Double touch lead gen dominates the highway. What happens if you go off-roading?

Like the plot of a good old fashioned heist movie, B2B marketing relies on relentlessly savvy, bold, and often untested strategies to get the job done.  

Think about the 1969 classic heist flick, “The Italian Job”.  

Too niche? Well, in summary, a crew of Mini Cooper-driving crooks go to the extreme to outmaneuver and outsmart the cops through the narrow streets of Italy. Spoiler: they win in the end. 

Why? Because they went broader, using the terrain to their advantage, maneuvering through stairs, narrow alleys, and shopping malls. It’s this sort of unorthodox thinking—spreading the field and keeping things moving—that takes you a different route to success.  

Now – not all films are blockbuster heists, and not all clients require this level of maneuvering. For some, middle-ground, middle-funnel strategies like double-touch lead gen work perfectly. For others, you need a different tactic entirely. Get ready to dive into Waterfall.  

Waterfall Content Syndication vs. Double-Touch Lead Gen

Double-touch lead gen is a killer strategy with proven success – your lead must engage with two different pieces of content to be viable. This naturally targets a smaller percentage of mass leads and directs you to spend gas where it’s most valuable.  

With Waterfall content syndication, your campaign is empowered to spread as far and wide as those Mini Coopers zipped through Italy. You’re not just hitting the usual spots and waiting for prospects to seek you out; you’re everywhere your audience might be, pushing them toward conversion.  

Different cars for different drivers.  

While double touch relies on a more selective approach, Waterfall maximizes brand awareness and credibility by reaching a broader audience. 

Waterfall content syndication allows you to promote targeted content in multiple different locations, broadening your reach and pairing your brand with organizations trusted by your prospects. When your content appears on reputable third-party sites, it’s no longer just your content; it’s endorsed content.  

Priceless backlinks and views derived from your syndicated content elevate your search status. And these aren’t just short-term wins; they’re long-term investments in your website’s SEO authority.  

Shelf Life: The Evergreen Factor

Any car enthusiast will tell you that resale value is just as important as your initial investment. Sometimes thinking long term is beneficial.  

Some lead gen strategies like single and double-touch may focus on sending hyper-relevant recent content via email outreach with a shorter shelf life. The campaign has a clear start and end date, which works perfectly for content like industry reports.  

For other content pieces, you want the campaign to linger on the web, with the potential to collect views and brand impressions with each passing day. But your content needs to be good – and evergreen enough to keep attracting attention.  

Waterfall is strategized around evergreen content. You create it, deploy it, and while you’re off focusing on other initiatives, that content continues to work on your behalf. It’s capable of drawing leads long after being published.  

Double-touch on the other hand, doesn’t remain available to audiences once a campaign ends, requiring your sales and marketing teams to shift gears to generate new material to drive conversions. 

Let’s talk money.

Both Waterfall and double-touch lead gen both require investments, but not all investments are made equal. So how much bang do you get for your buck? How is your car going to appreciate with time?  

Think of double-touch like buying a new car. It’s a diminishing asset – but if you need to get somewhere quick – it’s perfect. If your org needs middle-of-funnel leads, and you already have a great process for converting leads to sales, stick to double-touch. You just need the leads to come in, and quickly. 

Waterfall content syndication strategies are vintage Ferrari. You need to spend time, effort, and a little elbow grease up-front to get the highest possible ROI. Waterfall offers a higher likelihood of generating a favorable long-term ROI as it continues to attract leads without ongoing effort – but its wide net may slow down your conversion rate. 

Ultimately, both Waterfall and double-touch give you the tools you need to adapt, innovate, and crush B2B content syndication. You just need to choose the car that fits your org’s road.