If there’s an appropriate metaphor for your lead generation campaign, it’s a cargo vessel.

And like any ship that crosses seas and oceans, we just can’t expect the journey to be a relaxing boat ride on the pond for our precious cache of prospects.

Elements of failure abound, and B2B marketers are always at their toes drawing up contingency plans in anticipation of a collision.

And it takes a good sense of perceiving critical cracks to make sure things abide by your campaign objectives.

Here are five warning signs your campaign could be unfit to traverse turbulent waters.

Too much content. Content is good. In fact, marketers couldn’t get enough of it. But the same doesn’t go for your target market. Overloading your campaign with extravagant emails and long, nausea-inducing articles only add to weight, which matters most when your ship starts to sink. So, before putting your content marketing plans to work, make sure you choose only content that matters to your targets.

Dependency. When it comes to B2B marketing, technical expertise plays an indispensable role. Thus, you spend money and put in a lot of work employing experts to do customer service and appointment setting for you. But you should always remember that no matter how skilled your personnel are, there is no guarantee they can help resolve unique problems. The best approach is to look for a company that is results-oriented and not just there to swell your ranks of specialists.

Over-regulation. Within the control rooms of B2B companies, each department works on each aspect of the campaign. The only problem is that there is a form of tribalism that dominates the work environment, where the sales reps complain about low quality leads and the marketing officers telling them to “bite me.” The atmosphere should be that of a commune, where information and suggestions flow freely.

Lack of B2B buyer knowledge. A great deal of your lead generation campaign is dedicated to knowing more about your target market. Of course, the success of your lead generation can all depend on how your prospects absorb the information you give them and relate them to their needs. Failing in this aspect can bring about consequences as depressing as poor sales closes.

Poor Demand Generation campaign. Creating leads and following them up is impossible without having an effective demand generation campaign. Since generating demands creates awareness, not nurturing your campaign would divert it off its original course. Poor market analytics as well as branding endeavors can be the main culprits, thus you may need to revamp your demand generation strategies completely.

Conceptualizing a lead generation strategy is similar to drafting a design for a safe passenger ship. And because it is a vessel full of people, you will have to make sure that every aspect of the vessel is free from harbingers of danger.

Source: http://customerthink.com/5-ways-to-recognize-b2b-lead-generation-failure-and-move-on/