Learn why
marketing automation is becoming so popular for B2B organizations of all sizes.
Marketing automation
helps your organization increase operational efficiency to grow revenue
and reach strategic business goals faster.
According to the 2016 Green Hat/ADMA B2B
Marketing Outlook Report, 43 percent of participants were satisfied
or very satisfied with the ROI generated from marketing automation, signifying
its long-term role in the B2B marketer's arsenal.
This article will shed
some light on some of the more technical aspects of B2B
marketing automation.
But more importantly,
it will show you how marketing automation can help your organization
reach business outcomes, regardless of its size.
Who Uses Marketing Automation?
Although large
companies have traditionally had an increasing interest in marketing automation
technologies, it’s important to note that these tools can be utilized by
companies of all sizes. The largest growth segment, according to marketing
automation platform Marketo, is the small to mid-size business sector (SMBs).
This consists of organizations with annual revenue between $5 and $500 million,
however many thousands of smaller companies successfully use marketing
automation platforms.
Not only is marketing
automation implemented by companies of all sizes, it’s also used across a wide
variety of industries. Initially, the heaviest users were in the B2B space;
predominantly those in technology, software, business services and
manufacturing. However there's now an increase in B2C users as well. This
is due to the relationship-oriented approach to building and managing
relationships.
Marketing Automation Platform Features for B2B Companies
The best marketing
automation platforms consist of a broad range of functionality across lead
nurturing and scoring, CRM integration, social marketing, analytics, lead
lifecycle management, campaign management, landing pages/forms and of course,
email marketing.
Let’s take a closer
look at each of these.
Email
Marketing
Widely known as one of
the most effective digital marketing channels, email marketing is even more
powerful when it becomes part of a single platform with forms and landing
pages. In fact, marketing automation platforms can take the place of your
email service provider, depending on the functionality of the vendor platform
you select.
Lead
Management
All marketing
automation platforms generally provide at least some level of lead management
functionality. Through lead management, you can automate lead scoring and
grading, segmentation, view your marketing database and create multi-touch lead
nurturing campaigns.
Lead
Generation Programs
Initially, marketing
automation platforms didn’t include the capabilities required to create broad
functioning lead generation programs. However this is slowly starting to change,
with many platforms (including Marketo and Hubspot) starting to realise the
value this provides to their users.
Social
Media Marketing
In recent years
marketing automation platforms have been adding features for social media
marketing. Such features can be extremely useful, especially if you’re
interested in social listening, social analytics, and finding new ways to reach
your audience and engage with them through promotion.
Reporting
and Analytics
Situated at the cross
roads between the elements of marketing art and science is analytics and
reporting. This is where you have the ability to track and measure your
efforts, especially in terms of measuring ROI and the impact of each campaign.
What B2B Marketing Automation Isn’t
1.
Marketing automation isn’t email marketing on steroids
Marketing automation
is the combination of many different insight-focused capabilities; this
includes CRM, lead management and web analytics. Many marketers mistakenly
believe it’s just for email marketing, which really is not the case. Ideal for
multi-channel marketing efforts, automation platforms help plan email marketing
campaigns more effectively.
2.
Marketing automation isn’t for spamming your database
The technology used
for marketing automation has the potential to deliver outstanding results. As
such, it is a tool that can be used for good and bad, and unfortunately, some
people do give it a bad name by using these tools for the wrong purposes.
Instead, you should use it to develop meaningfully connect with your database.
Related
Article:9 Web Tools That Make Marketing Automation a Breeze
3.
Marketing automation isn’t only for your marketing department
Your organization’s
marketing department can benefit greatly by implementing marketing automation
into your digital strategy; but they’re not the only ones, your sales team can
also benefit. Ultimately, it’s all about increasing revenue by using marketing
automation as a strategic tool across your entire organization.
4.
Marketing automation isn’t without effort required on your part
Many people think that
marketing automation is a solution that delivers results without any effort.
This simply is not the case. If you expect to purchase a marketing automation
platform then sit back and watch your revenue climb, you would be very
mistaken. For actual success, you need to learn how it works and implement it
as part of a broader B2B marketing strategy.
The Real Value of B2B Marketing Automation
Marketing automation
helps you nurture and build relationships with prospects and leads that aren’t
quite ready to buy. When implemented correctly, nurturing has the potential to
result in 50 percent more sales leads at a 33 percent lower cost per
lead, according to Marketo.
Additionally, when a
lead converts, what happens then? It is the B2B marketer’s job to continue
extending customer relationships long after the first sale has been made.
Marketing automation benefits B2B
organizations of all sizes
You will find that in
the majority of industries, real value can be accomplished by nurturing
relationships over time. This could include up-selling or cross selling; but
relationship marketing involves much more than just sending a monthly email.
Marketing
automation also helps you target each buyer persona during
every stage of their journey. It’s at this stage where you have the
ability to listen and learn how your customers behave, and then adjust your own
behaviour accordingly, similar to that of a real life relationship.
But it doesn’t
end there. Marketing automation also assists with sales
and marketing alignment, because not all leads are created
equally. You will find that most of the leads passed through to sales are not
qualified and certainly not ready to buy yet.
Because of this, it is
necessary to develop demographic lead scoring which enables you to find the
most suitable target customers. When this audience is displaying buyer
behaviors (such as downloading your ebooks and case studies) it means they can
progress through to the next stage. Once they’ve been identified as a hot lead,
it could mean they’re ready to purchase from you.
Daniel Tolliday http://www.b2bmarketer.com.au
Daniel is Chief
Content Officer at B2B Marketer Magazine, a digital publication for B2B
marketing professionals. With content marketing experience spanning almost a
decade, he helps organizations, brands and agencies strategically plan, produce
and promote content through multiple channels.
https://www.business.com/articles/b2b-marketing-automation-its-not-just-for-the-big-guys/
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