by bersondev | Jun 7, 2022 | Marketing, marketing automation, marketing technology
Marketing automation empowers marketers to focus on the strategic initiatives rather than get bogged down with the tactical implementation, and it aligns sales and marketing towards accomplishing common goals. This all adds up to decreased costs and increased revenue.
Marketing Automation Features
Campaign and Email Management
Create and track highly targeted marketing campaigns. Manage end-to-end email campaigns, including database management, target list creation and segmentation, email personalization, and SPAM-compliant auto unsubscribe capabilities.
Website Search Engine Optimization
Connect with your customers early in the buying cycle with search engine-friendly pages.
Landing Page and Forms
Create dynamic landing pages and forms. Build reusable templates to create a consistent look and feel. Instantly create leads in your CRM system for immediate sales follow-up on all form submissions.
Lead Reporting and Analytics
Get comprehensive insight into your marketing programs by program type, lead source, and promotions — in real-time. Seamlessly track lead-to-revenue to measure the ROI of your lead generation programs.
“91% of the most successful users agree that marketing automation is ‘very important’ to the overall success of their marketing across channels.” —Ascend2
Marketing Automation Benefits
Effective Multi-Channel Campaign Management
Streamlines the execution of complex marketing campaigns across multiple channels, including websites, email, events, and social media with a centralized marketing platform.
Improves Sales Collaboration
Aligns marketing and sales goals to improve collaboration and convert leads into customers.
Shortens Your Sales Cycle
Delivers highly relevant dynamic content to prospects at the right time, right place and right channel, guiding them through the buying cycle.
Quantifies and Prioritizes Leads
Captures, identifies, scores and nurtures leads based on profile, behavior, interests, and conversion readiness to deliver sales-ready leads.
Real-Time Visibility
Provides insight into campaign performance and return on investment (ROI) with robust analytics.
To learn how to best use Marketing Automation to increase ROI, check out this article.
As a recognized Marketing Automation leader for the past decade, we work with firms to help them utilize their marketing technology to increase revenue. To see how we can help you, schedule a free consultation or email Lori Berson at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in Marketing Automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
![Marketers’ MarTech Stack Plans [Report]](https://bersondeanstevens.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Martech-Tools-1080x675.jpeg)
by Lori Berson | Jun 4, 2022 | Marketing, marketing technology
According to an
Ascend2 report produced in partnership with Oracle, more than 8 in 10 marketers agree that they will have to add, remove, or replace components of their current marketing technology (martech) stack to improve performance this year.
Marketers continue to adjust their martech stacks in the hopes of getting better results, with 7 in 10 CMOs saying that they invested in a martech solution last year in order to improve their digital marketing performance.
Improving performance is the top-cited challenge by marketers, who also said that key marketing challenges include the ability to change/adapt to circumstances as they arise, and delivering an exceptional customer experience. Only 1 in 8 said that a poorly integrated martech stack is a challenge, with this at the bottom of the list of challenges.
Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) – Top Investment This Year
Recent research has suggested that more than half of marketers have adopted a customer data platform (CDP) in the past 18 months, and this survey likewise finds that these solutions are high on the priority list for marketers.
When asked which marketing solutions they plan to invest in the most this year, the B2B and B2C marketers surveyed pointed to CDPs (37%) first, followed by segmentation and targeting solutions (32%), email marketing platforms (32%), and testing and optimization solutions (30%).
Additionally, respondents were quick to point to CDPs as indispensable to their martech stacks. Some 36% cited them as a marketing solution they absolutely cannot live without, on par with email marketing platforms, and ahead of content management systems (32%), marketing automation platforms (28%), and testing and optimization solutions (25%).
The report points out that a CDP will help B2C marketers “make their social media efforts more effective and targeted,” as experimentation with new social platforms is a key marketing tactic that B2C respondents reported that they will add this year. On the list of new marketing tactics for B2C companies, this was second only to personalized content and offers.
B2B marketers also placed personalized content and offers at the top of their list of marketing tactics to add this year, with customer loyalty programs second (fourth on the list for B2C marketers). A sizable share will add video marketing efforts, with the report noting that B2B marketers are more apt than their B2C counterparts to make video editing software an investment priority this year.
Other Findings:
- Almost two-thirds of respondents (64%) said their marketing budgets are increasing from last year, versus one-quarter who said they’re decreasing.
- 88% either strongly (42%) or moderately (46%) agree that they will have access to the appropriate data to make critical marketing decisions, an almost identical result to previous Ascend2 research in which 84% responded either “yes” (29%) or “somewhat” (55%) when asked if they had enough data to make effective decisions on where to spend marketing and/or sales resources.
- If they could integrate data from another business application into their martech stack, the one that would have the most impact on their success would be customer service, followed by customer loyalty, according to B2B marketers. For B2C marketers customer loyalty edged out customer service.
- Customer purchase history is the first-party data source that will be most valuable to the broadest set of respondents in addressing the loss of third-party cookies.
- Trust in artificial intelligence (AI) is highest for targeting ads and personalizing content and offers in real-time, and lowest for writing subject lines and copy.
About the Data: The results are based on a January survey of 853 marketing professionals in management and leadership positions throughout the US, UK, Canada, and India. Respondents hailed from B2B (41%), B2C (24%) and both B2B and B2C (35%) companies.
Need help with your martech stack? Schedule a call or email Lori Berson at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in marketing and sales automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
by bersondev | May 11, 2022 | Marketing, marketing automation, marketing technology
While most businesses know that adopting Marketing Automation is more important than ever, it’s just one part of the solution. To generate ROI, you really need to make full use of all of the platform’s features, including emails, content, nurturing programs, triggered messages, lead management, and reporting, just to name a few.
Achieving Marketing Automation success requires:
• A comprehensive strategy.
• Effective creative.
• Up-to-date processes and software.
• And the right people with the rights skills.
Whether you are investing in, or migrating to, new technology, everything from the initial set-up through campaign execution and follow-up is crucial. Investing in the right people with the right skills will allow you to better set up, create, and manage your marketing program. If your not using Marketing Automation or not using it to the max, you’re forfeiting ROI.
The good news is, if you don’t have the right team with the right skills, you don’t have to “buy” (hire staff)…you can “rent” the skills you need much more cost-effectively by using consultants to work with you to:
• Formulate or optimize your marketing budget.
• Ensure you’re using the Marketing Automation platform that’s best for you.
• Fill in your skills gap.
• Develop, design, and create content for your campaigns.
• Achieve revenue goals faster.
• Increase efficiencies and supercharge productivity.
• Speed up the sales cycle with automated workflows.
• Take your company to the next level.
As a recognized Marketing Automation leader for the past decade, we work with firms to help them utilize their marketing technology to increase revenue. To see how we can help you, schedule a no-obligation call or email Lori Berson at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in Marketing Automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
by Lori Berson | May 10, 2022 | Digital marketing, Marketing, marketing technology
Overview
With pandemic shutdowns, the ‘great resignation’ (leading to millions of start-ups*), supply chain disruptions, and increasing inflation, it’s been tough to bring in new business.
We’ve seen many small businesses, professionals, and independent contractors struggling to either jumpstart sagging sales or get a new business off the ground. Many have considered hiring a marketing agency, a marketing consultant, or adding to staff but that can be expensive when budgets are tight and talent is limited. In looking for a way to help the business community that has been so good to us over the years, we came up with the idea to write ‘Ready-Made Marketing.’
Take the guesswork out of marketing.
Designed to help people succeed, the book is a quick and easy DIY marketing resource that enables those who don’t have marketing expertise (or the money to hire it) to market themselves, their services or their businesses and start seeing immediate results. Ready-Made Marketing is not about writing marketing plans or strategies; it provides practical, customizable templates for a variety of business-building situations, step-by-step instructions for using proven and effective marketing tactics, and over 400 technology resources that are affordably priced or free.
Abbreviate what you have to do to lighten your workload.
The book is action-oriented; it’s not a novel to read through nor does it require a major time commitment. For example, if you need to write a cold email, you can choose from a variety of templates or if you need a video script, you just go in and pick one. Or if you need a technology resource (e.g. video recording software, content creation tools, podcast hosting, among others) you can select from 21 categories or use the authors’ choices.
Whether you’re starting a new business, want to increase revenue for your current business, or know of someone who needs to jumpstart sales, this book is a game-changer.
To make 2022 a better year, check out Ready-Made Marketing.
*According to the U.S. Census Bureau:
- In 2020, there were more than 4.4 million new businesses; the highest total on record.
- This is a 24.3% increase from 2019; 51.0% higher than the 2010-2019 average.
- ½ million new businesses were started in January 2021 alone.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in marketing and sales automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
by bersondev | Apr 8, 2022 | Marketing, marketing technology
We typically associate the term “audit” with finance and taxes. Whether for taxes or marketing, the purpose of an audit is to uncover what you did and why, what’s working, and what should be changed.
A marketing audit should examine all of your work, your calendar, and the results to determine successful efforts, evaluate where you’re over- or under spending, check your ROI, and make some key decisions for moving forward. It’s best to audit your marketing processes and operations, data, content, and even your staff. Start small and be sure to set up metrics and benchmarks. The following seven steps will help you with the process:
Step 1: Select what you want to audit first.
For example: evaluate your marketing operations and creative workflow. Are you getting things out the door on time and on budget, or are there endless revisions and missed deadlines? Or look at your content – such as your email campaigns.
Step 2: Collect the facts.
Dig into your archives. When you’re auditing your content, for example, start by looking through your editorial calendar to see what was done this year. Set up a spreadsheet and add a line-item for each effort and the date it ran. Add another set of columns to track marketing metrics. To easily see patterns, try to limit your data by evaluating just a few key things. Go through all your campaigns and make notes.
Step 3: Gain insights.
What do you want to know about your operations, content, or ROI? Maybe you’d like to figure out your averages or track the highest- and lowest-performing efforts. You should also calculate the cost-to-effort ratios and compare successes from one year to the next. If you have KPIs established for your business, start there and create a chart to track the success of these indicators.
Step 4: Document your methodology.
As you’re tracking the facts, document your steps. Write down what data you used and how you calculated your numbers to easily recreate it in the future, if necessary.
Step 5: Create a report of the results.
Use high-level notes as well as granular examples that illustrate your points. To easily identify patterns, use visuals (e.g. graphs and infographics). This can be used as an executive-level summary and as a reference the next time you conduct an audit.
Step 6: Analyze your findings and make decisions.
Once you have all the facts, see what patterns emerge and then take action. What efforts performed well? Do you want to retry them or is it time to discard them? Review your organizational process and strategy. Determine bottlenecks, find where repeatable processes can streamline productivity and cut tasks that aren’t adding value.
Step 7: Repeat.
Schedule your audit(s) once a month, quarter, or year to re-evaluate how you’re doing. Like any metrics, it’s wise to capture data at the same time each cycle – for example, if you audit in July, audit next July – so you’re comparing apples to apples.
As a recognized Marketing Automation leader for the past decade, we work with firms to help them utilize their marketing technology to increase revenue. To see how we can help you, schedule a free consultation or email Lori Berson at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in Marketing Automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
by bersondev | Mar 5, 2022 | marketing automation, marketing technology
The proliferation of digital channels and devices has made it challenging for marketers to accurately target prospects with the right messages, on the right devices, at the right times. Prospects are managing more of the buying process themselves, creating decision shortlists by researching brand websites and social channels without ever speaking to a sales rep. As such, to be effective, marketers must be creative, targeted and aligned with sales goals, and they must also have greater visibility into buyer attributes and behaviors.
Faced with these challenging market dynamics and increasing ROI (Return on Investment) pressure, marketers at companies of all sizes are turning to Marketing Automation as a solution to:
Increase marketing efficiency.
Marketing Automation enables marketers to automate the time-consuming manual tasks around content creation, management, and personalization, campaign scheduling and execution, data hygiene (i.e. fix duplicate or inconsistent data in separate silos), communication with sales, and lead nurturing. Marketing Automation saves time and improves productivity.
“Best in class marketers are 67% more likely to use a Marketing Automation platform and see 14% overall growth in marketing revenue.” – Aberdeen
Enhance the ability to generate more and better-qualified leads.
With Marketing Automation, marketers combine multiple criteria including demographic, firmographic (firm demographics) and behavioral data (pages visited, downloads, completed forms) with a lead-scoring system to generate and identify sales-qualified leads.
A multichannel view of prospect behavior.
Marketing Automation platforms integrate multiple channels to create more comprehensive prospect profiles and more holistic views of prospect behavior.
Better alignment of sales and marketing goals.
Marketing Automation software helps to align sales and marketing efforts ensuring sales reps are working with sales-ready leads. Working cooperatively to set scoring parameters and define qualified leads, sales and marketing become one team. Marketing works on building relationships with early-stage leads to enable the sales team to focus their efforts on the most highly qualified prospects.
Improve lead conversion and ROI.
According to Forrester Research, B2B marketers who implement Marketing Automation experience a 10 percent increase in their sales pipeline contribution.
To learn how to best use Marketing Automation to increase ROI, check out this article.
As a recognized Marketing Automation leader for the past decade, we work with firms to help them utilize their marketing technology to increase revenue. To see how we can help you, schedule a free consultation or email Lori Berson at lberson@BersonDeanStevens.com.
BersonDeanStevens has been a recognized brand strategy and marketing leader for over 25 years, including over a decade in Marketing Automation. We work in partnership with you to differentiate your brand and achieve your business goals. Client list.
