3 Organizational Commitments Required For Marketing Success
The marketing environment is changing rapidly. Columnist Mary Wallace details three practices that can help companies keep ahead of the curve.
For hundreds of years, marketers have tried to get the right message to the right person at the right time. And for most of that time, there was little change in how this took place. But in the digital age, this paradigm has shifted drastically.
With the internet, buyers can and do their own product research. They are no longer reliant on the slick product information provided by marketers and the madmen of Madison Avenue. Prospective buyers gather information via a multitude of different media, weigh their options, and make informed decisions.
Progressive marketing organizations have embraced three philosophies that continually empower them to adapt to the evolution of buyers’ behavior and persevere to drive conversions, pipeline and sales.
Keep Your Buyer In The Driver’s Seat
Customers are what a company is all about. Knowing your buyer comes from developing personas that span all buying cycles for all products.
Buyer personas serve as the foundation for what is communicated, where it is communicated, and how it is communicated. Personas can also be injected into research and development initiatives. Since the personas represent who your buyer is — their wants and needs — R&D can benefit immensely from them.
Meaningful content excites buyers about solving a problem. The content should be created for all personas and buying phases because each persona/buying phase has different needs and engagement triggers.
All forms of communication — from emails to blog posts to website copy — should be created with a laser focus on the buyer. This focus translates into engaged buyers.
For example, two different emails were sent to the same audience. The first email clearly stated the need that was being met for the message recipients. In the second email, the recipients’ “hot buttons” were not at the forefront of the message.
The click-to-open rate in the first email was 20%, compared to just 4% in the second email. That’s five times the engagement when the focus is on the buyer.
Embrace Technology
Technology is a key driver in most business functions and many social interactions today. It helps automate processes and keeps us connected with others who are not physically around us. Technology is an efficient conduit to reach prospects and buyers.
The best part about technology for marketers: it enables them to do their jobs better.
Intent data and digital body language provide insights into activity to help marketers understand their buyers’ needs and interests.
Marketing automation systems including Eloqua and Marketo use that information to segment leads and deliver personalized, on-point communications. Solutions including Bizo drive the same personalized functionality to unknown visitors through retargeting.
Lead scoring and predictive analytics provide additional insight into buyer readiness. When these tools are leveraged, only qualified leads are sent to the sales organization resulting in improved alignment and collaboration between marketing and sales teams, greater sales efficiency, higher conversion to opportunity, and increased marketing effectiveness.
On average, organizations that use lead scoring experience a 77% lift in lead generation ROI, over organizations that do not use lead scoring.
Welcome Change
Because of the change in buying habits, marketing’s role in the organization has evolved to a more revenue-accountable paradigm.
As a result, marketers must continuously poke at weak processes and underperforming technology. Specialists should be used to optimize the technology infrastructure.
“Without specialized talent, it is very difficult in today’s technology landscape to get the full benefit from a martech solution,” says Paul Teshima, CEO of Nudge.
Embracing the change is key to success. “It is as much about people and process as it is about technology,” added Teshima.
The increase in the percentage of online purchases coupled with the majority of the buyer’s journey being conducted digitally is changing how marketing organizations function. Understanding the buyer, leveraging technology and embracing change are key steps to ensure marketers get the right message to the right person at the right time.
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