Over the years we have had the opportunity to work with many agencies and clients in the implementation of their marketing plans. The 2 key factors that we have seen in the success of these clients are the ability to map content to their customer’s buying process and effectively segment their prospects. These success factors are of such impact that we have built our business around these two issues. While many software vendors will talk to you about how many features they have or the add-on’s they offer, ultimate success really comes down to these two key issues. Without a strong base in these areas other considerations become irrelevant.
The number one reason agencies should be encouraging their clients to use marketing automation comes down to the ability to deliver measureable results. This comes from the delivery of relevant, timely content and closed loop reporting that marketing automation provides. But it goes so much deeper than this. The ability to deliver the exact message at the exact moment when your clients are in an active buying mode is priceless. Think about it, what will deliver greater results: a mass email to 100,000 people about why your client is wonderful, or a targeted message to an ideal client persona as they are actively searching your client’s website for the solution they provide?
While many agencies focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing (SMM) and Inbound Marketing, these areas all cover how to drive traffic to your website and generate inbound leads. It still leaves the prospect hanging. Marketing automation takes that lost sheep from general browsing to closed profitable client. What you need to do for your clients is think as their prospects think. Map the process they go through and think about what information they need at each stage in their personal buying process. And that is the differentiation that marketing automation provides. No longer does it have to be the same process or track for everyone. Marketing automation allows each prospect to chart their own course. If you give someone 10 step directions to get from point A to point B, what happens when they get blown off course? Marketing automation allows you to be each prospect’s GPS system. You can follow them on their new course and help guide them through their own journey with relevant, timely information.
Marketing Automation provides a brave new world for agencies where they can deliver measurable, sustainable results for their clients. In a time when client’s budgets are being cut and the need to make the business case for every initiative is mandatory, marketing automation offers this.
We are the most partner-centric marketing automation company and are deeply tied to our partners’ and their customers’ success. Over the next few weeks we’ll write about the key factors that agencies need to consider when choosing a marketing automation solution as well as how they can get their clients up and running quickly to ensure faster time to revenue and return on investment.
