• by Ray Schultz , July 6, 2020

Email is one of the top three lead-generation channels that firms are investing in this year. That’s because it also ranks as one of the most effective lead vehicles, judging by Building relationships for Lead Conversion, a study by Ascend2. 

Social media is first, with 58% citing it as an effective channel for building relationships for lead conversion. Email is second, with 49%.  

Next are websites/SEO (44%), content marketing or syndication (34%) and PPC/paid media (20%).  

Budgets for the next year are mostly line with that: 

• Social media — 54%
• Website/SEO — 51% 
• Email/automation — 44%
• Content marketing — 40%
• Virtual events/webinars — 24%
• PPC/paid media — 17% 
• Live chat/chatbots — 13%

Firms are inviting thee most resources in generating new leads (52%), nurturing existing prospects (29%) and expanding existing accounts (19%). 

As a marketing tactic, 42% say email/automation is effective, putting it behind social media (55%) and website SEO (43%).

Email beats content marketing (37%), virtual events/webinars (29%), PPC/paid media (17%) and live chatbots (13%). 

Of the companies polled, 60% say their strategies for generating leads that convert are somewhat successful. Another 33% are very successful, or best in class. And 9% are unsuccessful. 

Their most serious challenges are: 

• Generating enough leads — 50%
• Lack of budget/resource — 42%
• Targeting of leads — 38%
• Lack of data on leads — 29%
• Messaging/creative — 29%
• Marketing and sales alignment — 28%
• Marketing attribution — 12%

Meanwhile, the most effective content formats are:

• Video — 41%
• Webinars — 36% 
• Original research/data — 36% 
• Blog posts — 34%
• Templates/tools — 22% 
• Case studies/ebooks — 20% 
• Podcasts — 18% 

Ascend2 surveyed marketing professionals and research subscribers, 38% in B2B, 41% in B2C and 21% in both equally.