by gabriel_sales | May 12, 2014
This is part two of a blog series on marketing automation in 2014. Click here for part 1.
As an outsourced marketing automation provider, we understand how difficult it can be to start. There are now dozens of solutions out there, and everyone has different opinions about what you should do.
Here are three quick tips for companies who have yet to implement a marketing automation solution.
1. Understand that the ‘best’ marketing automation platform for your company is dependent on many factors.
As a company that offers outsourced marketing automation services, we make our platform recommendations by weighing the client’s demographics and goals against the capabilities and limitations of the software. When choosing the right solution for your business, you need to consider things like the size of prospect database, number of emails that need to be sent daily, possible integrations, the number of users and more.
2. Leverage implementation checklists and guides, training webinars and other guides to learn the ins and outs of your software.
While marketing automation software is somewhat complex, there is a ton of content out there that can help you simplify it. Most marketing automation platforms have support centers and training videos to help with the basics. Some platforms, like eTrigue, hold weekly live training webinars that cover different features and processes in more depth.
3. Bring in marketing automation experts to streamline your implementation process and train you on how most effectively use your platform.
While we aren’t arguing that you can’t implement marketing automation on your own, we will argue that the whole process goes much smoother if you have experts there to guide you. From the technical setup process to list segmentation to setting up and run automated email campaigns, outsourced marketing automation services can help enable you to use your platform as effectively as possible.
For more on marketing automation, read this quick blog on How Marketing Automation Impacts B2B Lead Generation. You can find more info on our outsourced marketing automation services
by gabriel_sales | May 8, 2014
As digital marketing takes up more and more of the overall marketing space, more and more companies are invetsing in marketing automation solutions to help streamline their marketing process.
In the past few years, marketing automation has been a revolutionary force in the world of digital selling. B2B companies who leverage marketing automation as a part of an integrated sales and marketing program gain better targeting of prospects, improved lead management, the ability to measure results and ROI and better customer relationship management.
In a recently published report from Regalix Research on the State of Marketing Automation in 2014, it was found that 88% of B2B marketers are either currently using or implementing marketing automation tools in the coming year. Of those who did not currently have a solution in place, 69% plan to implement a solution in 2014.
The report also looked at the biggest obstacles to effective use of marketing automation. While the report lists over a dozen, two of the top obstacles are lack of expertise to use the data and intelligence offered by the tool (55%) and complexity of marketing automation software (34%). This helps to explain why the top factor companies look at when evaluating a marketing automation software (86%) is ‘ease of use’.
In addition to the complexity, it can often take a while to see results once your marketing automation system is in place. The report found that only 20% of marketing automation users saw results within the first three months, while it took at least six months for 64% of users.
Continue reading for implementation tips.
by gabriel_sales | May 6, 2014
Video, especially digital video, has grown so prevalent; it is likely to be the defining media format of our time. Over 100 hours of video now are uploaded to YouTube each minute, and it would take over 1,000 years to watch every video uploaded.
Here are 3 reasons you should be using B2B video in your digital marketing programs:
1. Your buyers watch them.
While we all love our cat videos, it seems we also (at least somewhat) enjoy watching business videos and commercial advertisements. Forbes recently stated that 75% of executives watch work-related videos on business websites at least once a week. Forbes also found that 59% of executives would rather watch a video than read text.
2. They can influence your buyers’ subsequent web activity.
Many studies on B2B video engagement have found that videos are able to influence buyers to further engage with your company in some way. Forbes stated that 65% of executives visit the marketer’s website after viewing a video. Similarly, Zabisco found that 46% of people who viewed a video ad took some action after viewing it. Specifically, they found:
- 26% looked for more information about the subject of the video (Zabisco)
- 22% visited the website named in the ad (Zabisco)
- 15% visited the company represented in the video ad (Zabisco)
3. They can motivate a buying decision.
While impulsive decisions are much more likely to happen in the B2C space (where 65% of people are much more likely to buy a product after seeing a video), videos can motivate purchase decisions in the B2B space as well. Forbes Insight found that after watching a video, about 50% of executives went on to make a purchase for their business.
For more on the advantages of B2B video, read this quick blog on 3 Reasons You Should Leverage B2B Video in 2014.
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
