party will augment its understaffed team and outsourcing to a B2B lead generation company will free up a huge part of its sales and marketing team’s schedules, allowing more time for follow-up and focus on promising deals. 

Callbox’s multi-touch multi-channel ABM helps address the Client’s problem. A dynamic outreach cadence was used to plan and carry out the phone, email, and LinkedIn touches that were incorporated into the lead nurturing channels. 

The various outreach initiatives were coordinated and the Client was kept informed of the campaign’s progress using Callbox’s own CRM platform, Pipeline. In the end. The client was able to generate 181 Sales-Qualified Leads (SQLs), 223 Marketing-Qualified Leads (MQLs), 4,978 Accounts Touched, and 3.3 Contacts per Account.

Considering the results of the case study, it can be concluded that ABM helps companies reach their business goals by directing their efforts toward the right targets. And besides, outsourcing to trust-worthy B2B lead generation service providers helps you gain high-quality leads and increase revenue. Read more about Callbox’s success stories.

Outsourcing lead generation efforts

FinTech is an industry that’s increasingly getting crowded. For companies that want to thrive, get ahead, or are wanting to scale their business, lead generation must be at the center of their vision.

However, lead generation for FinTech businesses doesn’t follow a one-size-fits-all approach. Accumulating enough leads is grueling and time-consuming, given the fierce competition among FinTech brands, financial service providers, and well-established traditional banks. In this case, traditional marketing strategies won’t make it to the cut.

FinTech companies will have to decide whether to employ and train an in-house lead generation team or to outsource these efforts to a team of experts to leverage specialized skills and streamline the lead generation process.

Explore Our Services: Lead Generation Services for FinTech in Singapore and APAC

Outsource your lead generation efforts, only with the experts

Outsourcing lead generation to Callbox Asia Pacific

Callbox Singapore is a close and reliable ally to many FinTech companies in the APAC region and has played a huge role in B2B business lead generation and client research strategy.

Our team’s multi-touch multi-channel approach to account-based marketing (ABM) to lead generation helps FinTech businesses reach their target customers and that each opportunity is prepared as it moves to the next step in the sales cycle. 

By concentrating on the buyers and the processes they comply with, Callbox’s Account-Based Lead Generation and Appointment Setting Process enables you to overcome these customer acquisition issues.

Be one step ahead of your competitors and generate high-quality, high-converting FinTech leads in providing cutting-edge financial solutions including mobile payments, money transfers, loans, fundraising, cryptocurrencies, asset management, and blockchain.

Discover the power of our tailored lead generation services with pricing customized to fit your business needs (request pricing).

Drive business growth and revenue with high-quality leads and secured appointments by entrusting your lead generation to us. 

Reach your FinTech business goals with us today! Contact us!

Lead Generation Hacks for IT Companies in Singapore

Lead Generation Hacks for IT Companies in Singapore

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Tricks or hacks are cunning ways to outwit someone or something and are most commonly applied, but not limited to, practical and online games, but there are clever life hacks too like heating two bowls of dishes in one microwave or using binder clips to fix broken keyboard stands. Clever, indeed!

In business, in companies particularly, tricks or hacks or conventionally referred to as strategies, are skillfully learnt and applied to business processes in carrying out plans to achieve goals like profitability, customer service, retention, efficiency, growth and at utmost goal, Customer Acquisition which mainly starts with a lead generation program. Both quality and quantity of leads are dependent on the how (processes) and where (sources) the leads were generated. Thus, driving IT companies to discover and craft more lead generation hacks that would help the business grow. Take a look at some of them from Jeffbullas:

#1: Make use of the email signature space

A come on message about a latest post with a link to your blog is a sure bet to gain attention. Just make sure that your content includes an option for the recipient to receive future posts. Level up on your CTAs by including links that would lead to landing pages of Q&As, subscription or appointment requests.

#2: Bylines that sell

Share buttons will surely keep your post active but the action mustn’t stop there. Create a convincing byline that will move the reader to opt-in for future posts. Thus, you earn another active email address while increasing the chances of generating leads. Here’s a fine example of a Call-to-action we place at one of our blog post.

Callbox B2B Lead Generation Kit Free Ebook CTA

Related: How does Multi National Company Expand their Business in Asia

#3: White spaces on your rails look neat

Set sticky widgets that roll with the content as the reader scrolls down for more information. This will serve as a constant reminder to them to click a landing page for an offer or a free guide. On either side, attach a photo that clearly represents you or your business. Oracle nailed it.

photo that clearly represents you or your business

#4: Post product videos on landing pages

It’s true that most internet users today are what we call visual learners – they understand a story, product’s use or a service’s process better when presented through a video. A 2-minute video of a walkthrough on how to play Pokemon Go would perk up your viewer to play the game right away.

By having a video placed on your landing pages, you’ll be giving the visitor an option for a quick scan of your service. Not all will be delighted to read a four-paragraph landing page but a well-crafted and cogent marketing video might do the work for you. 

Additional hacks:

  • Locate online groups of your target customers and engage with them for maybe 1-15 minutes a day and start posting witty questions or fyi’s, once or twice a day and eventually drive them to landing pages with CTAs like offers and subscription. See more of this lead generation hack from Noah Kagan of okdork.com
  • Never use the word SPAM if you want to increase conversion rates. For whatever reason, the word just has something that readers do not like. Learn more about this from Mike Aagard, author for ContentVerve.com on A/B testing conversion forms
  • Access Quora and search for topic keywords to get into relatable feeds.
  • Join the 60 million users of Slideshare and gain potential leads from visitors who find your slide presentation interesting and usable.

Before your dip your foot on your marketing ventures, be sure to know your lead generation numbers! 

Lead Generation Horoscope in the Year of the Monkey for Singapore

Make Your Lead Generation Efforts Work This Year of the Monkey

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In ancient times, major decisions in commerce were always made with the advice of seers, oracles, and horoscopes. Possibly, because of the world economic situation in the past decade, this practice has gained even more popularity. It is a tendency that comes from wanting to make sure that business will be conducted successfully. The number of businessmen who are interested in getting business horoscopes grows daily.

Philosophical Basis of Horoscopes in Business

The application of astrology and horoscopes to business is based on the belief that planets are the source of clear and well-balanced instructions based on the laws of nature laws, which determine what people are, how they live and move. Fire, air, earth, water, animals, humans are all subject to and can be aided by the movement of the planets – movements which cannot be estranged from anything that has life in it.

Studying the influence of planets is the key to knowing what a person and his dealings on earth will be worth; and what he can do to prepare for life’s occurrences. It follows therefore that the best way to reap maximum profit out of a man’s material business is to make it conform to the astrological laws.

Applying Horoscopes to Business

Both Chinese and Hindu horoscopes devote much attention to business. Hindu business astrology for example, makes recommendations as to what business is best suited to an individual. It also indicates the good and bad times for implementing effective business decisions.

Business horoscopes address questions such as when it is auspicious to set up a business, what business a person should set up, when a businessman shall see profit, when the business should go global, how capital can be built, enjoyed and preserved. These horoscopes deal with the concern of disciplining every function of business to ensure that it becomes a successful enterprise by providing guidance on how the business can be run in cooperation with the laws of nature.

The business horoscope is basically derived from calculating business prospects from a person’s horoscope. The combinations arising out of an individual’s horoscope are the basis for deciding which businesses are appropriate to pursue. Predictions are made after studying the important houses governing success in business in relation to the person’s chart.

Lead Generation and the Chinese New Year

Singaporeans are strongly entrenched in traditions, and using horoscopes to guide them in their business undertakings is common. If you were part of the marketing industry, specifically Internet marketing, you would be glad to know that the road to lead generation for 2016 seems straight and paved, making it easier for you to dabble on your efforts to rake in more profits for your business.

The year 2016 is the Year of the Monkey in the Chinese Zodiac. The monkey is said to be “smart, quick-witted, frank, optimistic, ambitious, and adventurous”. Hence, if you want to succeed in lead generation this year, you need to embody all of the previously mentioned attributes and more.

How can you apply those attributes in your business in order to generate leads?

Use Your Smarts to Analyze Data

You are probably already using analytics and data in your business. Nevertheless, for the Year of the Monkey, you’re going to have to use your smarts to analyze data in order for you to implement the best strategies in lead generation. You’ll never know when unexpected findings based on data could lead to profitable leads, so be like the monkey and use your brains in data analysis.

Be Adventurous, Cross the Mobile Chasm

Everyone’s going mobile now. It’s the most convenient and surefire way to reach people these days. If you’re bent on generating leads for your business, consider how your content works on mobile. This means reviewing your content, editing them to become shorter and more mobile-friendly.

Events Telemarketing Services - Callbox Singapore

Try boosting your events, promote better and get more customers!

Ambitiously Use Visual Storytelling Tools

If you want to generate leads, make use of virtual storytelling tools like Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube as a means to grab and keep the attention of prospective leads. Concentrate on creating more video, shorter texts, and better images to reach more potential leads. Use your quick wit to create humorous content that people would be interested in reading or watching. Don’t be afraid to venture into new territories.

Check out this post on marketing trends in Asia!

Optimism Will Help You Measure Metrics

Measuring metrics is something that’s still a source of confusion for most marketers, which is difficult considering it’s important in lead generation. However, don’t let it stop you from making use of marketing automation data flows, Google Analytics data, and SEO fluctuations to measure metrics. No matter how vague the truth about measurement is, keep a positive outlook and make do of what is available to measure the success of your lead generation efforts.

This Year of the Monkey could be promising for your lead generation efforts as long as you keep these simple tips in mind.

Try Multi Channel Marketing instead. An integration of different marketing avenues that reaches your prospects in any marketing platform. Learn how we effectively generate leads for Singapore!

Searching for a New Hope in Lead Generation- Take it from Star Wars Stormtroopers

Searching for a New Hope in Lead Generation? Take it from Star Wars Stormtroopers

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If businesses can learn three important things about B2B lead generation, they should come from popular science fiction films.

Every movie within the genre often features an army hell-bent on taking over the world. In GI Joe, we have the Cobra organization. In Captain America, we have Hydra. Yet neither of these are as ambitious as the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps in the first Star Wars trilogy. Forget about a planet, these guys are all about keeping an entire galaxy in line.

Underneath the white armor and beyond the intimidating name though lies sheer incompetence. With inaccurate shooting skills, a penchant to mess up and a vulnerability to Jedi mind tricks, stormtroopers are not exactly the best the Empire has in its arsenal. But what are you going to do? Recruit Ewoks?

Ewok Star Wars

In the same manner, some businesses often struggle with inefficient lead generation processes that function like stormtroopers. Their client profiling and B2B telemarketing activities are not as precise in hitting appropriate targets and they are not as apt in tracking them either.

But since lead management is akin to organizing a galactic empire, managers should always think about how best to prospect for leads, improve their marketing campaigns and prevent their businesses from failing like the Death Star.

stormtroopers

Stay current and competent with technology.

Lacking an ability to shoot straight at a rebel smuggler, stormtroopers compensate for this weakness by having the latest tech galactic credits can buy: tracking devices and high-tech weaponry, the works.  However, marketers should know that having the latest in marketing automation software does not guarantee a 100 percent success rate. What counts the most in fact is how well you use such instruments in qualifying leads and aligning marketing with sales.

Monitor and nurture leads with Callbox Pipeline. Check out!

Know the terrain.

Whether sand, snow, or shrub, the Imperial Army can take missions just about anywhere. The only problem is that it often lacks a thorough knowledge of the places it comes to conquer. Remember Endor? Prior to a campaign, making full use of marketing intelligence can be a decisive factor in creating strategies as fruitful as the assault on Echo Base.

Find out: Marketing Trends in Asia That Will Still Work in 2016

Use the force… that your brand embodies.

What little respect we have for stormtroopers is due to their association with Jango Fett, the most feared bounty hunter at the time of the Galactic Republic and from whom the Imperial Army originated. We cannot discuss that at length, but it proves that having a strong reputation tells audiences a lot about your proficiency as a solutions provider. In this case, leverage your identity in the most efficient way possible through multi-channel marketing.

Let us give stormtroopers a break here. There is always room for improvement even for an army known more for its incompetence than its usefulness. Meanwhile, marketers can keep these tips in mind to create a lead generation program as effective as the Millennium Falcon.  

End of story.

But for your, it isn’t end yet. Improve your marketing campaign for Singapore, get some marketing and sales tips today! 

MayTheForce_Searching for a New Hope in Lead Generation? Take it from Star Wars Stormtroopers

Photo Credit: photobucket

3-Ways-to-Increase-Business-Productivity-and-Management-In-ASIA-Pacific-(1)

3 Ways to Increase Business Productivity and Management In ASIA Pacific

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As marketers, we are hard pressed to find the best approaches in acquiringquality B2B sales leads.

It’s not always an easy task as it demands a lot in terms of productivity. Unless you want to settle for a mediocre B2B lead generation campaign, increasing your productivity is essential for producing leads with better chances of converting.

Bathrooms.com Digital Marketing Manager Adam Cassar has the right productivity “lifehacks” just for you:

Page speed checker

Need to make your site go faster? The page speed tools plugin for Chrome will show you how even if you know next to nothing about web development.

Once you’ve installed the plug-in, go to any page on your site and hit F12. This will bring up the chrome dev console with a new page speed tab. Tab over to it and hit the start analyzing button. The plug-in will do its thing and then give you a list of changes you can make to your website to enhance the speed of said page. Ping it over to your developers and you’re done. With luck, you can get the pages loading a lot faster with some basic changes.

Google analytics shortcuts

Compared to any other analytics platform I’ve ever used, GA (Google Analytics) tops the list in terms of usability. Perhaps as a consequence of that, I seem to spend a lot of my day opening and closing nav menus or digging through a few hundred redundant custom reports to get to the ones I need. Sound familiar?

Instead of spending lots of time switching between tabs in GA to get to the reports you need, use the shortcuts menu. Go to the GA reports you use a lot and hit the shortcut button and hey presto – all your most useful reports in one menu.

Remember the Milk

I have a memory like a goldfish, and yet I have many, many things to keep track of. To help me out of this impossible situation I use Remember the Milk. It’s the most genuinely useable to do list I’ve ever had (and I’ve tried and failed at many), it’s free, and I can access it from anywhere. What’s not to like?

Some alternative task management tools are Todoist, Any.do and Wunderlist.

Try out these suggestions and see if there are any positive results. You can also try hiring a B2B lead generation company to help you drive traffic using a wide range of advanced marketing applications and techniques.

A sip of Lead Generation

A sip of Lead Generation

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(Before the big gulp of Appointment Setting)

Would you quickly drink a cup of freshly brewed coffee without sipping on it first?

What if I ask you, is your brand ready for sales and marketing launch? If your answer is not a sure YES, then let’s discuss about Lead Generation for now and parking lot on Appointment Setting.

Lead Generation is basically the generation of a prospect’s interest into a product or service of a business. Common purposes for running a lead generation campaign maybe for list building, contact acquisition or sales leads. Below are some tips that will help you determine the readiness of your product or service for market consumers before you push for client meetings:

Gauge Interest Level

You know who your target consumers are but would you know how many of them would be interested in your product or service? How many of them are on the buying stage or maybe just evaluating? How much would they spend for the purchase or do they have the budget? How soon would they switch or upgrade?

But why do we have to comply with such pre-requisite action? Can’t we just go ahead and directly sell or offer to consumers? Such question makes sense, as the main objective of each business is to do so.

Collect the Data

Who are your target consumers? What product or system are they currently using or engaged with? Where or which target location would you prioritize to cater to? When are your prospects planning to buy – today, next quarter or 6 months from now? These question sets maybe are a few basic start points when getting information from your target consumers whom you would consider as possible buyers.  

You should acquire accurate statistical data as this should be a strong point of your comparison with the competitors’ brands. Get a full knowledge of their market scope, solution edge, and sales strategies as these are essential factors to consider before you do an official market launch.  

Roll out a survey

Survey is asking people, one or maybe series of questions in order to gather information. You may use tools and procedures via different media like telemarketing (profiling), the web (social media) or face to face interview in conducting a survey. The conclusion of the survey process will determine the readiness of your product or service to go live in the market or take further profiling activities.

Regardless which industry you are engaged with, the competence and readiness of your brand will impact the business’ marketing and advertising effectiveness, sales cycle, and cash investment returns. This means that your brand’s features and benefits should cater the needs of your target consumers to guarantee customer satisfaction. What they see and hear about your business offering must translate into a worthwhile experience. Media advertising may stir your prospect’s interest, but the proven experience that is testified by your consumers through word of mouth would be the most effective promotional medium.

The Corporate Insurance in Singapore A Fruitful Landscape

The Corporate Insurance in Singapore: A Fruitful Landscape

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Singapore. Such a small country but teeming with fruitful promise every day. With the recent death of their beloved founder, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s business discipline stems from his teachings that made Singapore the country that it is today.

With its established financial stature, Singapore continues to be at the forefront of businesses across the globe, making it the regional headquarters of global companies. This is so because of its competitive corporate tax at 17% as of 2013, making it one of the lowest in Asia Pacific. In addition, Singapore has a reputable friendly business environment and excellent infrastructure that is enticing to businesses.

With these, business is booming as usual in Singapore. On the life insurance industry, it maintains steady performance in the half of 2015 at S$1,352.7 million achieved in weighted new business premiums. According to the Life Insurance Association in Singapore, 19% are CPF-funded policies. On the other hand, investment-linked products are S$272 million, which is 20% of total weighted new premiums. PAR or participating products remain to be the biggest contributor to the pie at S$739 million in the 1st half of this year. Even with these numbers, LIA continues its campaign to promote aggressively amongst Singaporeans, policymakers, and its relevant stakeholders.

However, despite the steady performance of the industry, it is not without its concerns. Singapore is known for strict policies, this is why the top concern for the industry players is keeping pace with the country’s regulations, according to a survey done in March and April by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation or CSFI with PwC.

Corporate insurance is a given. It provides added security to a business’ employees such as health, life, or even retirement policies. Job seekers consider corporate insurance as an enticing package when considering employment in addition to base salary. At times, it is even the deciding factor. Companies now need to be more creative in their employee packages to entice and retain talent. Corporate insurance is one way to provide a differentiator for workers to choose your company. But other than concern for its employees’ welfare, it also reflects the business’s financial standing.

Still, Singapore is a hub for opportunities albeit with its small geographical space. Notes LIA, they are looking forward to the rest of 2015. Admittedly, there is a gap in the protection space especially in death coverage and also for long-term care. Health insurance is also an area of opportunity for insurance providers as it needs continuous education on the benefits. Overall, industry players need to pay attention to these gaps and campaign for education. Through this, the industry will continue to be stable in Singapore.

Corporate insurance is a necessity for every business. As an insurance provider, it is your role to make them understand the importance of your service. Hiring a lead generation company will definitely boost the opportunity to generate more corporate insurance leads.

The right SME prospects for Financial Lead Gen Campaign

The right SME prospects for Financial Lead Gen Campaign

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Do you have the right SME prospects in your list?

Financial lead generation campaign for small & medium enterprises requires accurate prospecting and such is actively done by your Callbox telemarketer by profiling the list during live calls.

Let’s get to know more of “who” should be the right prospects for you in this article. The following qualifying questions will filter the right small & medium business prospects for your financial lead generation campaign:

How long has the business been operating?

Stability of a business will determine its strength to withstand any problem such as churn, sales decrease or capital loss. It is important to know how stable the business is that you target to ensure trustful commitment between you and the prospect.

How much are you looking at?

Ask your prospect of this question and start customizing from there. Your prospect should specifically know how much he needs and must be aware of the payment scheme he is capable to cope based on your agreed contract.

What would you use it for?

Almost all small businesses would need some cash injections at some point of their trading life and the purpose would typically be for Growth, Consolidation, Acquisition and Restructuring.

How soon do you need the loan?

Prioritize prospects who mostly qualify on all 4 questions. Prospects who would not give out a quick reply of “the soonest” or “now” would most likely turn cold in the latter or are just simply comparing notes and does not really have an immediate demand of cash assistance.

Set standards for your business services but keep up with your targets’ trading needs by simply customizing deals for them. Along the way, you may infuse “promotional offers” and “PR help”. With this, you are assured of getting the right targets for your Financial Lead Generation Campaign.

Understand your Singapore Market by Dissecting It

Understand your Singapore Market by Dissecting It

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We in the B2B marketing industry are fond of throwing around metaphors to describe how ferocious and contested it is to engage our target markets. But as executives in the IT services sector see their market as a battlefield of technical jargon and healthcare marketers see their arena as a merciless valley of risks, these metaphors are actually far from what their markets really are: as organisms.

Back in high school, our biology classes involved capturing an animal and dissecting it for the purpose of having a better look at its anatomical structure and its importance to the animal’s survival. Moral considerations aside (after all, we’re dealing with metaphors here), dissecting a frog enables us to understand not just the mechanisms that allow it to jump very long distances, but also its biological make up in relation to its surroundings. We can use such information in, say, creating artificial ecosystems that precisely mimic its natural home.

But where does marketing fit in all this? Just like the frogs we abduct, markets have examinable qualities that describe how it behaves in any given situation. Knowing these qualities is no helpful in terms of finding opportunities.

In this Business 2 Community article, David Cameron Gikandi offers a guide of 11 characteristics you could find in a market with high potentials.

#1 Size.

The bigger the market size, the better.

#2 Urgency.

The more urgently people need the products in that market, the better. For example, pet rocks have no urgency, but medication does.

#3 Speed to market.

The faster you can go from getting the initial idea to beginning to make sales, the better.

#4 High pricing potential.

The higher you can charge per product, the better.

#5 Low cost of acquiring new customers.

The easier and cheaper it is to get new customers, the better.

#6 Low cost and ease of delivering.

The cheaper and easier it is to deliver your product, the better.

#7 Uniqueness.

The more unique your product is (or how you deliver it, or how you package it), the better.

#8 Low upfront investment.

The fewer resources you need to test the market, build the business and get started, the better.

#9 Back-end and up-sell potential.

The more related products you can sell to your existing clients, the better. You don’t want to go into business whereby you can only sell one product one time to each customer and then that’s it. There is no growth potential there. You need to be able to repeatedly sell the same customer.

#10 Evergreen potential.

The easier it is to continue selling and selling once in business, the better. For example, a product that can be sold forever, like toilet paper or cooking oil, is better than one that is sold just once, like pet rocks.

#11 Addressability.

The easier it is to reach and communicate with your market, the better. For example, does your market congregate in “pools” like mailing lists or radio stations or places you can get access to?

By understanding this, we can create a lead generation strategy that will work.

Every Lead is Special (The Callbox Lead Nurturing Tool)

Every Lead is Special (The Callbox Lead Nurturing Tool)

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I was never a fan of Hindi films until I was able to watch “Taare Zameen Par”. It’s a directorial Hindi movie by Bollywood star Aamir Khan which starred Darsheel Safary as Ishaan Awasthi, a child who had special learning needs. Ishaan’s parents misunderstood him for being a troublemaker and dumb, which resulted him being sent to a boarding school for boys to be disciplined. Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Amir Khan), a substitute Art teacher, discovered Ishaan’s special learning needs which were never known by any other faculty in the boarding school. Ram helped Ishaan discover his special skills, and nurtured him to understand his academic lessons through daily tutorials and mentoring.

Nurturing means to take care of something or someone to grow or develop or succeed. It requires continuous enrichment of knowledge and idea, and perpetual coaching on challenges met through the process.

Callbox just thought exactly the same for You.

The Callbox Pipeline’s Lead Nurturing Tool was created to ensure that the leads of your campaign are nurtured through all available channels – call, email, social, web, mobile, and postal mail – we leave no room for anything unattended. So let’s take a deeper look into how the Lead Nurturing Tool becomes your work-buddy:

1. It acts as an automated workforce that requires less supervision, giving you more productive hours to do other important tasks.

At the start of your campaign, a Lead Nurturing tool is set up by the Team Leader to work simultaneously with the agent’s daily calling routine. The tool comprises of Actions & Triggers which is linked together to perform an automated action.

Once the agent updates a contact in the pipeline as “For Follow Up”, “Not Available” or “Requested for more Information”, the lead nurturing tool will immediately send out email information to the contact. When the prospect opens the email, the agent is alerted with a Call Priority notification. This will result to a higher chance of lead conversions.

Other Actions and Triggers options are to send SMS or Postal Mail, which is dependent on the campaign specifications and requirements.

With these tasks taken care of, you will have more time to focus on other important things.

2. It will broaden your avenue of communications to prospects through different media.

Parallel to the Team Leader’s set up of the Lead Nurturing Tool; the Email Marketing Staff will also create the following materials:

  • Custom email templates – drafting the content of the email information based on your product/service features and offerings.
  • Custom Landing Page – you can either choose from our designs or use your preferred form
  • Custom Postal Mail Content – we can send your custom postcard design or letter-size documents to your prospects in a scheduled manner
  • Custom SMS – a reminder sent to your prospects regarding your phone or office appointment with them at a scheduled date and time.

3. It will enhance efficiency and accuracy of your business processes by leveraging current resources for more profitable results.

Real-time Alerts and Detailed Reporting of the Lead Nurturing Tool are comprehensively integrated with the Pipeline CRM at which you are able to track all touch points, both of the calling and emailing activities.

Callbox aims to bring your business at its peak. For us, every Lead is special, and deserves nurturing until it reaches its full grown potentials of success. Just like the Hindi flick I mentioned earlier – “Taare Zameen Par” which means “Every Child is Special”, for us it’s Every Lead is Special.

Top Reasons why Lead Nurturing is a Pretty Big Deal for Singaporean B2B Companies

Top Reasons why Lead Nurturing is a Pretty Big Deal for Singaporean B2B Companies

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Nowadays, building relationship and establishing trust with your prospects takes time. Many B2B salespeople complain about facing a longer buying cycle. Because of this, there is a delay on the company’s ROI. Not to mention it also lessens the chances of completing the sale.

However, despite the longer sales cycle, many B2B companies in Singapore such as YuuZoo, B2B super brands like SAP have managed to grow and continues to grow their brand value at par with global players.

Related: Turning Targets to Sales-Ready Leads With a 50% Shorter Lead Nurturing Cycle

Why?

One reason is that Singaporean B2B enterprises know the importance of having an effective lead generation technique and technology. According to Hubspot, 79% of leads don’t convert into a sale. In fact, a purchasing decision isn’t like a beanstalk that grows overnight (and without the application of some sort of special fertilizer!). Many successful B2B companies are aware that modern buyers require progressive nurturing before they make a decision to purchase.

Related: 5 Lead Nurture Tools to Turn Cold Singapore Prospects to Warm

The only problem is many sales reps fall short on lead nurturing and are doing at least 8 to 10 times of follow-ups before closing a deal.

That is why lead nurturing is important because it allows you to know the right time when to follow up. At the same time, it lets you understand which stage your prospects are on their buying journey so you exactly know what approach to use to convert the lead easily.

Here are the reasons why successful B2B companies use lead nurturing.

To build relationship

Selling is not just about letting your prospects know about your products or services. Progressive follow up and constantly communicating with your prospects allows you to build trust, create a connection and grow a positive relationship with your prospects.

Not all leads are ready to buy

As a salesperson, you should know that only 2% of sales happen during the first meeting. While 98% of the leads are not ready and they need nurturing. Through lead nurturing, you will eventually discover certain behaviors and attitudes upon which you can base your next strategies. That way, you’ll be able to prioritize and identify the right time when to keep in touch with your leads.

Related: How to make Prospect Realize They Need your Product or Services

Pinpoint ready buyers

Having too many B2B leads in your database, you are not sure how many will end up buying something from you. You will need to organize these leads into specific demographics (location, budget size, and job titles), target them for email blasts and cold-calling and gauge their “warmness” by scoring them based on their behavior and on their responses. This way, you’ll be able to identify buyers that fit your ideal client profile, thus, enabling you to focus your campaigns on them.

Related: Utilize Customer Profiling and Buyer Personas to Achieve Revenue Goals

Last but not the least…

Lead nurturing can get you more long-term deals

Sure B2B leads can take months to convert. However, having an effective lead nurturing strategy you are opening opportunities for more deals by maintaining communication, minimizing wasted leads because you know how to prioritize them and increase your revenue.

Related: AskCallbox: What makes an effective lead nurturing program?

With all these reasons considered, it will be right to say that lead nurturing carries positive results not worth overlooking: A Forrester study has noted that the tactic achieves 50% more sales-ready leads and 30% reduction in lead acquisition costs. When you want to make an impact in this island-nation (and perhaps, the global industry), these numbers alone say a lot.

Underperforming Lead Generation Here are the Suspects

Underperforming Lead Generation? Here are the Suspects

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Ensuring consistent gains in your B2B lead generation also means identifying certain scenarios that raise a red flag on your marketing efforts.

For Louis Foong, CEO of the ALTEA Group Incorporated, the main reasons for a failing lead generation strategy are as follows:

WEAK DEMAND GENERATION STRATEGY: If your demand generation strategy is on a shaky foundation, you have a host of problems on hand. Common issues include not following a regular list hygiene process, missing solid account mapping and lead scoring metrics, not being in touch with the dynamics of your market and not fully comprehending the issues your customers find most challenging. What can you do to ensure your strategy is well-defined and strategically aligned to deliver on your lead generation goals?

YOU HAVE NOT MAPPED THE B2B BUYING PROCESS: B2B procurement is not a simple process. Not only do you have to comprehend it generically, but you also need to map it for every B2B buyer you are targeting and working on to achieve a sale. Recognize that it is going to be a long and complex sales cycle with more than one ‘power buyer’ involved. In addition, the buying process within your client’s organization may be impacted by factors such as budget issues, growth patterns, debt situation, staffing and personal issues, economic factors, and more.

TOO MANY WALLS: Marketing is tossing ‘qualified’ leads over the wall to Sales. Sales is not picking up on those leads because they do not seem promising. Finance is breathing down the CMO’s neck questioning the purpose of all the lead generation activities and demanding ROI. The CEO is drinking from a fire hose with a desk that’s piled high with Big Data. All in all, everyone is functioning behind walls and in silos rather than in an environment where learning, resources and customer analytics flow freely between departments. This is a fairly typical scenario in large and medium-sized B2B companies. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

TOO MUCH CONTENT: Is there such a thing? Hard to believe since everyone is going nuts with social media and content marketing. The problem is, the buyer is experiencing too much noise. If your social media and content marketing activities are not grounded in buyer persona profiling, your time and resources are going to waste.

TOO MUCH RELIANCE ON EXTERNAL SOURCES: Marketing automation toys, fancy CRM software, trendy analytics tools and reports, paid social media channels, all of these are the flavour of the day. Unfortunately, a heavy reliance on these creates a situation where you now need ‘experts’ and ‘specialists’ to make sure you are getting results from your latest investments in B2B lead generation. You have to remember, though, that a specialist will pressure you to spend more time and money on activities within her or his field of specialization. That’s when the specialist can show your company some measurable results.

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Japan Lead Generation

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Callbox and Appliance Technology Firm Leagued for a Successful ABM Campaign

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The Client

The Client is a pioneer, and innovative and rapidly expanding provider of appliance technologies and services with a focus on IT security and compliance. It combines solutions from selected software vendors with appliance hardware of the highest quality in its products.

The Challenge

The Client needed a team to run a lead generation program to expand their Singapore and Malaysia markets. The campaign will cater to companies with global presence that send out large files from site to site, or those that require file-sharing with their resellers or customers.

The Callbox Solution

Based on the Client’s campaign objectives, the Callbox team designed an Account-Based Marketing Lead Generation and Appointment Setting campaign which consisted of:

  • Account-Based Multi-Channel Lead Management which utilized Voice, Email, Web, Chat, Webinar, and Social Media
  • Sales Enablement & Support that covered Team Training, Account Setup, and Back Office Sales Support
  • Tools & Subscriptions to Callbox Pipeline and HubSpot CRM
  • Account Management with Strategy Building, Reporting and Product Knowledge

The Campaign Goals

  • The Callbox team was to contact the Client’s target accounts, and promote its file transfer product and solutions.
  • Send out prospecting emails that contain the Client’s offerings to generate interest; opened emails will be prioritized during the call.

Below is the two-step campaign process:

Account Research and Selection

  1. The Client specified their target industries, location, and relevant contacts which the Callbox team referenced in building the database.
  2. Callbox refined the Client’s ideal customer profile (ICP) which served as a basis for identifying qualified accounts.
  3. Callbox came up with a list of potential contacts to target which was reviewed and approved by the Client.

Account and Prospect Profiling

  1. The Client provided buyer persona profiles of the prospects that they wanted the outbound campaign to target. The profiles consisted of detailed demographic and firmographic segmentations.
  2. Identified as the campaign’s primary targets: Directors, Business Owners, IT Managers, Person in Charge of IT
  3. The master contact list was segmented based on these personas, and was further grouped according to industry type.

Results

The Account-Based Marketing Lead Generation and Appointment Setting campaign ran for 4 years, and generated a total of 857 Sales Qualified Appointments.

Software Company Won Thousands of Registrations Thru Callbox Webinar Event Campaign

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The Client

The Client is a provider of remote monitoring and management software products and services for managed service providers, IT service providers and value added resellers that offer IT support services to small to medium businesses.

The Challenge

The Client was to launch a series of webinars in US and Canada, and needed a marketing partner to help generate registrations. The campaign required hundreds of calling activities everyday which they saw to be a major challenge for their in-house marketing staff. 

Trying to outsource for the first time, the Client took careful steps in searching for the right telemarketing partner, and eventually chose Callbox from a list of B2B firms because of the latter’s extensive experience in running lead generation campaigns.

The Callbox Solution

Callbox designed an end-to-end Multi-Touch, Multi-Channel Webinar & Virtual Event Marketing campaign which utilized Voice, Email, Mobile, Web, and Social Media to target attendees from the US and Canada.

The Callbox team was to manage the whole webinar campaign starting from promotion, actual or live event, and onto post-event tasks which consisted of: 

Pre-Webinar Promotion:

  • Email Templates
  • Call Scripts
  • Landing Pages Form
  • Promotional Materials

Webinar Facilitation: 

  • Practice Session
  • Speaker(s) Introduction
  • Attendee Engagement
  • Q&A Moderation

Webinar Report:

  • Video Recording
  • Audience Feedback
  • Q&A Reports
  • Pre & Post Event Metrics

The Campaign Goals

The webinar campaign focused on contacting key prospects to introduce them to the potentials of increased sales and lowered business costs through managed services. 

Prospects who expressed interest in the Client’s services were booked for appointments with the Client’s lead development team, and were registered for the webinar.

Results

The US and Canada webinar events did very well which brought the Client to decide on signing another contract with Callbox for a 20-seat campaign to target the UK and New Zealand markets.

Overall, the Webinar Event campaigns ran for 3 years, and generated a total of 35,793 registrations.

Client Feedback

I am pleased to recommend Callbox. They have consistently worked with a collaborative attitude to ensure all processes are current and achieve all set key performance indicators. Whenever an issue did arise we worked through the issue in a timely and efficient manner so goals remained on target. They have a positive, easy to work with demeanor and strive to exceed performance expectations. I highly recommend their services.