The purpose of a marketing automation system is to generate and feed as many qualified leads to your sales team as possible. But a marketer’s job doesn’t end there. If you’re not mining the sales data being generated by those leads, then you risk leaving additional sales opportunities on the table. To truly benefit from the effort and expense of your marketing efforts, you need to leverage the sales data already available to you in your CRM system. Whether you use Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics or any number of other CRM […]
It probably won’t surprise you to learn that customer relationship management (CRM) software and marketing automation software are VERY different from one another. Yet, it seems that many marketers still ask the question: can I use one of these to do the job of the other? On the surface, each one can appear to be somewhat similar, but a closer look shows that each platform serves a very different purpose. Since it’s so important that sales and marketing teams understand the differences between the two systems, let’s examine the […]
You’ve just launched your inbound campaign and high-quality leads are beginning to flow into your CRM system. Your work here is done, right? Of course not! This is only the beginning. Once your inbound campaigns are launched, you have to make sure your new leads remain high-quality by developing them into sales-ready opportunities. This is where the art of sales nurturing comes into play—depending on your line of business, the sales cycle can last months or years. It’s not always easy to nurture these leads in an efficient, timely […]
If you are tracking and assigning values to customer and prospect activity as it relates to digital engagement with your brand, you already recognize that the insight it can bring can greatly assist your sales and marketing activities. At a very basic level, the most engaged contacts represent the hottest opportunities. That data in the hands of a capable sales and marketing organization can have a dramatic impact on success. Yet that’s just one small piece of the customer journey. Contact scoring has a place across the entire customer lifespan. […]
So your organization has been growing quickly and at it’s finally time to get serious about integrating your CRM and marketing automation platforms. It’s a smart move! Sales and marketing alignment is a critical component of maintaining success and achieving sustainable, long-term growth. And a key part of this alignment is making sure your marketing and sales systems align as well. The customer journey involves fast-moving interactions that constantly bounce between sales and marketing touchpoints at every stage. The tighter the integration and alignment of your systems, the better your […]
