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About the Author: Rodrigo Fernandez STRATEGIC MARKETING PROFESSIONAL Rodrigo is a seasoned marketing professional with over eight years of experience in brand development, digital media, marketing automation, and web development. Twitter: @rodfernand For the past six years, Rodrigo has been focused on helping companies within the technology, insurance, professional, and retail industries develop solid marketing strategies to generate leads and improve client retention. Rodrigo has a wealth of experience deploying and managing marketing automation technologies such as Marketo, Act-On, Infusionsoft, and Hubspot among others.
Table of Contents 04 05 08 INTRODUCTION WHO IS THIS GUIDE FOR? WHY DO YOU NEED MARKETING AUTOMATION? 09 GAIN VISIBILITY 10 STOP GUESSING 11 SERVE CUSTOMERS BETTER 12 MEET BUSINESS GOALS 14 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE BUYING 15 COST 16 COMPLEXITY 17 EXPECTATIONS 18 FEATURES 20 SMALL BUSINESS FRIENDLY MARKETING AUOTMATION SOLUTIONS 21 HATCHBUCK 22 SHARPSPRING 23 INFUSIONSOFT 24 HUBSPOT 25 ACT-ON
Most small businesses simply assume that marketing automation is not right for them. Sometimes, it seems like even large enterprises have difficulty making marketing automation work, so what hope would a small business have, when they re trying to do the same thing with fewer employees and a smaller budget? The good news is that small businesses don t have to be intimidated by marketing automation anymore. Changes are happening in the industry, and marketing automation companies are starting to see the value in providing solutions for smaller companies. Today s small businesses can take advantage of this shift to start using marketing automation solutions, without having to worry about exceeding their budgets. 4
Who is this guide for? This guide is written specifically with two different audiences in mind: small businesses and startups. Small businesses are organizations with fewer than 250 employees, and less than $50 million in annual revenue. They are a particularly good candidate to benefit from marketing automation, because many of them are growing quickly, and are just now beginning to reach the point where it s impractical or even impossible for them to nurture their leads manually. At the same time, these companies have limited marketing budgets and the employees in these companies tend to be jack-of-all-trades, so it s highly unlikely that any of them will have specialized marketing knowledge and skills. Marketing Automation will allow small businesses to drive higher marketing ROI and free up more resources to be used in other important areas of the business. 5
Startups face a lot of the same problems as small businesses when it comes to marketing, but are also under even greater pressure to squeeze the most value possible out of their funding, and increase brand awareness as quickly as possible. 6
63% of companies that are outgrowing their competitors use marketing automation. Source: The Lenskold and Pedowitz Groups 2013 Study 7
Why do you need marketing automation? The first step toward getting the best results from your marketing automation solution is finding out exactly how it can benefit you. Read on to learn about some of the main benefits of marketing automation solutions. 8
Gain Visibility Not all leads progress at the same rate. In fact, according to marketing automation provider Marketo, in any given marketing campaign, only about 25 percent of leads will be ready to talk to sales, while 50 percent will need more nurturing, and the final 25 percent won t be right for the campaign in the first place. Visibility is the key to determining which leads are ready for sales, and which leads you should stop wasting your time on. Once you ve done this, you ll be able to focus your efforts on the 50 percent of your leads that need more nurturing by identifying their position in the sales cycle, and developing programs that nurture and track them until they are ready to make a purchase. 9
Stop Guessing In today s data-driven business world, there s simply no excuse for having to guess about which marketing assets will generate leads and which ones won t. The information your business needs to make better, more informed marketing decisions that you can feel confident about is out there. You just need a solution that can help you find it and put it to use. 10
Serve Customers Better Your customers represent a diverse cross-section of society. They have different wants and needs, and they also want you to show them that you understand those wants and needs. Marketing automation can help you provide your existing customers with the exact resources and messaging that best resonate with them, which helps you keep them happy and drive higher lifetime customer value. Also, by analyzing customer behavior, you ll be able to find out more about what your customers want, and then provide it to them through cross-sell / up-sell opportunities. This allows you to increase loyalty and drive more value by making marketing seem more like a service. 11
Meet Business Goals Finally, there s really only one main reason a business would invest money in any new technology or service: to drive better business results. When it comes to marketing, that means acquiring more customers and making more sales, while also keeping the cost of customer acquisition as low as possible. The results are in, and marketing automation clearly delivers on the promise of better business results: according to a study from Aberdeen Group, the rate of conversion from marketing response to qualified lead is 53 percent higher for companies that use marketing automation than it is for companies that don t. At the same time, marketing automation users enjoy an annualized revenue growth rate that s 3.1 percent higher than the rate for non-users. 12
Companies using marketing automation see 53% higher conversion rates than non-users, and an annualized revenue growth rate 3.1% higher than non-users. Source: Aberdeen Group 13
Things to consider before buying Deciding whether or not your company needs a marketing automation platform calls for the same evaluative steps involved in any software adopption, including a comprehensive self-assessment of your organization s business needs. Small businesses should consider the following factors to determine which marketing automation technology best fits their business. 14
Cost Marketing automation providers have started to put more focus on providing solutions for small and midsize businesses. That means that today s small businesses don t need to spend a fortune to get the solution they re looking for. Prices for marketing automation solutions can range from as little as $100 a month to $1,500 a month, depending on how many contacts you need to manage and the features your business requires. In addition, businesses also need to factor in the cost of creating content, analyzing data, and other important tasks that aren t a part of the core marketing automation service. These tasks are necessary to make marketing automation work, and they can cost anywhere from $500 to $5000 a month depending on how aggressive your strategy is and how competitive the market you re in is. 15
THE SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE TO MARKETING AUTOMATION Complexity Different marketing automation providers offer different implementation plans for their solutions. It s important that you understand exactly how an implementation will work with a particular provider before you agree to work with them. How long will the implementation take? How much will it cost? Take the time to find these things out, and factor them in to the total cost of the solution. Marketing automation solutions aren t always simple to use, which can be a challenge for small businesses that often lack in-house marketing professionals. Make sure your marketing automation provider offers you a demo before you agree to work with them, and make sure that the solution they offer will fit within your current work methodologies. Finaly, you should understand how your marketing and sales elements are aligned. The addition of a marketing automation solution will require them to work together closely to develop new lead workflows, so make sure your new solution is something that both marketing and sales will be comfortable using. 16
Expectations Make sure to determine exactly what you hope to accomplish with marketing automation, and how the solution you re considering can help you accomplish it. Whether it s improving the quality of leads, increasing conversions at key stages of the buying cycle, or improving visibility, you have to know exactly what you expect to gain from marketing automation before you can have any hope of gaining it. Understanding your current marketing process, knowing how to meassure success, and being able to identify where you are looking for improvements are all critical pieces of the marketing automation decision-making process. 17
Features While all small business marketing automation offerings include the same basic set of capabilities (including website tracking, email marketing, and contact management), it s important that you also think about what additional features you would need in order to meet your specific business goals. This could include things such as: Landing page and web form management Lead tracking and management Native CRM, or easy integration with external CRM systems Campaign reporting and web analytics Social media marketing Inbound marketing tools (SEO, blogging) 18
78% of successful marketers cite marketing automation systems as most responsible for improving revenue contribution. Source: The Lenskold and Pedowitz Groups 19
Small Business Friendly Marketing Automation Solutions I recommend that all small businesses and startups consider working with an agency that specializes in marketing automation services to find a solution that meets their needs. As there are many service providers out there that can provide high-quality, easy-to-use solutions at a reasonable price, you will find a few of our favorites in the following pages. 20
Hatchbuck is an up and coming player in the marketing automation market. They have made great traction in the startup world with companies such as Inbru, MaterialMix, and Bonfyre. Hatchbuck is focused on serving smaller businesses in the professional services, technology, manufacturing and retail industries. Key Features Lead tracking and scoring Built-in CRM Campaign Builder Social Profile Import Lead Segmentation Who is it For? www.hatchbuck.com Hatchbuck s Starter plan begins at just $99 for 1 user and up to 2,500 contacts. Their top package starts at $299 for up to 25,000 contacts and unlimited users. This is the perfect solution for startups and small businesses with monthly marketing budgets of $750 and above. There are many other competitors at this level, but we feel that Hatchbuck is so well built, it surpasses all of them. 21
Like Hatchbuck, SharpSpring is also a new player in the marketing automation space. They too have made great strides within the startup and small business world. SharpSpring is not sold directly to businesses, but through partner agencies. SharpSpring has an arsenal of features that allow them to compete with the enterprise-level competitors, but for a fraction of the cost. Key Features Lead tracking & Scoring Sales Intelligence Native CRM Marketing Analytics Call Tracking Robust analytics Who is it For? www.sharpspring.com SharpSpring is sold through partner agencies and costs can vary between $150 and $350 per month depending on the agency. SharpSpring is for companies that have monthly marketing budgets of $1500 and above. Because SharpSpring can also integrate with most 3rd party CRMs, it is the perfect choice for companies who already have a CRM and want to implement marketing automation. Their native CRM works great too! 22
Infusionsoft is one of the most well known small business marketing automation products in the market. They have well over 21,000 customers and over 85,000 users. They believe in simplifying sales and marketing so that entrepreneurs can spend more time doing what they love. Key Features Campaing builder Built-in CRM E-Commerce Quotes & Orders Module Opportunity Management App Marketplace Who is it For? www.infusionsoft.com Infusionsoft s primary target are companies that have been in business 5-25 years with $1 to $5 million in revenue. Their Essentials package starts at $199 a month. This package offers contact management and marketing automation modules. Adding their sales module or e-commerce module starts at $299. Their complete package starts at $379 a month. It is worth noting that they have a required kickstart service for a onetime fee of $1,999. 23
www.hubspot.com Hubspot is perhaps one of the largest and most well known marketing automation companies across small, medium, and enterprise companies. Their platform integrates social media publishing and monitoring, email marketing, blogging, marketing automation and analytics all in one platform. Key Features SEO Social Media CRM Sync Automated workflows Lead nurturing Robust analytics Who is it For? Hubspot has a $200 basic package that may be appealing to small businesses, but other platforms in this guide offer more for the value. Hubspot is really great for mid-sized businesses. Their second tier package starts at $800 a month and offers a lot of great features for the price. Like Infusionsoft, they require a one time $2,000 set up fee. 24
Act-On is one of the world s fastest growing automation companies. Their technology features an instant-on database, a really easy user interfacer, and a feature-rich solution set. Act- On boasts themselves in the fact that customers do not need an IT department to deploy the software. Key Features Lead tracking and scoring Social Media One button CRM Sync A/B testing List management Robust analytics www.act-on.com Who is it For? Act-On s starting package starts at $500 a month with an annual contract for up to 1,000 active contacts. Act-on is for companies with a very small or non-existent marketing team with monthly marketing budgets of $3,500 and above. Most companies that deploy Act-On already have a CRM system in place. 25
B2C marketers who take advantage of automation which includes everything from cart abandonment programs to birthday emails have seen conversion rates as high as 50%. Source: emarketer 26
Request your free consultation Working with a marketing automation consultant like me can be very beneficial to your implementation project. As marketing automation experts, my team and I can help you: Develop a strategic roadmap for your project Understand your core messaging and value proposition, and how they play into your marketing automation solution Analyze your competition, and find out what your advantages are Build a marketing automation platform that delivers results Get month-to-month support for all your marketing campaigns RODRIGOFERNANDEZ.CA/GETSTARTED