In this series of posts on marketing automation, we offer important definitions of marketing automation, present an overview of what it is all about, and why you should start taking advantage of its revenue contributions today. We will also present some very compelling numbers gathered that make the case for procuring a marketing automation application now. Starting with basic considerations and what to look for in the product you choose, we’ll make a case further for why you need to consider implementing a marketing automation system. In addition, we will provide resources, how-to’s, and tips for getting started along the way.
What is marketing automation?
The term Marketing Automation is a fair & concise phrase to describe the current development of everything marketing – content development, email marketing, lead capture / landing page development, SEO, website / social interaction & analysis, lead scoring, nurturing and sales / CRM integration.
A truly comprehensive approach, we feel, is much much more. It includes a cloud-based application that seamlessly integrates all of the tools in a comprehensive, money-saving option. It allows for automating custom functions as well. Finally, it provides a support team helping you with everything from setup and training to ongoing success monitoring.
Marketing success without sales success is worthless
When your marketing approach is integrated with sales, you now have business development automation. Your marketing engine is tied right into your sales CRM, optimizing both processes and shortening the sales cycle.
The ability to implement systems that brings both marketing and sales together results in organizational harmony by putting the application technology in the background, implementing the rules that can run seamlessly, and developing better customer buying experiences – resulting in loyalty from servicing them with higher levels of brand integrity.
Business Development Automation considers how to overcome your marketing & sales challenges to improve brand value & revenue – the ultimate goal.
Questions to consider about marketing automation
Are you now somewhat, or fully making use of:
- An email marketing service or application internally?
- Customer demand-based content covering your website and social media platforms that achieves lead capture & sales conversions?
- SEO and AdWords to develop a better search presence and capture more of your desired audience?
- Analytics intelligence to know when your prospective customers visit your site, where they are on it?
- Trying to achieve a more seamless process of bringing all of these together to know who the visitors are that are more likely to obtain your business offerings immediately or in the near-term?
- Passing the leads with higher probability of purchases soon to your sales people, for improving the sales pipeline and allow them to focus on establishing relational trust rather than the doldrums of outdated and highly inefficient methods of prospecting? Please do not tell us your are still using spreadsheets sent from the marketing department with no scoring based on intelligence directly from analytics data!
If you are attempting some or all of these necessary modern marketing methods, but not within an automation tool, then consider:
- One place to manage all of your marketing campaigns, intelligence, related campaign content creation, intelligence from your website and social media sites, SEO and AdWords performance data
- The ability to pass leads onto your sales team with the highest probability of converting them into customers at or near their purchase times.
Stay tuned for more in Marketing Automation – Part 2.
