1. THE BUSINESS CASE FOR
MARKETING
AUTOMATION
HOW TO CRAFT A COMPELLING CASE
the executive team
will approve
2. Bottom line, you can’t realize the benefits of nurture
marketing the way Top Performers do unless
you incorporate a technology platform that can
preconfigure business rules to manage timely
engagement and escalate prioritized leads to sales
via integration with CRM.
No amount of hired resources could manually reach
out and touch prospects at just the right time with
just the right message.
Marketing automation forms the backbone for
configuring nurture marketing campaigns across
channels and managing communications based on
prospect engagement. It’s also one of the only ways
marketers can actually start to attribute marketing
spend to closed sales.
– Gleanster, Mar 2013
“
“
4. 3
YOU’RE CONVINCED
MARKETING
AUTOMATION
WILL HELP YOUR COMPANY
leap forward...
...if you can convince executive management to adopt the technology.
Because the buyer has evolved.
Which means the seller (you) must, too.
The scales have shifted.
Technology, digital channels, and non-stop connectivity
continue to empower today’s buyers with at-the-ready
information and increased choice, fueling unprecedented
global competition.
As a result, marketers must shoulder more responsibility
for contributing – measurably – to sales and revenue
goals, an expanded role that’s less “persuasion” and more
“buyer education.”
Success hinges on finding the right mix of inbound and
outbound strategies, and the right integrated data that
connects the dots.
Marketing automationstrikes
this balance. It’s a proven method for managing and
optimizing the entire customer experience, measuring
what matters, increasing revenue, and tying that revenue
to your marketing team’s efforts.
This eBook will help you create a compelling business
case that can convince executive management to adopt
marketing automation.
In it, you’ll find the basics of what marketing automation
is and what it can do, data and stats to bolster your case,
and recommendations that will help you sell marketing
automation to key members of your executive team.
5. 4
+ What is marketing automation?
+ What’s the value of marketing automation?
+ What’s included in marketing automation?
+ What do businesses use marketing
automation for?
+ Marketing automation vs. CRM
THE
BASICSOF MARKETING AUTOMATION
01
6. A SCENARIO:
PERFORMANCE
Companies that have adopted marketing automation are out-performing
those that haven’t.
in action
87% 63% 79%
of top-performing
companies (defined
as those where
marketing contributes
more than half of the
sales pipeline) have
adopted marketing
automation.
(Aberdeen Group,
Sep 2014)
of companies that
are outgrowing their
competitors use
marketing automation.
(The Lenskold and Pedowitz
Groups, Nov 2013)
of top-performing
companies have been
using marketing
automation for more
than two years.
(Gleanster, Aug 2013)
7. 6
Marketing automation focuses on the
definition, scheduling, segmentation,
and tracking of marketing
campaigns. The use of marketing
automation makes processes that
would otherwise be performed
manually much more efficient,
and makes new processes possible.
(Marketing Automation Times)
A strategic marketing approach focused on
creating and distributing valuable, relevant,
and consistent content to attract and retain
a clearly defined audience – and ultimately drive
profitable customer action. (Content Marketing Institute)
Marketing automation is the use of technology to generate,
nurture, score and qualify leads, and drive sales using
customized, multi-touch marketing communications that
are tailored for each contact’s profile, level of interest,
behavior, or place in the buying process. (Sales Lead Insights)
01 THE BASICS OF MARKETING AUTOMATION
WHAT IS MARKETING AUTOMATION?
It depends on who you ask.
Here’s how others define it:
“
LEAD-TO-REVENUE
MANAGEMENT (L2RM)
Forrester Research prefers the
term “lead-to-revenue management
automation solutions” and notes that
such systems were developed to
“bridge a gap between lead generation
activities (e.g., trade shows, direct mail,
telemarketing, and email campaigns)
and selling activities (e.g., closing
the deal) that were managed by a
customer relationship management
(CRM) system.” The opportunity to
calibrate marketing spend to revenue
generation was a significant driver of
L2RM adoption.
“
CRM
8. 7
Marketing automation creates a digital infrastructure that allows marketing
and sales to learn about, understand, and interact with buyers throughout the
entire lifecycle – from attraction to conversion to retention – in a well-timed,
personalized way.
Consider these facts:
• 78% of marketers cite marketing automation systems as most responsible
for improving revenue contribution. (The Lenskold and Pedowitz Groups,
Nov 2013)
• B2B marketers cite the #1 benefit of marketing automation as the ability to
generate more and better leads. (Pepper Global, Sep 2013)
• B2B marketers who have successfully deployed lead nurturing programs
average a 20% increase in sales opportunities from nurtured leads versus
non-nurtured leads. (DemandGen, Aug 2013)
• B2C marketers who take advantage of marketing automation have seen
conversion rates as high as 50%. (eMarketer, Feb 2013)
• 69% of top-performing companies cite “cooperation between marketing and
sales” as the most critical value-driver for maximizing marketing automation
ROI. (Gleanster, Nov 2012)
• B2B marketers who have implemented marketing automation contribute
10% more of the sales pipeline via marketing programs than do marketers
who have not implemented markteing automation (44% versus 34%).
(Forrester Research, Jan 2014)
It’s a compelling value proposition.
MARKETING
AUTOMATION
BENEFITS
Done well, marketing
automation can:
Increase overall sales,
both for new and repeat
customers
Shorten the sales cycle
by 50% or more
Increase deal sizes
Increase sales quota
achievement rates
Lower the cost per lead
Lower overall sales and
marketing costs across
the company
Increase alignment of
sales and marketing teams
01 THE BASICS OF MARKETING AUTOMATION
WHAT’S THE VALUE OF MARKETING
AUTOMATION?
9. 8
01 THE BASICS OF MARKETING AUTOMATION
WHAT’S INCLUDED IN
MARKETING AUTOMATION?
Marketing automation systems
offer most or all of the following:
• Email message and campaign creation
• Automated email campaign deployment and
measurement (e.g., drip and nurture campaigns)
• Triggered emails
• Lead management and routing
• Automated lead nurturing
• Automated lead scoring
• Creation and hosting of landing pages and forms
• Website visitor tracking
• Social media marketing and sharing, including blog
integration
• Inbound marketing, including some SEO capability
• Database with segmentation capabilities
• CRM integration and automatic data synchronization
• Web events/webinar integration, registration,
and management
• Tracking, reports, and analytics
• Third-party app integration
• Data capture of demographic, firmographic, and
behavioral information for leads and customers
• Alerts that notify sales and/or marketing when a specific
person or company visits a specific page on the website
THE HALLMARKS OF A
MARKETING AUTOMATION
PLATFORM
• Data integration, data analytics, list creation,
dynamic list-building
• Automated workflows for the development and
execution of outbound and inbound marketing
• Ability to create email messages, landing pages,
and online forms
• Lead management features for lead scoring, lead
distribution, and lead nurturing
• Visibility and access for sales into marketing
campaign efforts and individual prospects
• CRM integration (either native or non-native)
• Unique activity reports for each contact (e.g.,
prospect, lead, customer) showing website
behaviors, email clickthroughs, content views,
form completions, etc.
• Reporting, analytics, and customizable dashboards
(Adapted from SiriusView: Marketing Automation report)
10. 9
For many customers,
size matters. As a small
marketing team, I’ve
experienced first-hand how
potential clients will quickly
reject your company if it
appears too small based on
company profile or perceived
project capabilities.
Our company suddenly
appeared bigger because
we were (and are) doing
the work of a much larger
marketing team. That’s
the power of marketing
automation.
1 Create and manage email
marketing campaigns with less
time and effort.
2 Eliminate cold calling through lead
intelligence that lets sales prioritize
who to call and what to discuss.
3 Segment the database to support
targeted, personalized campaigns.
4 Nurture leads with relevant content
that’s timed to help them progress
through the sales funnel.
5 See and understand lead behavior
as prospective buyers move along
or drop out of the sales funnel.
6 Score leads to indicate sales-
readiness.
7 Synchronize leads to the CRM
system as they qualify.
8 Help sales engage more effectively
with buyers by using intelligence
gathered at multiple touch points.
9 Lower costs by reducing and/or
integrating disparate point tools.
10 Optimize resources to improve
operational and time efficiencies.
11 Handle increased workloads
without additional staff or
specialized technical skills.
12 Improve sales response times
through information sharing
between marketing and sales.
13 Respond 24/7 with no
downtime, no overtime, and no
need for training or retraining.
14 Create set-it-and-forget-it drip
and nurturing campaigns.
15 Publish to multiple social
accounts with one action.
16 Eliminate manual data entry for
webinar and event registrations.
17 Manage all communications
around webinars and events,
from initial promotions to final
follow-up.
18 Get a comprehensive
understanding of each lead
and customer by integrating
marketing automation and
CRM systems.
19 Build complex campaigns that
coordinate multiple channels
and messages automatically.
20 Demonstrate marketing’s
contribution to deal quantity,
deal size, and overall revenue.
01 THE BASICS OF MARKETING AUTOMATION
WHAT DO BUSINESSES USE
MARKETING AUTOMATION FOR?
Virtually everyone who uses marketing automation
begins by employing it for email marketing, then
scales it in different directions, depending on need.
Here are 20 possibilities:
“
“
Ben Jackson,
VP of Sales, voices.com
11. 10
“
Matt Heinz,president of Heinz Marketing Inc.,
an agency that focuses on sales acceleration, said:
The only thing CRM systems do is
organize your information. They keep
track of your sales and they capture your
sales process, but they don’t keep track of
your sales or execute your efforts.
A good marketing automation system
proactively helps you. If set up and
managed well, you can sit back and the
system will drop interested prospects in
your lap … I don’t actually recommend
someone choose one or the other. World-
class sales and marketing organizations
need both to succeed and scale.
“
“
Christian Wettre,president of W-Systems,
an agency that specializes in deploying marketing and
sales technology, with an emphasis on CRM, said:
With modern CRM systems, you
typically have some ability to broadcast
emails to your client list, and the
ability to capture leads from websites.
But when the customer needs more
sophisticated capabilities, that’s when
we look to marketing automation.
“
01 THE BASICS OF MARKETING AUTOMATION
MARKETING AUTOMATION VS CRM
A common question:
“If I have a CRM solution in place, do I really need marketing automation?”
While marketing automation and CRM have
different capabilites, the two systems are
complementary. When integrated, they form a
powerful sales and marketing toolset that’s rich
in features and capabilities.
Strategic businesses should
invest in both CRM and
marketing automation.
THE TAKEAWAY
12. 11
A global company sells high-end products that
typically require a long sales cycle. The company
has thousands of sales reps who use a CRM tool
to improve sales productivity, including managing
the contact database and tracking interactions with
prospects, leads, and customers.
A local company has two brick-and-mortar locations
and 20 sales reps; some use a CRM tool and some
don’t. The company also has two marketers who wear
multiple hats, including manually collecting, scoring,
and transferring leads.
A small companyA large company
01 THE BASICS OF MARKETING AUTOMATION
THE TALE OF TWO USE CASES
SITUATIONCHALLENGE
The CRM tool does not support the marketing
department’s productivity, including lead generation,
nurturing, and scoring. This hinders marketing’s
ability to deliver timely and relevant messages and
campaigns, and to pass qualified leads to sales.
The company is adding more products and expanding
into more sales regions. Lead quantity and diversity
are increasing, and the marketing team is struggling to
keep up with new demand. Team efficiency, campaign
effectiveness, and the ability to pass qualified leads to
sales are being adversely impacted.
SOLUTION
The company implemented a marketing automation
platform that was integrated with its CRM tool. The
result: Both departments benefited. Marketing was
able to create, execute, and measure the full range
of marketing programs (including automated lead
nurturing and scoring), deliver the right message at
the right time, and pass more qualified leads to sales.
Sales was able to prioritize hot opportunities, reduce
cold calling, and close more sales. Both had visibility
of the entire lead lifecycle and access to new, real-time
customer intelligence.
By implementing a marketing automation platform, the
two-person marketing department was able to create
multiple campaigns for each buyer type – including
engagement tracking and lead scoring – and set
them up to run automatically. The result: consistent
delivery of relevant messages based on each
prospect’s demonstrated behaviors and interests,
more and more-qualified leads for sales, and more
time and budget to focus on marketing strategies and
new business opportunities, rather than on manual
campaign management.
13. 12
+ Why invest in marketing automation?
+ Specific marketing challenges and how
marketing automation helps solve them:
- Lead generation and management
- Campaign optimization
- Sales enablement
- Resource optimization
- Data and analytics
HOW TO MAKE A
BUSINESS
CASEFOR MARKETING AUTOMATION
02
14. 13
Marketing automation positively impacts both the top
and bottom lines, with many results seen quickly after
implementation:
Top line Improving the experience and engagement
of prospects and customers drives more demand for
products and services, generates more high quality
leads, and helps close more first-time and repeat sales.
Bottom line Improving process and operational
efficiencies decreases costs (e.g., resources, capital
equipment, outsourcing) while increasing profitability.
1Revenue
Marketing automation helps businesses realize core strategic goals, including:
Brand relevance Marketers can more easily, quickly, and effectively deliver the right message to the right person at
the right time via the right channel. This dramatically increases your brand’s relevance in customers’ eyes.
Increased efficiency Launch campaigns in hours or days, with little or no IT support needed and no special
coding skills. Automating common tasks allows you to build relationships – at scale – with fewer resources while increasing
personalization. Sales can use lead intelligence to shorten the sales cycle.
Data intelligence Visibility into the performance of campaigns, personas, and buying stages allows organizations to
optimize marketing efforts, improve results, increase sales quotas, and measure ROI.
2Achieve Organizational Goals
COMPANIES THAT
USE MARKETING
AUTOMATION SEE:
• 107% better lead conversion
• 40%greater average deal size
• 20% higher team attainment of quota
• 17% better forecast accuracy
(Aberdeen Group, Jun 2012)
02 HOW TO MAKE A BUSINESS CASE FOR MARKETING AUTOMATION
WHY INVEST IN MARKETING
AUTOMATION?
Every organization experiencing success with marketing automation has a
different answer to this question. Here are the three that surface most often:
15. 14
Marketing automation systems provide the infrastructure for
sales and marketing to work together.
Sales and marketing cooperation Many
aspects of marketing programs must be calibrated to the
sales team’s needs. When the teams align, their mutual
decisions are implemented via the marketing automation
system. This alignment results in nurturing, scoring, and
handoff processes tuned to sales requirements, leading to
intradepartmental trust and more effective follow-up.
Sales intelligence The real-time intelligence about
a lead’s fitness, concerns, and behaviors lets the sales rep
begin a warm, targeted conversation and build a relationship
more quickly. It also reduces the need for cold calls.
3Improve Internal
Cooperation
B2B organizations with
tightly aligned sales and
marketing achieved 24%
faster revenue growth and
27% faster profit growth
over a three year period.
(SiriusDecisions)
MINIMIZEINVESTMENT RISKS
To minimize investment risk, consider a
vendor that offers pricing tied to the number
of active contacts you plan to email each
month. That way, you’re not charged for the
size of your database – only the contacts
you actively email to.
By starting small and testing the waters, you
can learn what works and expand as needs
and benefits become more apparent.
Marketing automation’s reporting
capabilities will help you validate the
system’s worth and document your return
on investment.
16. 15
Marketing automation platforms
provide sophisticated, highly
choreographed, interoperable
technologies that power and support
an extensive range of digital marketing
opportunities. By design, the benefits
are far-reaching and interrelated, woven
through multiple teams for multiple
uses at multiple times.
We’ve organized marketing’s most common hurdles into five
categories. We hope this will help you create a strategic plan
to show how marketing automation can answer your own
organization’s biggest challenges.
1 LEAD GENERATION AND MANAGEMENT
2 CAMPAIGN OPTIMIZATION
3 SALES ENABLEMENT
4 RESOURCE OPTIMIZATION
5 DATA AND ANALYTICS
TRY THIS:
USE CASE STUDIES
Show your executives that other companies in
your industry or other companies of your size are
achieving success with marketing automation.
Look for case studies that make one of those
points, or look for a study that spotlights how
someone used marketing automation to solve a
problem your own company recognizes as a pain
point worth solving. Your goal is to show parity of
some kind and reinforce the idea that companies
like yours are seeing a return on investment with
marketing automation.
Be sure to research whether one or more of your
competitors is using marketing automation.
02 HOW TO MAKE A BUSINESS CASE FOR MARKETING AUTOMATION
SPECIFIC CHALLENGES AND HOW
MARKETING AUTOMATION
HELPS SOLVE THEM
17. 16
1. INBOUND AND OUTBOUND FROM ONE PLATFORM
Automation platforms enable marketers to pull prospects “in” (e.g., search engine optimization, social
marketing, landing pages, and integration with pay-per-click systems such as Google AdWords) and
communicate “out” (e.g., email, online webinars, and virtual events).
2. LEAD CAPTURING
Marketing automation offers
several mechanisms for capturing
the contact information of
prospects who have responded
to offers or messages, thereby
facilitating moving them into the
funnel. Key tactics include:
Landing pages and forms,
which can be quickly created in
automation platforms and tied
directly to the contact/customer
database of record.
Webinars and online events,
which can effectively expand brand
visibility, and create awareness of
– and demand for – products and
services. Automation platforms
offer integrated capabilities that
allow marketers to plan and
launch web-based events, engage
attendees before and during the
event, and follow up afterwards.
10The average number
of marketing
touches leads receive
from the time they
enter the top of
the funnel until
they’re a closed-won
customer.
(Aberdeen Group, Jul 2012)
DID YOU KNOW?
According to Aberdeen Group,
60% of marketing leads are
generated via outbound
marketing channels and 40%
via inbound marketing channels.
but ...
Top Rank Marketing found
leads gained through organic
searches (which is inbound
marketing) have a 14.6%
rate of close, while outbound
marketing leads have a close
rate of only 1.7%!
02 HOW TO MAKE A BUSINESS CASE FOR MARKETING AUTOMATION
LEAD GENERATION AND MANAGEMENT
18. 17
3. LEAD SCORING
Lead-scoring allows marketers to qualify leads by assigning pre-determined values to their behaviors and profile
characteristics. When a buyer-ready lead score threshold is passed, a notification is triggered, allowing marketers to
quickly pass the lead to sales. Automated lead scoring benefits marketers by:
• Providing timely information on a lead’s progress through the funnel/buyer’s journey.
• Taking the guesswork out of a lead’s status with automated lead classification based on scores (e.g., Marketing-
Qualified, Sales-Accepted, Sales-Qualified).
• Uncovering the content and interactions that drive the highest response.
• Delivering more and better-qualified leads to sales with less time and effort.
Companies
that excel at
lead nurturing
generate 50%
more sales-ready
leads at 33%
lower cost.
(Forrester Research, 2011)
Nurtured leads
make 47% larger
purchases than
non-nurtured
leads.
(The Annuitas Group, Nov 2012)
4. LEAD NURTURING
With automation, you can implement and manage nurture programs (e.g.,
multi-touch drip campaigns) that:
• Keep new leads in the funnel – especially important for complex,
lengthy, and/or high-value sales cycles.
• Help leads move through the funnel via a mix of educational and other
materials sent in a timed cadence.
• Are personalized and customized to the lead’s specific areas of interest,
which strengthens relationships with potential and existing customers.
5. LEAD SEGMENTATION
Dynamically segment leads that come from any type of campaign or
channel, such as social media, email campaigns, form-fills, or paid
campaigns. By segmenting leads based on sources, marketers can use the
appropriate medium and channel to send out relevant messages and craft
effective campaigns. Leads can also be segmented by industry, company
size, products already purchased, or any other factor that helps you create
more targeted campaigns.
19. 18
6. TARGETING: SENDING
THE RIGHT MESSAGE
TO THE RIGHT PERSON
From nurturing leads to re-capturing
lost sales to managing loyalty
programs, automation lets marketers
set up targeted messages based
on any number of attributes (e.g.,
age, gender, title, geography,
engagement behaviors, etc.).
This allows marketers to:
• Send the right message at the
right time.
• Have visibility into who their
most profitable customers are,
where they came from, and
how to find more like them.
• Cross-sell and upsell to segments.
TRY THIS:
USE DATAGather your baseline data. Know how many leads are generated and
conversion rates at each step, including what percentage of marketing-
generated leads become closed deals in contrast to leads generated
in other ways. Understand whether your sales team is losing deals to
competitors or to no-decision. Review your email statistics, including
sends, opens, and clickthroughs; know which campaigns are delivering
qualified leads and which are not. Know at what point leads fall out of
the funnel. You will use this data to understand how an improvement at
any step could affect revenue.
If your current systems don’t allow you to measure these factors, then
gaining the capability to understand how your marketing is performing
becomes a solid business reason for implementing automation.
20. 19
1. REDUCE LEAD TIME
Marketing automation efficiently facilitates the quick coordination, scheduling,
launching, and measuring of marketing campaigns from simple to complex,
across single or multiple channels. What used to take weeks can be
implemented in hours or days.
2. TEST & OPTIMIZE CAMPAIGN EFFECTIVENESS
Begin by using A/B testing for campaign elements – e.g., email subject lines,
calls to action, landing page and form design, colors, messages, etc. – to
increase the odds of success before official launch. The winning version
can then be rolled out in the larger campaign. Then, through tracking and
monitoring (often in real time), marketers can identify what works and what
doesn’t, and often change it on the fly. The new knowledge is assessed to
find fresh ways of appealing to customers.
3. PERSONALIZE YOUR INTERACTIONS
Personalization is a proven technique to increase conversion. Automation
allows marketers to tie behaviors to individuals, thereby opening new doors
for dynamically personalizing emails, custom landing pages, and offers.
4. REACH A WIDER AUDIENCE
Combining the full complement of data collection and profiling with outbound
and inbound tactics, marketers can significantly expand their visibility and
reach, grow their database, and increase lead flow.
02 HOW TO MAKE A BUSINESS CASE FOR MARKETING AUTOMATION
CAMPAIGN OPTIMIZATION
21. 20
5. OPTIMIZE FOR SEARCH ENGINES
According to a study by Conductor, organic search drives the most traffic
of all channels; it’s responsible for nearly half of all website visits (47%).
Marketing automation platforms can streamline SEO tasks with on-page
evaluation tools to ensure web pages, blogs, and other content are
optimized for search engines and aligned with best practices.
6. GO SOCIAL
Automation helps marketers track and manage social publishing and
listening across a wide range of popular social media channels. This
includes sending notifications when it’s time to respond, which allows
marketers to learn what’s being said and participate in conversations. Some
platforms offer sentiment analysis, competitive analysis, and prospecting.
7. UNDERSTAND YOUR WEB VISITORS
Website visitor tracking can show precisely which products and services
each visitor is interested in, helping marketers further target campaigns and
promotions to meet their interests. It can also help you identify anonymous
visitors and uncover their contact information.
8. SCHEDULE SET-IT-AND-FORGET-IT EMAIL
CAMPAIGNS
Marketing automation helps marketers take full advantage of email
marketing, including nurture programs and trigger email programs. Pre-
determined content, offers, and messages are automatically sent to the right
recipients at the right time, working to keep them engaged and progressing
through the funnel.
9. CREATE AND EVALUATE LANDING PAGES
How well are your landing pages performing? Do they follow SEO best
practices? Do you know the right metrics to watch? Which designs are more
effective? Automation software provides the tools to answer those – and
many more – questions. Some also have one-click landing page creation
from an email message.
TRY THIS:
BE READY TO
ANSWER
QUESTIONS
ABOUT
TIME AND
RESOURCES
Evaluate everything your team
does now and how much time it
takes. Estimate conservatively
how much time you might save
on frequent key tasks, such
as email campaign setup and
management. Talk to partners and
advocates who have implemented
marketing automation; ask them
to share information with you.
Think about headcount. Consider
whether you already have the
right resources on your team or
whether you’ll need to add staff.
Some marketing systems require
training before you can use them;
others are easier to use.
Evaluate how you currently work
with, and share information with,
sales. Consider how marketing
automation will affect what you
already do, and whether any
processes will need to change.
22. 21
10. CREATE AND EVALUATE BLOG POSTS
Marketing automation platforms can be integrated with popular blog platforms
such as WordPress or Drupal. Marketers benefit by creating and measuring
blog performance from a single platform, as well as optimizing each post
for SEO.
11. INTEGRATE WITH PAID SEARCH MARKETING
If you use pay-per-click advertising, ensure that your chosen marketing
automation platform can integrate with your PPC service. Many of them can’t.
(Act-On offers easy integration with Google AdWords, allowing marketers
to see how PPC campaigns are performing and the search terms that are
bringing impressions, clicks, and conversions.)
12. INCREASE WEB EVENT EFFECTIVENESS
Web events – webinars, webcasts, virtual conferences, demos – offer a
multitude of tactics and benefits including lead generation, nurturing, thought
leadership, training/education, and brand building. Marketing automation
software integrates with popular web event platforms such as WebEx and
GoToWebinar, and can dramatically reduce the time spent on organizing the
events, while increasing engagement and lead quality.
Marketing automation can even handle registration, which means registrants
can go straight into your database as segmented leads.
23. A SCENARIO:
MARKETING AUTOMATION
Let’s say you build a promotional campaign comprised of PPC, targeted email
and landing pages, social media sharing, and two pieces of content: an eBook
and a video.
1
day
DISPLAY
ADS
2
day
SOCIAL
MEDIA
ADS
3
day
LAUNCH
EMAIL
ASSESS ACTIONS
LANDING PAGE
in action
With marketing automation, the
launch of your campaign elements
can be pre-scheduled and precisely
calibrated. For example:
• Display ads are in place on Day 1.
• Social media ads on Day 2.
• Emails launch on Day 3, targeted
to specific database segments.
• When prospects begin to
respond by visiting the landing
page, the automation system
does the work by assessing their
actions and then channeling
prospects into the campaign
track (including messages,
cadence, and scoring) that best
corresponds with their interests.
• If a prospect fills out a form and
downloads the eBook or video,
the system will send a triggered
thank-you note targeted to
whatever action was taken, and
personalized to whatever degree
possible (e.g., first name).
24. 23
02 HOW TO MAKE A BUSINESS CASE FOR MARKETING AUTOMATION
SALES ENABLEMENT
1. GET MORE –AND BETTER –SALES-QUALIFIED LEADS
Marketing automation changes lead generation 180 degrees by
supporting lead capture and lead scoring, which enables sales reps to:
• Optimize their time by using lead scoring to identify and prioritize
sales-ready buyers.
• Focus on getting in front of leads that are ready to buy.
• Build trust-based customer relationships by delivering relevant
information at the right time.
2. ACCESS IN-DEPTH, UNIFIED INSIGHTS FOR
SMARTER SALES CALLS
Automation technology streamlines and aggregates data from multiple
channels and sources so it’s easy to access and understand. The result is
that a lead’s interests and status in the sales cycle are clear, which helps
sales reps effectively frame their conversations and communications
to a prospective buyer’s pain points and needs in minimal time.
3. INTEGRATE WITH EXISTING CRM
Sales reps can remain in their CRM system while still accessing all the
information and intelligence the automation platform provides; no switching
back-and-forth between systems.
This allows reps to have more effective and productive engagements with
potential and current buyers.
4. ELIMINATE COLD CALLING
With customer intelligence from lead-tracking data, profile information,
engagement history, and CRM integration, sales reps are armed with
the essentials before picking up the phone or sending an email.
TRY THIS:
GET SALES
INVOLVED
FROM THE
BEGINNING
Know what percentage of leads
are ignored by sales and what
percentage of leads return to
marketing for further nurturing.
Talk to sales and see what
they think of having complete
account histories at their
fingertips; ask if prioritized hot-
prospect lists would be helpful.
Because sales is so profoundly
impacted by a marketing
automation system, it’s a good
idea to make them your ally from
the beginning.
25. 24
5. MAKE THE MOST OF EMAIL
Marketing automation systems let sales reps automatically personalize
messages for a particular customer or industry and send them at the optimal
times. Trigger emails can be customized to inbound actions so buyers receive
personalized communications in response. All email communications —
automated or otherwise — are captured in your activity history for each lead.
6. IDENTIFY THE BEST LEADS WITH
REAL-TIME ALERTS
Sales reps can set up alerts that notify them in real time of important activities
and milestones. Examples include when particular leads visit pre-determined
web pages or engage with content, when a lead-score threshold has been
met, or when a qualified lead has been assigned.
7. SHORTEN THE SALES CYCLE
From inbound and outbound marketing, lead scoring, data collection, and
CRM integration, the customized capabilities of marketing automation allow
sales reps to convert leads faster and at higher rates.
8. CLOSE BIGGER SALES
According to a 2013 Pedowitz Group study, 28% of marketing teams using
marketing automation reported an increase in the average deal size from
a marketing-qualified lead that was passed to sales. Given that such leads
have been educated and nurtured, and that sales can have a richer, deeper
conversation with them, greater deal size is a predictable outcome of
relationship building.
Companies with mature lead
generation and management
practices have a 9.3% higher
sales quota achievement rate.
(CSO Insights)
26. 25
1. SAVE TIME BY AUTOMATING MANUAL TASKS
Marketing automation saves time, whether you’re deploying email
campaigns on a staggered schedule, setting up drip campaigns that run by
themselves, tallying website visits by visitor, or publishing across multiple
social channels with a single click. Many marketers use that time to add
new programs or do more analysis; many also enjoy the benefit of increased
efficiency without an increase in headcount.
2. REDUCE MARKETING COSTS THROUGH
BETTER-TARGETED CAMPAIGNS
Marketing automation plays an important role in reducing the costs of
marketing campaigns. The ease of audience segmentation, personalization,
and data-driven optimization leads to more targeted and tailored campaigns
that can be launched faster and generally perform better.
3. INTEGRATE WITH EXISTING SYSTEMS AND TOOLS
Most marketing automation systems can be integrated with a wide range
of systems and tools, often accomplished with minimal clicks. This saves
time by allowing teams to keep the tools they’re used to, and reduces costs
by more efficiently supporting marketing campaigns and communications.
Examples include:
• CRM platforms
• Web event management systems
4. IMPLEMENT WITH MINIMAL (OR NO) IT SUPPORT
Many mrketing automation systems are designed for ease of use, including
intuitive user interfaces that facilitate all phases of implementation and
campaign development. This dramatically reduces reliance on IT resources
and allows marketers to more fully manage their own activities.
• Blogging platforms
• AdWords
Marketing
automation
drives a 14.5%
increase in sales
productivity and a
12.2% reduction
in marketing
overhead.
(Nucleus Research, Apr 2012)
02 HOW TO MAKE A BUSINESS CASE FOR MARKETING AUTOMATION
RESOURCE OPTIMIZATION
27. 26
5. DEPLOY CAMPAIGNS WITHOUT SPECIALIZED SKILLS
Most of today’s automation software gives marketers full freedom to develop and
deploy campaigns without needing specialized coding skills or technical savvy.
WYSIWYG editors and intuitive “drag-and-drop” functionality significantly reduce
the time and effort needed to create professional-looking campaigns and execute
complex marketing tasks. This also reduces costs associated with hiring specialists.
6. IMPROVE SALES AND MARKETING ALIGNMENT
Better cooperation and collaboration between sales and marketing is a big win
for businesses that implement marketing automation; by design, the integrated
platform tends to reduce (or eliminate) much of the struggle between the two
teams. The reason: Automation improves lead quality, increases revenue, automates
tedious tasks, and delivers actionable intelligence. Sales has input into determining
lead quality, scoring, and timing, so they have increased trust in the leads that
marketing delivers, and are more likely to follow up. Marketing learns what sales
encounters on the front lines, and can use the knowledge to create more relevant
content and campaigns.
of CMOs at top -performing companies who say “Easy To Use”
is the most important driver for marketing automation ROI.
(Gleanster, Aug 2013)
92%
28. 27
TRY THIS:
UNDERSTAND
YOUR CURRENT
ANALYTICS
1. GAIN FULL-SPECTRUM INSIGHTS
Marketing automation delivers real-time results across channels and
campaigns, enabling marketers to quickly gauge campaign performance,
optimize efforts, and allocate resources to the most effective strategies.
2. CUSTOMIZE ESSENTIAL DATA VIEWS
Integrated dashboards aggregate data from all digital channels and can be
customized to provide the information deemed most important to each user.
On-demand, drillable views provide deeper insights and inform strategic decisions.
3. TRACK CAMPAIGN ROI
Sales and marketing teams share responsibility for driving revenues, including
concretely demonstrating a return on investment. Marketing automation make
reporting an integral part of every campaign and activity, allowing sales reps
and marketers to stay in tune with short- and long-term ROI numbers.
4. UNDERSTAND CUSTOMERS BETTER
Gut decisions can err on the side of optimism rather than reality. Applying
metrics to various parts of the marketing process can uncover where you lose
potential customers and what attracts them most. The more you know … the
more you know.
5. VISIBILITY MEANS ACCOUNTABILITY
In many organizations, marketers are seen as a collection of “creatives”
who aren’t anchored to sales goals or other business metrics. Marketing
automation provides the reporting that clearly shows how marketing is
performing and concretely ties its contributions to sales goals and revenue.
This accountability helps marketing teams make decisions that are in line with
company goals and receive credit for its accomplishments.
As you build your case
for marketing automation,
review what your company
is already measuring, then
make recommendations
that will complement those
measurements and/or bridge
critical gaps.
Keep the total number small. In
most cases, it’s far better to track
a few key metrics than to keep
watch over many.
02 HOW TO MAKE A BUSINESS CASE FOR MARKETING AUTOMATION
DATA AND ANALYTICS
29. 28
+ Selling marketing automation to
your decision makers
+ The CEO
+ The CMO
+ The CFO
+ The CIO
+ The VP of Sales
+ Checklist: What your business case
should include
WHAT THE
EXECUTIVE
SUITENEEDS TO KNOW
03
30. 29
Marketing automation allows you to give prospective buyers
what they want, when they want it, and how they want it so
you can gain, retain, and increase your competitive advantage.
BUT …
Convincing decision makers to adopt marketing
automation relies in large part on how well your plan meets
management’s – and your company’s – best interests.
To be successful, you need to understand what’s
important to each – whether it’s a small executive team or
an enterprise-level C-suite. That means anticipating their
questions and objections, and directly addressing them.
This section highlights key issues executives care about, and
offers suggestions and tips for creating a focused reply that
resonates. Data points are included to support your case.
03 WHAT THE EXECUTIVE SUITE NEEDS TO KNOW
SELLING MARKETING AUTOMATION TO
YOUR DECISION MAKERS
Getting approval from your executive team is where the rubber meets the road.
“
Matt Heinz,
President, Heinz Marketing
If I’m anyone in the C-suite evaluating
an investment, unless you tell me
otherwise, it feels like money out of my
pocket. So help me understand how
you’re helping me spend money to
make money.
“
NEED HELP CRAFTING YOUR STRATEGIC PLAN?
We can help you build a proposal that meets the specific needs of your business and executive team.
Contact us today
31. 30
03 WHAT THE EXECUTIVE SUITE NEEDS TO KNOW
THE CEO
RESPONSIBLE FOR:
• Fully understanding all disciplines including sales, marketing, finance,
operations, and product/technical aspects
• Developing a complete vision for the company, both near- and long-term
• Setting the company’s values and ethics, and leading by example
CONCERNED ABOUT:
• The entire revenue cycle – top-line growth and profitability
• Customer satisfaction and loyalty
• The competition
WHAT YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON:
1: HAVING SALES ON BOARD
Your CEO will likely ask stakeholders for their opinion, in particular the sales
team. The chance of your proposal getting accepted will increase significantly
when the sales team is behind it.
• TIP: Get buy-in from sales first, before you sell to the CEO.
• DATA POINT: Companies that use marketing automation are nearly 2X
more likely to capture intelligence for the sales team than companies
without automation. (The Lenskold and Pedowitz Groups, Nov 2013)
Marketing automation
replaces separate systems
for email, web visitor
tracking, lead scoring,
nurture campaigns,
campaign management, and
reporting with one solution
that streamlines marketing
processes and shares data
with sales.
“
David Raab
Marketing Technology Consultant,
Raab Associates
“
2. SELLING DEMAND GENERATION, NOT FEATURES
CEOs don’t care about a system’s features; they care about measurable business results – customers and revenue. Be sure
to clearly articulate how marketing automation will help generate more demand for your company’s products and services
which, by extension, will drive more sales.
• TIP: Include an explanation of lead management. Your CEO will know what lead generation is, but may be unfamiliar with
how leads are actually managed. Demand-generation processes such as targeted content marketing, lead scoring, and
lead nurturing are key strengths of marketing automation. They’re essential for increasing qualified leads, new and repeat
sales, and revenue.
• DATA POINT: 80% of CEOs at top-performing companies indicate that their most compelling reason for implementing
marketing automation is to increase revenue, and 76% say to get higher quality leads. (Gleanster, Aug 2013)
32. 31
3. METRICS THAT DEMONSTRATE RESULTS
Illustrate marketing automation’s value by tying it directly to the metrics your CEO
cares about. Emphasize that the CEO can check up-to-the-minute reports and have
on-demand access to dashboards that show campaign effectiveness in real time
and across time.
• TIP: Keep the metrics high-level but tied to revenue and profitability. Some ideas
include lead-to-opportunity conversion ratios, sales quota attainment rates,
percentages of marketing-sourced sales opportunities, and database growth.
• DATA POINT: Companies that adopt marketing automation see 53% higher
conversion rates than do non-adopters. (Aberdeen Group, Jul 2012)
• DATA POINT: Businesses that have automated significant portions of their
marketing processes see revenue from marketing-generated leads increase by
an average of 34%. (MathMarketing, Nov 2013)
• DATA POINT: B2B marketers who have implemented marketing automation
contribute 10% more of the sales pipeline via marketing programs than do
marketers who have not implemented marketing automation (44% versus 34%).
(Forrester Research, Jan 2014)
33. 32
03 WHAT THE EXECUTIVE SUITE NEEDS TO KNOW
THE CMO
RESPONSIBLE FOR:
• Influencing and implementing a diversity of business-critical objectives
including corporate strategy, content strategy, product innovations,
pricing, and brand creative
• Leading the way to deliver customer value and company revenue against
the backdrop of drastically changing consumer behavior and needs
• Collaborating with every department to optimize customer experiences,
leverage new technology, and push the boundaries of creativity
CONCERNED ABOUT:
• Driving customer engagement, retention, loyalty, and advocacy
• Broadening their expertise beyond traditional marketing to encompass
new technologies, online and offline engagement channels, and big
data analytics
• Demonstrating marketing’s contribution and effectiveness, particularly
to revenue
The CMO role has evolved
significantly. No longer is
it just about marketing;
now more than ever the role
requires being myopic about
the consumer, fanatical about
innovation, and a leader in
the C-suite.
“
Dean Crutchfield
Brand Advisor, Forbes
“
WHAT YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON:
1: REACHING THE RIGHT PROSPECTS IN RELEVANT AND EFFECTIVE WAYS
A great benefit of marketing automation is its function as a central repository for profile information; the system can track,
aggregate and manage the demographics, behaviors and interests of every prospect, lead, and customer. This opens up
endless opportunities for synchronizing the full spectrum of online and offline marketing channels – email, websites, social
media, advertising, trade shows, sales calls, call centers, etc. – to increase demand, engagement, and sales.
• TIP: Articulate the core capabilities that allow marketers to identify the right prospects for their campaigns and send
messages that optimize engagement throughout the buyer’s journey. Examples include automated list segmentation,
targeting and personalization, lead nurturing and scoring, and trigger campaigns, all of which leverage the power of
profiling to deliver value and shorten the sales cycle.
• DATA POINT: When comparing the winning vendor to the rest of the considered vendors, 61% of buyers agreed that
the winning vendor delivered a better mix of content appropriate for each stage of the purchasing process.
(DemandGen, Jan 2014)
• DATA POINT: 67% of B2B marketers say lead nurturing increases sales opportunities throughout the funnel by at least
10%, with 15% seeing opportunities increase by 30% or more. (DemandGen, Oct 2014)
34. 33
2. BUILDING BUYER RELATIONSHIPS AT SCALE
CMOs are tasked with increasing market share and customers while staying
within the confines of limited resources and budgets. So it’s important to
emphasize that automation manages a majority of the iterative and labor-
intensive processes involved in campaign and lead management. This
significantly reduces the number of manual touches needed to engage a
prospect, letting marketing build, nurture, and manage relationships at huge
scale without increasing resources.
• TIP: Use a real-world example from your business to show how marketers
can employ automated programs such as segmentation, lead nurturing,
and scoring to engage prospects through all stages of the funnel. Diagrams
work well to illustrate how leads are automatically channeled into the correct
nurture streams – no matter if there’s one lead or thousands.
• DATA POINT: Businesses that have implemented marketing automation
reduce customer churn by an average of 43% over businesses that do not
automate. (MathMarketing, Nov 2013)
3. DEMONSTRATING MARKETING’S IMPACT TO REVENUE GOALS
Today’s CMOs must be rainmakers – they are expected to grow the sales
pipeline and increase conversion rates of deals in the pipeline. Emphasize how
marketing automation gives CMOs the ability to concretely tie marketing efforts
to revenue contribution.
• TIP: Don’t get too detailed here. Focus on the success metrics your CMO
cares about, and then show how they can see comprehensive, comparative,
integrated views of performance and attribute it directly to revenue.
• DATA POINT: Marketers have to juggle a growing portfolio of channels
and touchpoints with relevant, targeted marketing content. However, only
38% of marketers have a single view of customer interactions across digital
touchpoints and interaction history. (Forrester, Dec 2013)
• DATA POINT: Only 21% of B2B marketers say they are successful at
tracking ROI. (CMI and MarketingProfs, Sep 2014)
DID YOU KNOW…
The average tenure of today’s
CMOs is 45 months, nearly
double what it was in 2006.
According to executive
recruiting firm Spencer Stuart,
the improvement is due in part
to a new breed of marketing
executives that are more
sophisticated about technology.
Still, CMO tenure pales in
comparison to CEO tenure,
which averages 7 years.
35. 34
03 WHAT THE EXECUTIVE SUITE NEEDS TO KNOW
THE CFO
RESPONSIBLE FOR:
• Implementing and supervising internal controls, including management of cash
flow and overhead expenses, vendor payment terms, and company liabilities
• Developing the annual budget; analyzing capital investment requirements
• Cultivating good working relationships with outside financing sources
CONCERNED ABOUT:
• Controlling costs
• Identifying strategies that will increase profits
• Return on investment (ROI)
• Reducing risks
WHAT YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON:
1: TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP
Your CFO will expect to see all costs associated with the implementation and
management of a marketing automation system, so do the math on the platform,
If the CFO can support you
in decisions and understands
how the marketing spend
delivers value for the
organization, then it is
much easier for the rest
of the executive [team]
to understand.
“
Catherine Howard
Head of UK Marketing, Atos
“
the people, and the content. It’s essential to be upfront about real-world costs, as well as show the benefits of making such
an investment. Both underscore your credibility and evoke more confidence from those who control the purse strings.
• TIP: Create a table that shows the specific line items and costs broken down by month, quarter, and annually. Be sure to
include contract terms, setup fees, and usage/subscription costs per user or list size.
• TIP: Think about the expertise that will be needed (e.g., a demand-generation manager, content creators, etc.) and run
a thorough analysis to ensure the benefits outweigh the costs. For example, although it will cost money to implement a
marketing automation platform and potentially add some number of resources, the benefits – e.g., increased opportunity,
increased conversion yield, optimized use of sales reps’ time, elimination of repetitive tasks, and increased productivity
per headcount – should trump the costs. Additionally, they’re easy to do the math on.
36. 35
2. METRICS THAT INFORM STRATEGIC ALLOCATION OF FUNDS
The depth and breadth of real-time data collection and customized reporting
available from a marketing automation system enables you to not only measure
campaign results, but also quantify the cost-effectiveness of marketing channels,
both standalone and in relation to the buyer’s journey.
• TIP: Emphasize how automated reports and on-demand, customizable
dashboards make it easy to gain complete visibility of what’s working and
what’s not. This helps your CFO make informed decisions about where to
spend budget in order to reap the biggest financial gains.
3. TYING MARKETING AUTOMATION TO ROI
Your CFO is all about the numbers, relying on them to determine whether – and
to what degree – any investment will impact profit. A fundamental strength of
marketing automation is its ability to effectively manage leads and, as a result,
measurably increase sales. When presenting your case to your finance executive,
it’s essential to show how the investment will produce quantifiable returns.
• TIP: Demand-generation processes are among the easiest to tie to ROI. Start
by thinking through the sales and marketing processes: demand generation,
lead generation, nurturing, conversion, repeat sales. Assess the headcount
and time necessary for each activity and translate those into costs. Spotlight
how marketing automation will enable the company to do more with the same
headcount/hours it is already paying for.
• DATA POINT: 70% of top-performing companies indicate their investment
in marketing automation generated a positive ROI after the first year of use.
(Gleanster, Nov 2012)
Assumptions are a common method
for demonstrating projected results
and getting agreement.
Make “worst case,” “expected case,”
and “best case” assumptions to show
the range of possible ROI outcomes.
ROIOUTCOMES
37. 36
03 WHAT THE EXECUTIVE SUITE NEEDS TO KNOW
THE CIO
RESPONSIBLE FOR:
• Driving the strategic analysis and
(re)engineering of business
processes, including initiatives,
responsibilities, and timing
• Implementing technologies essential
to strategic and operational goals
• Defining and overseeing the
processes and practices that
support information accessibility
and flow
CONCERNED ABOUT:
• Balancing the competing demands
of technology, business needs,
and risk
• Analytics and business intelligence
• Service availability
• Data and system security
WHAT YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON:
1: HOW THE SOLUTION WORKS
Your CIO understands the technology-based systems and solutions. Your role
is to help define the hard questions for assessing if – and how – they fit into the
business infrastructure. Generalities don’t work here. It’s important to deliver a
comprehensive description of the automation platform in a way that enables your
CIO to evaluate both the business need and the effort needed to execute.
• TIP: Be prepared to provide very specific design and architectural components
needed to integrate the solution. Examples include how it’s hosted, what
business capabilities it replaces or adds, how data is stored and secured, what
type of ongoing support the vendor offers, and what effort and support will be
needed from the IT team in the short- and long-term.
2. INTEGRATING DISPARATE TOOLS
Tying together disconnected tools offers big benefits to the IT department: It
streamlines the overall infrastructure and processes, saves resource time and
effort, and reduces errors, all of which (added bonus) lower costs. Built-in analytics
tools can consolidate multiple reporting mechanisms into a single view, helping IT
quickly assess system health.
• TIP: If sales uses a CRM tool, spotlight how most automation platforms integrate
with CRM, which is a game-changer for optimizing resources, improving sales-
funnel velocity, and increasing sales. Other integration points include web
services, blog and webinar platforms, and pay-per-click campaigns. Uncover
where your company could best integrate with the platform, so you can
articulate those areas – including benefits – to the CIO.
BE SURE TO...
Introduce the CIO to the marketing automation vendor as early as possible to facilitate a smooth implementation.
38. 37
3. IMPROVING DATA INTEGRITY
The ability to easily integrate with a wide variety of business-critical tools and
systems delivers an additional and essential benefit: data accuracy. Marketing
automation platforms effectively map, exchange, and synchronize data between
all touchpoints, which reduces errors and duplication.
• TIP: Technology leaders focus on providing services in advance of business
needs and initiatives. When engaging your CIO, show how marketing
automation can help support business growth (even high-speed and high
scale) without a loss of data control, accuracy, or integrity.
• DATA POINT: 60% of IT decision makers cite “managing data quality” as their
biggest challenge. (Forrester Research, Jan 2014)
Many marketing automation systems require little-to-no IT resources to
implement, set up and manage, and cloud-based systems require no
hardware. In addition, most automation systems don’t require technical savvy
to use. These all contribute to significant cost savings.
COST-SAVINGS
39. 38
03 WHAT THE EXECUTIVE SUITE NEEDS TO KNOW
THE VP OF SALES
RESPONSIBLE FOR:
• Increasing company revenue
• Managing sales teams to deliver
profitable growth
• Collaborating with marketing
functions to establish successful
lead generation and conversion
CONCERNED ABOUT:
• Quotas
• Lead quality and quantity
• Increasing sales conversion
WHAT YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON:
1: INCREASING LEAD QUALITY AND QUANTITY
Your VP of Sales must be convinced that a new system will generate more
leads and result in more sales. Making the case is relatively easy to do because
marketing automation is a lead-management machine. To get the sales executive
on your side, you must connect the dots: from lead-management processes to
more qualified leads to increased sales conversions.
• TIP: Begin by working with sales reps to understand their current processes,
including the tools used, the time it takes, and the average results. Then itemize
how marketing automation can optimize each. For example, lead scoring
prioritizes leads based on interest and engagement, giving sales definitive
knowledge on who to call, when, and what to discuss. Segmentation allows
reps to refine and target their communications more effectively. Lead nurturing
campaigns and related tactics such as drip and trigger marketing keep leads
engaged and moving along the buyer’s journey.
• DATA POINT: Businesses that use marketing automation to nurture prospects
experience a 451% increase in qualified leads. In turn, nurtured leads make 47%
larger purchases than non-nurtured leads. (Annuitas Group, Nov 2012)
DOING THE MATH
Find out what your sales team’s current rates are, and then run the numbers based on
the averages your marketing automation vendor sees from its customers.
HERE’S A SAMPLE OF WHAT ACT-ON CUSTOMERS SEE:
• 49% increase in monthly lead flow
(RME360)
• 192%increase in qualified leads
(NuGrowth Solutions)
• 29% increase in lead-to-opportunity conversion
(LEGO®
Education)
• 68% increase in revenue
(To the Point Marketing)
40. 39
2. MEETING AND EXCEEDING QUOTAS
Similarly to the CFO, your VP of Sales is all about the numbers – phone calls,
emails, campaign touches, qualified leads, closed deals. Meeting quota is critical
to company revenue, which means getting highly qualified leads to the sales team
is crucial. It’s essential to clearly show how marketing automation increases the
sales team’s ability to strike when the iron is hot; that is, to quickly connect with
leads, continue conversations, and close sales.
• TIP: Focus on the built-in capabilities that directly impact sales’ ability to
meet its quotas. For example, automated lead scoring allows reps to identify
and prioritize sales-ready leads based on points scored. Integration with
CRM keeps all contact information and histories in one place, allowing reps
to increase efficiency while using the sales tool they’re most familiar with. If
Act-On is your platform of choice, it includes website prospecting and real-
time alerts, giving sales teams immediate intelligence about who is visiting the
website and what they’re viewing.
• TIP: Quantify the benefits by creating a side-by-side comparison of current
sales metrics versus projected sales metrics after implementing marketing
automation. The math is easy to do and the data pack a powerful punch.
• DATA POINT: Companies that invest in marketing automation solutions see
70% faster sales cycle times, and 54% improvement in quota achievement.
(Bulldog Solutions, Mar 2012)
3. ALIGNING SALES AND MARKETING
Cooperation between sales and marketing is essential to achieving revenue
targets because both departments are responsible for top-line growth: marketing
generates leads and passes them to sales, and sales closes deals. It’s important
to specifically highlight marketing automation as a proven mechanism for bridging
the sales-marketing divide.
• TIP: Emphasize how marketing automation makes the customer lifecycle
visible and measurable in multiple ways. This allows both teams to see and
share real-time intelligence, craft aligned campaigns, and meet their respective
quotas. For example, lead scoring helps marketing deliver more qualified
leads to sales. Segmentation, search history, and visitor tracking allow sales to
triangulate on the hottest opportunities.
• DATA POINT: Only 23% of sales professionals say marketers consistently
deliver sales-ready leads. (Ad Age, Jul 2013)
• DATA POINT: Companies that use marketing automation are more likely than
companies without automation to capture intelligence for the sales team, 35%
vs. 19%. (The Lenskold and Pedowitz Groups, Nov 2013)
Hugh MacFarlane, founder and CEO
of MathMarketing, conducted an
alignment benchmarking study by
surveying 1,400 professionals in 84
countries. The study found that the
businesses with the greatest degree
of alignment:
• Grow 5.4% faster than their
less-aligned counterparts when
compared with businesses in the
same industry
• Close 38% more proposals
than non-aligned businesses
• Lose 36% fewer customers
to competitors
THE
BENEFITS
OF
ALIGNMENT
41. 40
ƛƛ Clear objectives for implementing
marketing automation.
ƛƛ Specific benefits of marketing
automation adoption and how they
map to company objectives.
ƛƛ Technological components and
benefits. For example, are you
recommending email, website visitor
tracking, social integration? If so,
why? What about CRM integration?
SEO auditing?
ƛƛ Data sources, including integrations
with your CRM systems, other
prospect and customer data, and
campaign data.
ƛƛ Budget and milestones – i.e., the
real-world schedule and costs for
implementation. This includes
phases, technologies, and
reasonable times/milestones for
learning, evolving, and refining to the
point where ROI can be achieved.
ƛƛ Analytics and reporting.
ƛƛ ROI projections, including:
◊ Outline the volume of activity
required to meet lead, quota,
and revenue goals. Base this on
historic data in your target market.
◊ Calculate what sales and
marketing activities cost now
(without marketing automation).
◊ Calculate potential improvement
in costs and results after
implementing marketing
automation.
◊ Calculate current and projected
profit improvements.
◊ Define the results of sales and
marketing alignment in terms of
lead generation, qualification, and
enhanced cooperation.
ƛƛ Risk management, include risks
associated with adopting and not
adopting marketing automation.
ƛƛ Timelines and target dates.
CHECKLIST
WHAT YOUR BUSINESS CASE
SHOULD INCLUDE
To improve your chances for getting executive management’s buy-in, below
is a list of key items to address as you craft your business case:
Be wary of offering generic
benefits like “increased
marketing ROI” or “shorter
selling cycles.” Those benefits
may be legitimate possibilities,
but they carry less weight
when they could apply to any
organization. Instead, identify
the most pressing sales and
marketing challenges at your
company, and speak to those
specific issues.
“
Howard Sewell
President, Spear Marketing Group
“
43. 42
• For the small marketing team, it might be time savings.
• For the marketer with lead generation quotas, it might
be the ability to customize and coordinate cross-channel
marketing campaigns.
• For the marketer focused on sales enablement, it could
be the ability to use automated programs such as lead
nurturing and lead scoring.
• For the sales team, it might be more and better-qualified
leads, nuanced intelligence about a lead’s needs, a
shorter sales cycle, or a real-time list of hot prospects.
Much of buying and selling – and most of the buyer’s
journey – is conducted online. Marketing automation
gives organizations the infrastructure and tools to take full
advantage of cross-channel digital marketing, and do it
at scale to match changes in business growth, budgets,
resources, and skillsets.
Taken as a whole marketing automation offers impressive
upside that’s hard to match: The simplicity of a single
platform, extensive cross-funnel capabilities, native and
non-native integrations with many business-critical tools,
low/no need for IT resources or technical skills, quick
implementation, and cloud-based economics.
The benefits are numerous, including the ability to
understand your prospects and customers, have well-timed
and personal interactions with them, and empirically tie
marketing efforts to revenue.
If your organization hasn’t yet embraced marketing
automation, we hope this eBook provides a compelling
argument to get the conversation started.
TRY THIS:
KNOW YOUR GOALS
Before you seek executive support:
• Know which business goals are worth pursuing
and also attainable with marketing automation.
• Know the company objectives marketing
automation can support.
• Know what internal support you have. Is the
marketing staff willing? Does sales see this as
an avenue for more/better leads and a more
collaborative working relationship?
• Know how you plan to measure success.
04 CLOSING THOUGHTS AND RESOURCES
MAKE YOUR CASE
The business value of marketing automation varies according to how an
organization applies the technology.
44. 43
04 CLOSING THOUGHTS AND RESOURCES
MAKING YOUR MARKETING LIFE EASIER
AND MORE EFFECTIVE
Case Studies
• Marketing agency sees 49% increase
in monthly lead flow and 68% decrease
in cost per lead after implementing
marketing automation [Learn how]
• Talent agency see email open rates
skyrocket to 84% and clickthrough rates
jump to 40% by integrating its CRM with
marketing automation and using lead
scoring to manage the sales pipeline
[Learn how]
• Vacation rental company sees 50%
increase in bookings and 500% ROI by
using lead management capabilities to
identify sales-ready travellers and reach
out with tightly targeted campaigns
[Learn how]
• A leading provider of fleet vehicle and
asset tracking services nets $30,000 from
a single campaign created and managed
with marketing automation [Learn how]
• Read more case studies
Reviews, Analysts
Reports, Studies,
and Blogs
• Customer Experience Matrix Analyst
David Raab’s blog
• Gleanster Research
• Forrester Research (no subscription
needed to read blog posts)
• Software Advice reviews of
marketing automation systems
• B2B Marketing Automation
Platforms 2014: A Buyer’s Guide
• Marketing Action Blog
Tools
• Download the Buyer’s Checklist
for Marketing Automation
• See how marketing automation
can improve your business with
Act-On’s ROI Calculator
• Use our free A/B Test tool
to identify the webpage that
converts best
• Get a free SEO Assessment of
your website’s home page
• Learn more about the art and
science of marketing in the
Act-On Center of Excellence
Connect with us to learn more!
