The Crest
4 Mistakes you’re making with Online Marketing Software and How to Fix Them
MARKETING
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This one is particularly tough,
because it can be difficult to
admit it might have been a
mistake to go with a specific
piece of marketing software
and even harder to justify the
expense and time of switching.
However, if you need the
platform to accomplish
specific tasks and it can’t, or if
there are integration issues
that simply cannot be fixed, it
might be necessary to examine
other options.
Marketing software
can help companies
scale and automate
important marketing
processes of all kinds,
from lead nurturing to
data analysis to sales
process optimization
and beyond.
Regardless of the
software company
behind it, these
solutions are typically
designed to help
companies save time,
identify opportunities,
and close the gaps
internally or externally
that keep them from
achieving their goals.
The goal in most
businesses is pretty
straightforward:
increase revenue and
more importantly,
profits. The process to get you there is nowhere near that
simple. Marketing software is meant to:
Make it easier to increase multi-channel visibility,
Align sales and marketing efforts (often through CRM
integration),
Reach the right people at the right place and time with
enhanced targeting, and
Help nurture and maintain relationships.
Yes, marketing software is growing and companies can no
longer deny its value, in automating once manual and time
consuming tasks, offering more valuable insights and
ultimately saving time and money while increasing revenue.
That is, if you’re using it right.
Sirius Decisions predicts marketing automation technology
adoption will increase to 50% by 2015, yet less than 25% of
companies already using a platform feel they are using it to
its full potential. Why the disconnect and how can you
make the most of what is, for many, a costly investment?
See if you might be making one (or even more than one) of
these mistakes with your online marketing software and
how to fix it.
The Problem: Poor alignment between sales and marketing
teams
Confusion over which department is responsible for a
particular type of messaging, when to actually call a lead
dead versus sending it back for nurturing, or plain old
internal politics can be a killer, even for the best marketing
automation system.
The fix: Exhaust all options;
talk to their support team,
determine whether your
issues may be a case of user
error or simply not using the
platform properly. Compare
other marketing software
solutions and do your due
diligence in:
Asking questions,
Sales and marketing absolutely have to work together,
driven by a clear process. To that end, education is key.
Speaking with other users,
The Fix: Marketing automation platforms want their clients
to drive maximize revenue growth by using software and
usually offer a wealth of training resources. Marketo, for
instance, has an entire collection of e-books and
presentations dedicated to sales and marketing integration.
InfusionSoft also has a collection of e-books, webinars and
videos. Use these tools by having a weekly training session
with both teams, to further each individual’s understanding
of the “hows” and “whys” in order to enable them to go
forward as a team.
The Problem: You don’t have enough relevant content to
feed the beast
Lead generation and nurturing prospects to conversion
require content, often more than an organization is
accustomed to providing. The transition to more
thoughtful, targeted content creation can also be a
challenge, as writing off the top of your head or simply
publishing to have content out there isn’t effective.
The fix: A clear, scalable content creation process is critical
to the success of your automated marketing. Feed the
content beast with high quality, original content that aligns
with your business goals and meets the needs of your
address at that specific point in their purchasing decision.
We have published a wide variety of content creation
resources on the RECRUITMENT INDIA blog to help you get
started.
The Problem: You aren’t using the right solution for your
business needs
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Taking a trial,
and having each of your teams (IT, sales, marketing,
content) involved in the decision-making process.
The Problem: You don’t have all of the data, or the right
data, needed to make the best decisions
Even the best marketing software can’t produce optimal
results if you aren’t feeding it the right data. All customerfacing systems must integrate with your marketing
software in order to share customer and prospect data
critical in effectiv ely segmenting and targeting.
The fix: Run tests comparing your data in different
databases to that within your marketing software to
determine if integrating the two might offer deeper insights
that can assist in more precise targeting. In Scribe’s State of
Customer Data Integration study, they found that just 18%
of respondents reported having full integration between
their CRM and marketing automation software. Close that
gap for a more holistic view of their needs and how you can
address them.
Set Your Business Up for Marketing Software Success
Marketing software can offer huge benefits to companies,
yet many struggle to realize those results in practice.
Blogger Jody Blome recently shared the story of his
previous company’s epic failure using marketing software,
with a critical yet necessary investigation into how things
went so wrong.
Prepare yourself for success by having clear goals going into
the process of selecting a solution and a detailed process
on how it will be used within your company. Empower sales
and marketing employees to use it properly – and in
tandem – for best results.
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