Make your Marketing Automation Strategy the Rock Star of Your Organization

Transcription

1 Make your Marketing Automation Strategy the Rock Star of Your Organization 1

2 Using marketing automation 71% of companies surveyed currently use marketing automation to some extent. Another 23% are not using it now but are planning to use it in the foreseeable future. 2

3 Most important strategic goals Increasing lead generation and improving lead nurturing are the top priorities for 61% and 57% of marketers respectively. The next most important goal is increasing sales revenue. 3

4 Most significant barriers There are many barriers to marketing automation success but the most significant one is the lack of an effective strategy. 4

5 Building a Lead Scoring Matrix What you get out is only as good as what you put in. 5

6 Why is Lead Scoring Important? It creates a consistent framework that has been agreed upon by the sales and marketing team on what a lead is and when it should be passed to sales for follow up. Only 21% of B2B marketers have actually established a lead scoring program. Marketing Sherpa 6

7 What is your scoring criteria? 7

8 3 types of lead scoring criteria Explicit Information taken at face value Implicit Information from customer actions Negative Deducts points for disqualifying criteria Title Location Industry Revenue Lead Source Website visits Phone calls Downloads signups Form completions Lack of response No defined budget Periods of inactivity Lack of authority Unsubscribes 8

9 Scoring thresholds The point that must be exceeded to begin producing a given effect or result or to elicit a response SALES Must be a collaborative effort between Sales and Marketing teams. Needs to be evaluated and adjusted over time to ensure effectiveness. 9

10 Lead Nurturing Susan Meell, CEO MMS Education

11 What is it? Why bother? Process of developing and maintaining relationships with customers through every stage of the sales funnel and beyond 79% of leads never convert to sales. Marketing Sherpa Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales at 33% lower cost. Marketo Research Nurtured leads generate 47% larger orders. The Annuitas Group 11

12 Benefits? Build brand awareness and recognition Differentiate your company and product Establish thought leadership position Reduce cost of sales Shorten sales cycle keep your product top of mind Increase average order size Increase sales 12

13 Understanding the Ws Who is your buyer/decision maker? Teacher Department Head Dist. Adm. Superintendent State Adm. Where is he or she located? Home Classroom School Building District Regional Center State What type of product? Print Online Download Blended Services Online SaaS What type of purchase? How complex? Transactional Purchase Consultative, proposal 13

14 Develop a lead nurturing strategy targeted to your audience, product, price point and complexity of sale Engaging lead nurturing must be: Trustworthy Relevant Multi-channel Strategic and impactful 14

15 Nurturing leads through the funnel Traditional sales funnel is changing. Leads may enter the funnel at any stage Graphic from BtoBento TOFU Just looking (curious) Wants more information MOFU Becomes your friend Comparison shopping Wants to know more about you BOFU Requests a proposal Negotiates Finalizes (or not) 15

16 Nurturing leads through the funnel Develop your content specific to location in the funnel Location in Funnel TOFU MOFU TOFU Content Agnostic, informational, helpful and educational Soft on brand promotion Educational but geared towards your product or service. Information very specific to your product Differentiate yourself from competitors Format White papers, ebooks, blog posts, funny video, infographics Buying guides, how to evaluate XYZ, best practices, success stories, web demos Free trials, pricing quotes, 3 rd party reviews, connect with a customer, customer case study 16

17 Lead scoring Determine BANT Budget Authority Need - Time Demographic Scoring (+/-) State, district, building information Title and years of experience Funding levels, history Decision making Behavioral Scoring (+/-) Activity aligned with buying levels Points for content accessed, pages viewed, frequency of visits Engagement with product versus consumer of info 17

18 Developing personas Develop and align content to meet your different customer personas Content must be engaging, informative, relevant and targeted for each type Information for a District Superintendent is very different from information for an IT Director or elementary classroom teacher 18

19 Connecting to CRM and sales team Use automated marketing and scoring system to build relationship until buying signals are given Need to be available for questions but not force a sales call too early Test cadence of communications with different personas to determine appropriate time between communications Start small but think big (future) Test, modify and implement as you learn 19

20 Customer value optimization & your marketing automation solutions Choose Persona Develop Audience Build Prospect List Grow Engagement & Commitment Nurture Customer Loyalty & Frequency Build interests Identify traffic sources Develop highinterest, engaging content Create content for traffic sources Pixel landing pages Develop leadmagnet/gated content Optimize sign-up Create trip-wire offer Low-barrier to begin to be a customer Develop content for improved customer experience Exclusive customer offers Invite for advocacy Goal: Create a conversion funnel that lowers the cost of acquisition, while simultaneously increasing immediate and lifetime customer value. 20