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February 8, 2010
Marketing Automation: Simple Ways to Get Started
Posted by Maria Pergolino
For B2B organizations looking to shorten sales cycles, increase revenue and achieve better marketing ROI, marketing automation is the natural answer. These automated solutions manage the process of converting prospects to buyers by automating tasks and workflows such as:
- Demand generation
- Lead management
- Sales and marketing alignment
But for B2B organizations yet to embark on marketing automation, the idea of automating all tasks and workflows in the revenue cycle can be overwhelming.
To create a manageable plan for automating marketing functions, try one or more of these 5 simple ways to get started in marketing automation:
- Prioritize based on highest needs. Assess the areas of the revenue cycle needing the most improvement, such as lead generation, lead nurturing or sales and marketing alignment. Focus on those areas first.
- Create marketing assets that can generate interest during every stage of the buying process. For example, instead of creating solution-oriented content, produce educational content for the beginning of the process. That content could be a case study illustrating how a specific challenge was overcome, or a webinar providing tips to alleviate a common problem.
- Incorporate already automated tasks in the solution first. Create a list of routine marketing activities in which the company engages, such as auto-response emails. By first implementing these types of tasks in the marketing automation solution, organizations can spend more time on creative strategies.
- Focus on the lead database. Evaluate the organization’s lead database. Segment the list based on lead source or profile information for marketing campaigns.
- Develop simple, automated workflows in the beginning. Save the advanced techniques for later. Instead, create workflows such as following up a form submission with an email from a salesperson, complete with content on a related topic.
For more information and resources on marketing automation, visit: http://www.marketo.com/b2b-marketing-resources/marketing-automation.php
eCommerce Advantages Blog said on February 18, 2010 at 8:35 pm
The post is really nice and I agree that marketing automation is a good way of getting started. Focusing the lead database allows seeing the way market is performing and gives an idea about the leads in which people are interested more.
Mark A. Armbrus said on April 30, 2010 at 8:36 am
Good post. I agree that marketing automation is the key to setting up your business to be predictable. I have used a few other tools, namely guided voicemail (or voicemail courier) as a way to automate voice contact with regular touches. Here are the high-end and low-end players in the space:
Boxpilot (www.boxpilot.com) – Comprehensive guided voicemail service.
Greeler (www.greeler.com) – Low-cost, simplified guided voicemail service.
Regards, Mark
Sarita Rawat said on May 13, 2010 at 12:54 am
I totally agree with this post. I am awaiting for your next post. Keep it up.
sarita
Jeff Ogden said on February 18, 2010 at 4:22 pm
This is an excellent article, Maria. I talk to clients all the time who have purchased automation and are thinking “What now.” Having some simple tasks to do and a plan is a great idea.
Jeff Ogden, President
Find New Customers
http://www.findnewcustomers.net