Marketing Automation 2.0 Closing the Marketing and Sales Gap with a Next-Generation Collaborative Platform

Transcription

1 Marketing Automation 2.0 Closing the Marketing and Sales Gap with a Next-Generation Collaborative Platform

2 4 Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 Defining Marketing Automation Marketing Automation 1.0: Current Challenges 4 Marketing Automation 2.0 Next-Generation Solution Characteristics 5 Marketing Automation 2.0 Architecture 6 Benefits of Marketing Automation Conclusion 2 2

3 Executive Summary T he birth of marketing automation in the mid- 90 s can be termed as a significant milestone both for B2B Companies and for B2B marketers. With a number of players in this space the industry has slowly but steadily won itself a lot of believers. Websites which were once considered online company brochures were transformed into lead generating platforms. Visitors to a website were distinctly classified into leads, prospects and sales- ready, each getting a different level of nurturing and personal attention, based on their stage in the overall sales cycle. In the words of Laura Ramos, VP and Principal Analystat Forrester Research, The benefits of adopting Lead Marketing Automation are clear:b2b marketers that successfully carry out lead management practices enjoy more predictable conversions, faster sales cycles, campaign automation, when done in a vacuum, is not very meaningful, since there is no integration with the other moving parts within the overall marketing and sales process. and real alignment between marketing activity and sales results. While leading vendors like Eloqua, Marketo, and Silverpop drive results through improved marketing and sales productivity, no technology supplier is yet in a breakaway position. This quote summarizes the current state of the Marketing Automation industry. Companies which use this technology have, to a large extent, have not yet fully translated the true potential of Marketing Automation industry. Existing marketing automation is all about automating the process within the marketing departments to set up and measure online marketing campaigns. However, marketing campaign automation, when done in a vacuum, is not very meaningful, since there is no integration with the other moving parts within 3

4 Executive Summary the overall marketing and sales process. In that sense, the existing marketing automation business segment is ripe for disruption. On the other hand, Marketing Automation 2.0 is all about 'collaboration' leveraged to produce leads and accelerate the marketing and sales process at multiple levels. Rather than existing in silos, marketing, sales, channels, and partners can all share a unified 'opportunity view', establish a more productive deal-flow, and drive success as measured in leads converted to sales opportunities. and capabilities of the next-generation Marketing Automation 2.0 platform, which is built on the basics of the Web 2.0 world. It is a platform which derives intelligence and delivers analytics in real time. It seamlessly integrates all activities from the time a lead is identified until a deal is closed, all on a unified platform. It is capable of determining a website visitor s interests and buying intent, and can not only analyze and report the ROI of marketing campaigns, but also repeatedly provide a complete return on investment its users. In this paper we describe the advantages 4

5 Defining Marketing Automation 2.0 M arketing Automation 2.0 is an advanced and integrated software platform designed for inside sales, sales, marketing and web optimization. It goes beyond demand generation and workflow automation while providing insight into a website visitor's intent, deriving actionable intelligence to convert a visitor into a qualified lead and subsequently into an opportunity. It bridges the gap between sales and marketing to drive sales success. MA 2.0 also uses effective collaboration methodologies and analytics, provides a holistic view of each prospect, and enables sharing and up-sell opportunities within communities across an organization's internal and external networks. Marketing Automation 2.0 provides one platform and one data set for different internal departments and outside partners, including sales, marketing, management, web dev team, inside sales and channel partners. It then layers collaboration on top of this, increasing the 3V's in the lead generation process- Velocity of leads (faster pace of lead generation), Volume of Leads (higher quantity of leads) and Value (Higher return on investment). To understand why Marketing Automation 2.0 represents a quantum leap in capabilities,we need to first understand the limitations ofthe current generation of marketing automation platforms Marketing Automation

6 Marketing Automation 1.0: Current Challenges Incomplete capture of prospect information Most the existing marketing automation solutions can find anonymous visitors on a website and, based on their activities on the website such as downloading a whitepaper, or requesting a demo etc., can shortlist which lead is considered good enough to be sent to the sales team for further action. The short-listed lead may be someone from a commercial organization who visited the website. Now it is up to the marketing or sales teams to find for themselves the complete identity of this individual and his/her employer. The current process is time consuming and fails to provide intelligence on the interests and requirements of the visitor. It is also unlikely that it can determine where the prospect is in the buying cycle. Lead nurturing programs are only as good as the information that supports them. Limited onsite visitor intelligence results in sub-optimal marketing campaigns, poor qualification of sales leads, and lost sales opportunities. Meaningless lead scoring When a Marketing Automation1.0 platform captures details of all the visitors who browse an organization s website, lead scoring becomes an integral process of segregating the good from the useless. It also forms the basis of future action both by the marketing and the sales teams. Unfortunately, in the current generation platform the attitude towards lead scoring is very mechanical. The marketing and sales teams define a good lead and then all leads are measured against this information and prioritized on the number of actions they performed on the website. Since the process fails to give any actual insight into the intent of the visitor and his/her behavioral analysis, the lead funnel gets populated with a lot of leads which may not be relevant. Wait and watch lead nurturing approach The process of lead nurturing is critical to converting a lead into a prospect, and a prospect into a sale. This is one process which can give the organization a sense of having its lead funnel buzzing with activity, but without any real data on when all those leads-in-waiting will actually convert to sales. A successful lead nurturing program requires insight into the actual needs and requirements of the online visitor. On this count, the current generation 1.0 platform fails. The intelligence provided is not sufficient to develop a lead nurturing campaign which can be focused on helping the lead, by providing him with the exact information he is seeking, and thereby hastening his decision making process. 6

7 Marketing Automation 1.0: Current Challenges The Marketing Automation1.0 platform is designed to wait and watch. Ensuring higher conversion rates and shorter sales cycles, however, requires a more proactive and comprehensive approach. Gap between marketing and sales Marketing and sales are two beneficiaries of the same lead funnel. For both of them to succeed in their respective roles, it is essential that they collaborate and interact in real-time. The Marketing Automation1.0 platform has managed to bring these two important divisions of an organization closer but has still not completely bridged the gap. Using current solutions, marketing runs lead generation campaigns, scores the lead, nurtures it and sends it across to the sales team for further action. After that point of connection, there is little synergy between the teams. Marketing believes that it has done it job, and sales believes that it can manage the lead from that point forward, without any further assistance from marketing. Both the teams are still operating in silos from a lead management perspective Poor collaboration and no common view The process of lead nurturing is critical to converting a lead into a prospect, and a prospect into a sale. This is one process which can give the organization a sense of having its lead funnel buzzing with activity, but without any real data on when all those leads-in-waiting will actually convert to sales. Lack of Web 2.0 integration Web 2.0 has changed the way businesses function. Leveraging social networks and various other web 2.0 platforms is an integral part of modern day marketing campaigns. These platforms encourage marketing, sales, partners, and customers to contribute and collaborate in real-time. These attributes can make a significant difference on how marketing and sales teams find, nurture and pursue a lead. This is Marketing Automation1.0 s biggest drawback. It fails to provide its users with a platform where all the stakeholders can share, discuss, and strategize their next move and take action their collaborative decisions in real-time and a major reason why existing marketing automation platforms are reaching obsolescence. 7

8 Marketing Automation 1.0: Next-Generation Solution Characteristics "Tools that monitor online activity, match visitors against commercial databases, look up their firms and roles, and help sales proactively chase buyers across the Web take priority over technology that manages demand once it comes in the door - Laura Ramos VP & Principal Analyst, Forrester Research Solutions that focus only on lead generation and lead management are not enough to solve the growing challenges of an enterprise in a socially aware world. Now a marketing automation platform must think for its customers. Marketing Automation 2.0 represents a solution which uses effective collaboration methodologies based on existing social networking platforms, enabling sharing and up-sell opportunities within communities across an organization's internal and external networks. The platform primarily works based on 3I (Intent, Intelligence and Integration) logic that provides teams with sufficient information and statistics to effectively run their lead management programs. Marketing Automation 2.0 follows the concept of the web as a participation platform. There are several characteristics which are intrinsic to a next generation, Marketing Automation 2.0 platform. Behavior Tracking and Intent Analysis The Marketing Automation 2.0 platform can actually determine the interests and discern the intent of a website visitor. It tracks the visitor s browsing behavior when on the site and puts together a lead intent module, giving the marketing and sales teams an insight into the areas of interest for the lead. His browsing behavior provides insight into the solution he is seeking. Regardless of whether your visitor fills a registration form on your website or not, you can still find enough intelligence about his interest and intent to qualify him. This one feature changes everything that is done on the Marketing Automation 2.0 platform. Lead capturing, lead scoring, lead nurturing, and sales closures all acquire a whole new meaning. Campaigns that are created are not reactive, but more actionoriented, customized to suit the requirements of the visitor, ensuring higher responses, faster turnarounds and shorter sales cycles. Marketing Automation 2.0 s intent-tracking features re-define sales pitches visitor s interests. 8

9 Marketing Automation 1.0: Next-Generation Solution Characteristics Comprehensive Lead Data Collection The Marketing Automation 2.0 platform not only captures the anonymous leads on a website but also completes the contact details of the online visitor. Visitor matching is done based on the analysis derived from the visitor s browsing patterns and other online behaviors. This feature changes the way a company views its leads and runs its follow-up campaigns. Now the identified lead is not just an anonymous visitor, but includes a comprehensive set of identifiers, including name, , company, etc. Integration of Lead Views The MA2.0 platform seamlessly integrates all activities involving the marketing and sales teams in an organization.from driving leads to the website, to making the first live connection with a prospect. It bridges the gap between the Marketing and Sales teams in an organization by providing a single platform and a single view of the captured lead. In addition to a single lead view, the Marketing Automation 2.0 platform also provides an enterprise lead view. It tracks different visitors who came to the site from the same company, their individual behavior on the site, and an overall view on all of them together in one place providing information on which stage the company is in during the decision-making process. This capability enables marketing and sales teams to take immediate action by establishing instant contact over or phone with the visitor/visitors should they find the prospect to be in a sales-ready stage. The process also helps eliminate those leads which are perceived to be good but are actually useless, ensuring the lead funnel only has prospects who are either sales-ready or will be salesready with some bit of nurturing. Web 2.0 Collaboration This is the feature which makes this next generation Marketing Automation platform truly a version 2.0 solution. Marketing Automation 2.0 solutions leverage existing web 2.0 platforms and social networks to provide a 9

10 Marketing Automation 1.0: Next-Generation Solution Characteristics stakeholders in the lead generation, lead management and sales closure processes within a company. Teams can now acquire rich lead intelligence and share their insights in real time. They can deliberate, decide and take action, without losing any time. This critical MA 2.0 feature eliminates any gaps between the marketing and sales teams by synchronizing all their various activities, at the same time making them more efficient. Marketing Automation 2.0 Architecture 10

11 Benefits of Marketing Automation Increased Sales and Marketing Synergy Sales and marketing disconnect is detrimental to the success of any organization. It not only reduces the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns run by the company, but also reduces the efficiency of its sales teams in pursuing and closing deals. Existing marketing automation solutions fail to bridge this gap because they still see the two departments passing the baton once their respective role is completed in the overall lead management process. A next-generation, Marketing Automation 2.0 solution with its process integration and Web 2.0 enabled platform makes lead management a collaborative process, ensuring real-time communication between the marketing and sales departments. Both teams gain from each other s insights and experiences: Sales feedback helps marketing optimize its marketing campaigns, which in turn results in betterfocused lead generation campaigns. In addition, the common lead view helps them to take action on decisions immediately, eliminating lead-lag, and resulting in higher conversion rates. 2 Better Lead Qualification and Organizational Productivity Lead scoring takes on a whole new meaning with Marketing Automation 2.0. Leads are not scored based on the number of items visitors download from the site, or the number of click-throughs. Leads are scored based on the online visitor s browsing behavior and inferred intent. Scoring also includes taking into account the Individual and the enterprise s behavior in the case of multiple people from the same company visiting the website. These intelligent insights, coupled with a common view of the identified leads for the sales and marketing teams, ensure that only the good leads which have the potential of being converted to prospects as well as closed deals stay in the system. This not only ensures a highly qualified lead lineup but also helps the organization to optimize its resources to the maximum. 11

12 Benefits of Marketing Automation Targeted Campaigns with Impact Independent research has discovered that sales people need to have a conversation with the prospect within 20 minutes of the prospect visiting the website, after which the chances of successfully engaging the prospect fall dramatically. This underscores the need for communicating quickly and effectively with a lead. The analytics provided by a Marketing Automation 2.0 platform are focused and intent driven. Intelligence gathered gives a deep insight into the visitors buying process, including the stage of the decision-making process. This data enables the marketing team to create customized lead nurturing campaigns which are based on real prospect needs, rather than guess-work. Since the lead nurturing campaigns are intent-driven, they help ensure that the prospect is receiving only relevant content and s, increasing the likelihood that s will be read, rather than discarded. And greater lead intelligence makes it easier for the sales teams to create customized pitches. Focused lead nurturing campaigns, and tailor-made pitches result in shorter sales cycles and improved sales and marketing productivity, 4 Data Mining and Success Feedback Companies have success stories and it pays benefits to learn from those successes so that they can be replicated. A Marketing Automation 2.0 platform captures significantly more online visitor and prospect data than was previously attainable. For example, online activity capture and behavior analysis uncovers not only where the visitor browsed, but for how long, and in what sequence throught the website. Multiple visitors from the same company can be similarly tracked, and their behavior aggregated into a separate analysis. Such capabilities enable companies to determine what works, and what doesn t work with their online marketing component. Now marketing and sales teams can analyze their success stories, look for patterns, and based on this intelligence, create a more predictive model which can be used for managing similar leads in the future. What you did right the last time around can now become an automated benchmark for planning your activities across the lead management process every time you find a prospect that fits the model. This becomes an extremely powerful tool for the organization. 12

13 Benefits of Marketing Automation Quantifiable Marketing Success Every organization strives to maximize the return on its investments, and no more so than in today s challenging economic environment. Marketing, like sales, is under pressure to quantify results from expenditures on online campaigns, PR and AR activities, advertising, and other marketing investments. A Marketing Automation 2.0 solution not only helps ensures a higher return on investment when it comes to the money spent on the solution itself but it also helps measure the value received from other marketing investments by a company. All types of marketing activities, including PR/AR, advertising, and social media participation can now be measured with a Marketing Automation 2.0 solution. If the focus of an organization s marketing activities is lead generation, a Marketing Automation 2.0 solution can clearly inform and provide the company with a rich set of data, including which marketing campaigns and channels brought in the maximum number of leads, and which channels did not yield good results. These insights help a company measure its marketing spends against the leads generated. It also helps a company to re-focus its efforts on campaigns and channels that yield them the best results. 6 Ease of Use Being a SaaS-based solution, the next-generation, Marketing Automation 2.0 platform does not require a dedicated IT component in order to be deployed. Companies can largely reduce or completely eliminate the cost associated with IT support, which represents a major cost savings for most enterprises, especially those without dedicated IT resources. 13

14 Conclusion Marketing Automation 2.0 is the next generation solution for marketing automation, providing B2B enterprises and marketers with a platform that is intuitive and responsive to the dynamic needs of commercial organizations. Marketing Automation 2.0 solution, powered by its intelligence and analytics, ensures that organizations acquire qualified leads in their sales funnel, generate effective, customized, lead management programs, and achieve shorter sales cycles and increased ROI. It is the only platform which provides end-to-end integration, from designing the lead generation campaign to making a live connection with the prospect. And Marketing Automation 2.0 solution merges smoothly with Web 2.0 tools to collaborate with prospects and customers on product development, service enhancement and promotion. Marketing automation 2.0 can make defining impact for companies in multiple ways: Customer and Partner Analytics: Companies can set up online communities to promote Communication between company and customer, company and partner, and customer-tocustomer, using a next-generation Marketing Automation 2.0. Marketing and Sales Collaboration: Marketing departments can add value to generated leads Generated by the marketing campaigns by providing a richer set of descriptive information, including additional insights, research and references in real-time which sales can utilize to help close the sale faster. Website as Lead-Generation Engine: Today s B2B websites are more complex, with greater volumes of content and visitor interactions. Marketing can collaborate with the web development team to ensure that the website is designed to support and optimize lead generation programs. Finally, Marketing Automation 2.0 solves the big problem of the marketing and sales divide, providing one unified platform and data set for different internal departments and outside partners, including sales, marketing, company management, channel partners, customers, and other key stakeholders. About LeadFormix LeadFormix is the leader in next-generation marketing automation, known as Marketing Automation 2.0. LeadFormix delivers a game-changing real-time marketing automation solution for enterprises that converts anonymous online visits into qualified sales leads, determines website visitor interest and intent, and enables sales teams to reach decision-makers more effectively and close deals faster using patented business intelligence and data mining technology. LeadFormix provides significantly richer lead data than any other solution, enabling enterprise sales and marketing teams to uncover hidden opportunities, accurately identify decision-makers, and deliver powerful, targeted, real-time responses and offers to potential customers. 14