Table of Contents Interested in what marketing automation can do for your marketing and sales teams? Peruse through our CMO Toolkit to get information about the marketing automation capabilities that you really care about, like the ability to gain insight into ROI, decrease the cost of lead generation, drive sales, & accelerate your funnel. Ch.1 The B2B Marketing Landscape...2 Ch.2 Why Marketing Automation?...3 Ch.3 Maximize ROI...4 Ch.4 Drive Sales & Accelerate the Funnel...6 Ch.5 The Future of Marketing Automation...8 Ch.6 Quick Facts...9 1
1The B2B Marketing Landscape... Today s CMO is faced with some unique challenges, from disparate campaign strategies to incomplete reporting capabilities and these challenges are complicated by increasing pressure from top management. In 2013, an audit by the CMO Council revealed that the two top management mandates for marketing were top-line revenue growth and market share gains. Potential payback, ROI, and market and product maturity were also considered important focuses. By 2017, the Chief Marketing Officer will control more of the IT Budget than the Chief Information Officer. (Gartner Research) With the increasing investment in marketing strategy and the continual pressure from top management to produce measurable results, CMOs are seeking out tools that can increase their team s productivity, measure ROI, drive sales, and accelerate the funnel. Marketing automation can do this and much more. Nearly two-thirds of CMOs think return on marketing investment will be the primary measure of their effectiveness by 2015. (IBM, Global Chief Marketing Officer Study) To meet these objectives, the CMO Council revealed that CMOs are beginning to invest more heavily in marketing technologies. With only 18% of CMOs rating their digital marketing performance as excellent or good, many are choosing to overhaul their marketing programs in favor of a more digital approach, investing in database management, web analytics, search, customer analytics, and more. To manage this marketing makeover, many CMOs are planning to hire new talent specifically, experts in analytics, search marketing, strategic planning, data management, and customer insight. 2 pardot.com
Why Marketing Automation? 2... A 2013 study by Pardot diagnosed three major challenges faced by today s CMO: the growing number of communication channels over which marketers are expected to engage with buyers (currently more than 60) the fact that buyers are more than two-thirds of the way through the sales cycle before they contact a company to disclose their interest growing competition in the marketplace. To combat these problems, the study indicated that marketers are turning to tools like marketing automation. A quarter of all B2B Fortune 500 companies are already using marketing automation, along with 76% of the world s largest SaaS companies. (Pardot) With marketing automation, marketers can minimize manual, redundant tasks like lead qualification and lead assignment, cutting expenses and saving valuable time that can be used to focus on strategic, revenue-generating initiatives. Additionally, marketers can automate tasks like email marketing and lead nurturing, which frees them up to address problems like the growing number of marketing channels, the health of their sales funnel, and the best way to attribute revenue and accurately determine ROI. Detailed reporting provides additional insight into the performance of campaigns across the board, from paid search to trade shows and events. Research conducted by Gleanster, an analyst firm, shows that top-performing organizations are almost four times more likely to adopt a marketing automation tool. CMOs at these topperforming companies indicate that their most compelling reasons for implementing marketing automation are to increase revenue (77%), measure marketing ROI (65%), and gain more insight into marketing and sales activities (58%). 84% of top performers are using or plan to to start using marketing automation before 2015. (Gleanster, September 2012) Take a look at the following pages in this Toolkit to see how today s marketing teams are being empowered by marketing automation. Sections will cover the impact of marketing automation on revenue, as well as its ability to drive sales and accelerate the funnel. pardot.com 3
Maximize ROI 3... Marketing automation drives revenue by increasing efficiency and shortening the sales cycle, while also showing marketing and sales teams where to focus their efforts to maximize ROI. By breaking the sales cycle into stages and tracking progression of leads through the funnel, marketers can see which campaigns are paying off, where bottlenecks are occurring, which stages need improvement, and where they re getting the greatest return on their investment. Using an automation platform to demonstrate marketing s contribution to revenue, marketers can solve what has historically been a huge problem within marketing and sales organizations: accountability. Marketing automation platform users have a 53% higher conversion rate from marketing response to marketing-qualified lead than non-users. (Aberdeen Group) Closed-Loop Reporting & Prospect Tracking Closed-loop reporting allows marketers to tie revenue back to campaigns, connecting marketing spend with the revenue generated and providing insight into campaign influence. Detailed, real-time prospect tracking shows marketers where their best and worst leads are coming from, as well as their prospects interests and pain points, giving marketers the objective data they need to make decisions for the future. This information can be used to improve sales response time, make data-driven decisions about marketing strategy, project future revenue, and identify and prioritize initiatives that are contributing to revenue growth. Research shows that 35-50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first. (InsideSales.com) With the ability to automatically sync opportunity data between a CRM and marketing automation system, marketers can easily: calculate individual campaign costs and track relevant KPIs associate prospects with specific marketing campaigns gain greater visibility into marketing metrics generate and schedule custom reports tie opportunity data to paid search results. Increased Database Value In today s marketing world, your database is no longer about size, but about value. During the marketing to sales handoff, cold leads often slip through the cracks. This results in lost revenue when these leads become active again in the future. By using the lead nurturing capabilities of a marketing automation system (see more about this on page 7), marketers can build relationships with non sales-ready leads over time, increasing the value of their database and positively impacting close rates. 4 pardot.com
Better Metrics A common problem for marketers is that they lack the tools to measure the metrics that matter, and are instead left pursuing metrics that have little impact on their bottom line. With marketing automation, the focus shifts away from vanity metrics like shares, click-through rates, and cost per click, and instead sheds some light on more powerful statistics like cost per lead, cost per opportunity, and the number of leads and opportunities in the sales pipeline. Using this opportunity data, marketers can tie campaigns back to closed new business, gaining additional insight into campaign performance and ensuring that their dollars are going to the right place. In a survey by Gleanster, 63% of respondents indicated that the ability to set measurable objectives for each of their campaigns is the biggest value driver of marketing automation.... Calculate Your Potential ROI with Marketing Automation Want to see what your return on investment might actually look like with marketing automation? Use our ROI Calculator to generate a custom report that s tailored to you and your company, and see what kind of results you can expect to see after implementing a marketing automation system. The report will show you: The number of leads in your database that require nurturing The potential revenue generated from nurtured leads Your total revenue potential What your sales funnel could look like with marketing automation, compared to what it might look like without it.... pardot.com 5
Drive Sales & Accelerate the Funnel 4... According to Harvard University, more than a quarter of all B2B sales cycles take seven months or more to close. With such a long time separating a prospect s initial interest and their final decision, anything that marketers can do to drive sales and speed up the process can help. Marketing automation features like lead qualification, automatic lead assignment, lead nurturing, and automated follow-ups give marketing teams the tools they need to better align their objectives with those of sales, positioning them as a necessary part of the sales process. This increased focus on sales enablement has been shown to improve close rates, increase marketing efficiency, and cut down on timeconsuming, manual tasks that can distract from big-picture initiatives. 61% of B2B marketers send all leads directly to sales; however, only 27% of those leads will be qualified. (MarketingSherpa) Improved Lead Management According to data from Gleanster, top performing companies have been able to improve lead management efforts using marketing automation features like segmentation, drip marketing, and campaign personalization tools that enable marketers to tailor their communications and move leads through the sales cycle with minimal investment in time or resources. Lead Qualification A lead score measures the amount of interest that a prospect has shown based on their activities while a lead grade determines their fit for a product or service. Blending both of these elements together ensures that marketers pass only the most qualified leads to sales. It also helps marketing and sales teams find common ground when it comes to defining a qualified lead, keeps sales from wasting time on leads who aren t good matches for their product, and makes it easier for marketers to automate the assignment process once leads have reached a threshold score. 6 pardot.com
Companies with mature lead generation and management practices have a 9.3% higher sales quota achievement rate. (CSO Insights) The Power of Lead Nurturing According to Pardot s State of Demand Generation study, 77% of buyers want different content at each stage of their research. Using lead nurturing, marketers can cater to these preferences by dripping appropriate content to prospects over time depending on where they are in the sales cycle. Marketers can then track responses and adjust the next round of content accordingly. When buyers have completed their research and started reaching out to sales, they ll already be educated, meaning that sales won t have to waste time guessing at their pain points and needs. 90% of business buyers say when they re ready to buy, they ll find you. (DemandGen Report) Lead nurturing is an equally powerful tool for buyers who aren t actively participating in the research process. According to Gleanster, 50% of marketing leads are qualified but not yet ready to buy. Without a way to nurture these leads to a salesready state and keep your company top of mind, marketers risk letting them fall through the cracks, increasing the chances that they ll be won over by a competitor. Steadily communicating with these prospects by delivering helpful content ensures that marketers never neglect leads who might eventually turn into opportunities, or even closed deals. pardot.com...... Lead Nurturing Use Case: Free Trial Leads Prior to implementing marketing automation, Wistia was bringing in a huge number of leads using their 15-day free-service trial for their web video hosting service. Unfortunately, there was little they could do to tailor messaging to the unique needs of their prospects once identified. Using marketing automation, Wistia was able to segment prospects and place them on targeted lead nurturing tracks, which sent follow-up emails at measured time intervals. Further customized emails were sent to prospects who stalled at different points during the trial process, encouraging them to complete the next step. Once a lead completed the trial workflow, they received a congratulatory email containing the personal phone number of a Wistia sales team member. If a lead s trial expired, however, the lead was placed on a 3-month nurturing program where they would receive bi-weekly newsletters.... In the end, Wistia was able to increase the number of free service trial leads by 40% and confirm this success via monthly ROI reports.... 7
Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost. (Forrester Research) Businesses that use marketing automation for lead nurturing experience a 451% increase in qualified leads. (The Annuitas Group) Sales Funnel (Lifecycle) Reporting The Lifecycle Report, which combines all of your marketing and sales reports into one dashboard, can help diagnose the health of your sales funnel and show where prospects are in the sales cycle including areas where prospects are stalling and areas where they are moving at an optimum pace. The Future of Marketing Automation 5... Businesses that have adopted marketing automation have seen proven results when it comes to ROI, sales performance, marketing and sales alignment, and more. That s why it s no surprise that the automation industry is growing (and is predicted to grow even more over the next few years). In fact, according to SiriusDecisions, adoption of marketing automation is expected to increase 50% by 2015. With that growth will come an investment in even greater automation capabilities, helping your marketing and sales teams close more deals, track their impact on ROI, and adjust their strategies based on past performance. Metrics collected by the Lifecycle report include net new prospects, new opportunities, won opportunities, and percentage change over time. Having this detailed insight, along with data like the average amount of time spent in each stage and the total revenue of all won opportunities, gives marketers the information they need to ensure maximum speed through the pipeline. 57% of B2B companies identify converting qualified leads into paying customers as a top funnel priority. (MarketingSherpa) 8 pardot.com
Quick Facts 6... The adoption of marketing automation is expected to increase 50% by 2015. (SiriusDecisions) 70% of the buying process is now complete by the time a prospect is ready to engage with sales. (SiriusDecisions) A quarter of all B2B Fortune 500 companies are already using marketing automation, along with 76% of the world s largest SaaS companies. (State of Demand Generation, Pardot, 2013) Companies that automate lead management see a 10% or greater increase in revenue in 6-9 months. (Gartner Research) Marketing automation platform users have a 53% higher conversion rate from marketing response to marketingqualified lead than non-users. (Aberdeen Group, Marketing Lead Management 2012) Companies with mature lead generation and lead management practices have a 9.3% higher sales quota achievement rate. (CSO Insights) 61% of B2B marketers send all leads directly to sales; however, only 27% of those leads will be qualified. (MarketingSherpa) Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost. (Forrester Research) Research shows that 35-50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first. (InsideSales.com) Nurtured leads produce, on average, a 20% increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads. (DemandGen Report) 90% of business buyers say when they re ready to buy, they ll find you. (DemandGen Report) CMOs at top performing companies indicate that their most compelling reasons for implementing marketing automation are to increase revenue (77%), measure marketing ROI (65%), and gain more insight into marketing and sales activities (58%). (Gleanster)... Want to learn more about what marketing automation can do for your marketing team? Visit our website and take a look at the ROI Calculator to see how automation can impact your business. pardot.com 9