The 5-Step Buyers Guide to Marketing Automation How to stay ahead of the competition in 5 easy steps

Transcription

1 The 5-Step Buyers Guide to Marketing Automation How to stay ahead of the competition in 5 easy steps

2 In this guide, we ll take you through the 5 steps that will help you select the right marketing automation software for your business: The 5 Steps Do you need marketing automation software? Consider your business requirements Research marketing automation software options Score and rank software capabilities Schedule a software demonstration

3 1. DO YOU NEED MARKETING AUTOMATION? 1. Do you need marketing automation?

4 Do you need marketing automation? If you are considering marketing automation options for your business, with 67% of businesses surveyed saying that they either currently use or will be using in the next 12 months, you are not alone. Marketing Automation Adoption No Plans to use 33% Using Now 41% Adding in the next 12 months 26% Source: Third Door Media, 2014 Marketing Automation Adoption Survey

5 Has the digital age outgrown the current marketing system? With companies now handling a growing number of channels, as well as the influx of big data, this has created a need for a way for companies to systemise their marketing approach. More businesses have started adopting marketing automation software as part of their marketing activities, leaving those businesses that have no automation currently at a disadvantage. 63% of companies that are outgrowing their competitors use integrated automated marketing (The Lenskold and Pedowitz Groups) and with marketing automation set to increase by 50% in 2015 (Sirius Decisions), this figure will only increase.

6 The pros of marketing automation Increase Efficiency Automates time consuming tasks including content creation, targeting, scheduling and lead nurturing to improve productivity and decreases overall time and money wasted. Create better quality leads Identifies the leads that are most qualified for a sales team to contact through analysing prospects demographic and behavioural data. In fact, businesses that use marketing automation to nurture prospects see a 451% increase in qualified leads. (The Annuitas Group). Create more comprehensive prospect profiles Collects data from multiple channels to get a clearer view of prospects behaviour. Improve sales team s effectiveness Improves the quality of the leads nearer the top of the funnel through better lead capturing and lead nurturing, allowing the sales team to concentrate on the prospects they are most likely to make a sale from. Improve lead conversion and ROI Marketing Automation users have a 53% higher conversion rate from marketing response to marketing qualified leads than non-users, and an annual growth rate 3.1% higher than non-users.

7 And some things to consider Time-consuming Implementing marketing automation can be initially complicated and time consuming as a team needs to be trained in how it works Cost Initial cost of marketing automation software can make it difficult to sell to management

8 2. Consider your business requirements

9 What marketing automation features are priorities for your business? The key to choosing the right marketing automation solution for your business is deciding on what tools or features you would most benefit from. This could include a focus on customisable campaign, social monitoring, or just overall ease of use. Most offer basic capabilities for , web tracking and a database, but other options vary, so it is important to list your requirements in order of importance to make sure you make the right choice.

10 And what are your marketing automation goals? What benefits would you like to see from your marketing automation software? An example might be increasing conversion at specific areas of the buyer cycle. Creating achievable goals helps you to keep focus on what is most important to your business, and makes measuring effectiveness later on that much easier. Making the case to management: " If you are not personally the ultimate decision maker in this process, it is important to make a solid case to management. Consider providing a report of how the benefits will out-weight the costs. Outline how your business can achieve specific 6 or 12-month goals. For example, improving campaign ROI, or converting more or higher quality leads.

11 Have you assessed the cost? Like with other areas of the business, the benefits of marketing automation do come at a price. It is important to look at the costs you would incur. This includes set-up, monthly or annual payments and training, as well as potential future costs related to IT or design skills - evaluate whether your business can meet them. Each service provider will offer different pricing levels, so it is important to gage which would be most suitable for your business needs.

12 Have you got the internal skillset required? Both marketing automation training and day-to-day implementation takes time, and it is important to have the right person for the task. This includes both having an understanding and enthusiasm for developing and executing what will be a new business process. Consider who on your team would be most effective at managing the project, and whether you need a singular person or a team to effectively manage the project day-to-day. Consider alternative options: " Would your business benefit more from outsourcing these skills. If so, there are a variety of options for having your automated marketing managed externally.

13 3. RESEARCH MARKETING AUTOMATION SOFTWARE OPTIONS 3. Research marketing automation software options

14 What are your options? Marketing Automation is a growing industry, and as such, there are many options to choose from. It is worth doing some research into which option is best for you. The next few pages provide an outline of 6 of the top marketing automation vendors, with some of their top features and highlighting their target markets.

15 Oracle Eloqua 1921 Gallows Road, Suite 200 Vienna, VA (T) Description Eloqua is the marketing automation software delivered by Vienna-based Oracle. Founded in 1999, Eloqua is one of the longest running tools available. They mainly target larger enterprises, with some of their top clients including ADP, American Express and LinkedIn. Top Features Intuitive visual editor for creating landing pages and web forms Ability to develop personalised microsites, which can greet prospects by name Option to buy eloqua for sales and add-on suite of sales tools including advance buyer profiling

16 Pardot (SalesForce) 950 E. Paces Ferry Road, Suite 3300 Atlanta, GA (T) Description Pardot is Salesforce s marketing automation solution. It was orignally launched in 2007, but was not bought by Salesforce until It currently targets small to midlevel B2B businesses. Some of their top customers are Fujitsu, Black & Decker and Precor Top Features Ability to automate marketing actions based on pre-set rules, directing prospects to content that fits with their profile and interests. Offers closed-loop ROI reporting Competitively priced and no contracts

17 HubSpot 25 First Street, 2nd Floor Cambridge, MA (T) Description HubSpot was founded in 2006, with offices in both USA and Ireland, for their worldwide and European markets respectively. Their target market includes both SMBs and agencies, and their key customers include Alpha Software, Mimio and NEC Corporation of America Top Features Content Optimisation System (COS) with integrated SEO capabilities Easy to use workflow functionality allows users to trigger campaigns and profile and lead scoring changes Includes a social media publishing and monitoring tool

18 Marketo 901 Mariners Island Blvd., Suite 500 San Mateo, CA (T) Description Marketo was founded in 2006, and has offices in California, Portland, Dublin and Sydney. Their target market ranges from mid-market to enterprise B2B and B2C marketers. Their top customers include Chrysler, Harvard Business School and Intel. Top Features Easy to use Integrates with most CRMs Customer Engagement Engine (CEE) that automatically delivers relevant multi-step engagement marketing campaigns

19 SalesFusion One Concourse Parkway, Suite 190 Atlanta, GA (T) Description Sales Fusion launched in 2007 and has offices in Atlanta, Malvern, Seattle and London. They recently acquired marketing automation software, LoopFuse in January, Their target market is B2B SMBs and mid-market companies with up to $500 million in revenues. Their key customers include Baxa, LexJet and CentricsIT. Top Features Detailed analytics pages Integrates with most CRMs Offers event management

20 SilverPop 200 Galleria Parkway, Suite 1000 Atlanta, GA (T) Description SilverPop is based in Atlanta. Originally founded in 1999 as an marketing, and became a SaaS provider of both marketing and marketing automation. In April 2014 it was acquired by IBM. Their target market is broad, including B2B and B2C and ranging from SMBs to Fortune 100 Enterprises. Key customers include Carfax, Mazda and PaperStyle Top Features Strong marketing features Create individual messages based on prospect behaviour Collects comprehensive customer data within their marketing database

21 4. Score and rank software capabilities

22 Marketing Automation Providers Overview Tool Eloqua Pardot HubSpot Marketo SalesFusion SilverPo p Lead Capture Lead Nurturing Lead Scoring 2 values 2 values 2 values 2 values 2 values 2 values PPC/SEO Tracking Event Management Marketing CRM Integration MD, OCRM, SF MD, NS, SF, SU SF MD, SF, SAP MD, SG, SLX, SF, SU Data Management 3 rd Party App Integration Price per month Customer Satisfaction Rating API and app marketplace $ $4000 API and app market -place $ $3000 API and app marketplace $200 - $2400 API and app marketplace $1195 API only $750 - $ CRM Abbreviations: SG (Sage CRM), OCRM (Orcale CRM, SB (Siebel), MD (Microsoft Dynamics), NS (NetSuite), SLX (SalesLogix), SU (SugarCRM) Customer Satisfaction Rating taken from G2 Crowd s Grid for Marketing Automation) MD, NS, SF API only $850 N/A

23 5. Schedule a software presentation

24 What next? Schedule a demo call with your preferred vendor(s). They should take you through the software s functionality and answer your questions, such as how to integrate your software with a CRM and what kind of support you are to expect once you sign up. If there is a feature you would specifically like to see in action, ask for a demonstration. Also, many of the marketing automation providers will have case studies and/or testimonials on their website, but if not, consider asking them to send you one to see more clearly the benefits you could be expected to gain from the service. Free Trials Most software providers will offer a trial of their product before expecting payment (normally 30 days). This is especially important when you need to pay a year up-front, as with most options. If you are unsure of which software to choose from, this might be a good way of trialing the different tools to see how well you get on with the functionality and general usability of the products. Keep in mind however that to effectively use each of the products will take time and training.

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