Exploring the benefits for small and medium businesses
Marketing Automation is one of the hottest trends in 2015, according to a recent SmartInsights survey.
However, adoption of this key technology is still in its early phase, especially amongst small businesses.
This article explains how small businesses are using a wide number of solutions as simple as keeping customer data on an excel spreadsheet, that they can see the benefit of using integrated marketing systems, just not yet. Because it is still a relatively new field, let's start with an explanation of what marketing automation is. I'll then go on to explain the overall benefits to business and the specific value that individual SMEs have expressed in our in-depth conversations and summarise with our predictions for SME adoption of automation.
[si_guide_block id="60769" title="Download Expert member resource – 7 Steps guide to digital marketing for startups, small…
How to compare Marketing Automation vendors
Marketing Automation is now one of the most commercially important techniques for digital marketers, so you have to look to select the most cost-effective platforms. But how do you tell one supplier from the other, and how do you know which will best help you meet your objectives in the most cost-effective way?
If you are currently making the case for marketing automation, here are 10 questions you should ask any vendor before making your choice.
1. How will it help me to drive leads to my business?
We know today’s consumers look for relevant products and services as and when they need them. Frequent, fresh, high quality content on your website, blog or social media will attract visitors when the time is right for them to buy. Marketing automation software helps you to turn those visitors into leads by asking visitors to leave their contact details in…
5 all-too-common reasons that stop companies investing in Marketing Automation?
Marketing Automation is becoming a more widespread purchase, indeed it's one of the top-rated trends in the Smart Insights poll of 2016 digital marketing trends. However, our research suggests that many businesses still aren't using functionality like lead scoring, lead nurture and web personalisation - download it for further details and recommendations.
[si_guide_block id="58833" title="Download free Member resource – State of B2B Marketing Automation 2015" description="Research summarising the current adoption of Marketing Automation in the B2B sector."/]
So this poses the question: what is preventing companies from adopting Marketing Automation? Well, as with the adoption of any technology, there are always obstacles and believe me, I have come up against these obstacles on numerous occasions! The good news is that I have also been able to overcome them through working through the arguments. In this post I'll take a look at the most common…
Contact Management and Email Marketing rank highest for Marketing Automation buyers
Software Advice has released their 2015 research into how buyers are selecting their Marketing Automation Software and which features are important to American companies.
This year it has revealed that 98% of buyers are 'first time buyers', a rise in 8% from last years results, indicating a growing demand for small businesses to move away from manual processes as they appreciate the return on investment.
What functionality are buyers looking for in their Marketing Automation Systems?
Companies are investing in industry-specific systems as well as focusing on key functionality. Over 2/3 of respondents have prioritised their system requirements towards contact management features, along with email marketing and lead tracking capabilities.
Which industries are using Marketing Automation?
This year, the report shows that low adopters…
How to use Tentpole Marketing tactics to grow social buzz around events big and small
Think of a movie that hasn’t come out yet. A big movie, that’s making a lot of noise at the moment. This is a movie that’s probably already cost a lot of money to make and it’s a good bet that the studio is expecting to turn a pretty healthy profit on. In fact, this is exactly why they want you to know about it weeks, or even months, before it goes on general release.
Chances are that after it's finished showing in cinemas, the studio would love you to continue to show an interest in the film, perhaps even buying the video game, t-shirt, poster or any other number of related merchandise. Perhaps by now you’re already talking to your friends about the possibility of a sequel.
As…
Using predictive analytics effectively will allow you to increase sales, but only if you have right data
Applying predictive analytics to marketing campaigns will enable businesses to increase sales and returns through visualising the campaign outcomes. Below is an introduction to Predictive Marketing and how you can begin to experiment with these ideas in your business.
Introduction
You may have heard of predictive marketing – it’s an increasingly popular topic. You may not, however, understand what it really means or how it could benefit your business.
In short: it involves using expected future events and expected future customer behaviours to create a marketing plan. It has become a lot more relevant to businesses as digital marketing campaigns have generated far more data which is analysed in far more detailed ways.
Intuitively, most marketers can see a clear value from understanding customers better and getting detailed numbers around a campaign’s expected returns before it has started.
However,…
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September 4, 2015
5 steps you should take when exhibiting at your first trade show
Preparing for a trade show can be a challenging experience. From the financial to the logistical, trade shows offer a massive range of benefits for your business but often demand an equally great amount of focus, work and commitment.
If you've never exhibited at a trade show before, the entire process of preparing a booth and readying your sales team can seem unbelievably difficult. In this guide, we’ll look at five simple tactics and principles that you can use to make the process of preparing for a trade show more manageable.
Tip 1. Prepare a detailed, itemised and flexible budget in advance
Budgeting for a trade show is a far more involved and demanding process than most business owners and marketers realise. Preparing a detailed, itemised budget is the difference between running a…
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September 3, 2015
7 ideas for exhibitors showing how you can integrate content marketing into your next event
Every B2B marketer is familiar with the lead generation and branding benefits of trade shows made possible by the highly focused audience of potential customers to the brand recognition you get from having hundreds, or with the right location, thousands of people view your display. Likewise consumer events can give similar benefits.
With the increasing interest in content marketing over the last few years, I'm surprised that fewer marketers seem to be familiar with is the potential to create amazing online content from your trade show experience. From answers to questions to interviews with industry insiders, trade shows are great opportunities to create stellar content or integrate existing content assets.
In this guide, we’ll share seven creative content ideas that you can put into action at the next trade show you attend. From time-lapse…
The power of integrated social media for event promotion
This infographic summarising a survey of over 1,500 event organisers worldwide, reinforces how effective social media is for event management - 75% of respondents considering it to be an important element of their integrated marketing strategy.
For international promotion in particular, Facebook has been the prominent social media platform for 78% of event organisers, followed by Twitter and LinkedIn, to primarily increase awareness of the event and their brand for new followers. We know this can vary, depending on whether you are attracting delegates/attendees from the B2b or B2c market and their social/demographic profile.
If you are looking to increase your 'bums on seats', then consider like most social media channels that they will not generate instant leads. Of those surveyed by Maximillion, 10% of event organisers have gained direct sales from social media. For some companies promoting events on a small-scale, then these…
Do you nurture your leads and know when they are 'qualified, sales ready' contacts?
Some interesting sales statistics to keep at the forefront of your mind when planning how to convert your leads. They could also help build your business case for investment and resources to manage your lead nurturing program. It can work both ways, in that you can miss out on sales by not responding to your 'sales ready leads' or provide irrelevant information at the wrong time to prospective buyers, which pushes them towards another brand.
The key is covering all bases; defining your personas, sharing relevant personalised content, understanding how they search for information, knowing where they are in the sales funnel and efficient internal processes.
For example, stats in the infographic from Orchestrate show by ensuring you have customer service SLAS can increase sales - 35% to 50% of customers buy from those who respond first!
The…
