Businesses that cater their services and products to other enterprises follow a completely different way of approaching their target market. And marketers associated with such business-to-business (B2B) companies need to curate a marketing strategy that can attract other organizations.
You must be aware that B2B and B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing are very different, not only in terms of strategies and applications but also in customer engagement and communication.
To understand your customers and improve customer experience, you need to collate and analyze massive volumes of customer data in real-time. You can use this data to select the proper channels, segment customers, maximize your ROI from investment, and send the right message at the right time in marketing operations. The use of a marketing automation system with data management, analytics, audience segmentation, automated conversation and messages, and other features that are designed to improve customer engagement and experience can empower your b2b marketing operations to achieve this goal.
Now, the question is what features should you look for and how to select the right marketing automation platform for your business.
Which automation software can help you maintain your revenue in the long term?
While selecting a marketing solution, do not assume that all-in-one automation software will provide the best functionality. It would help if you looked for functionalities that can significantly impact your marketing colleagues’ day-to-day activities, not sales, human resources, or finance. Remember, marketing automation software aims to make things easier for marketers and not complicate them. Moreover, current B2B marketing operations are getting more complex due to longer than earlier buyer journeys and the need for more people in the buying process. Thus, make sure you choose the right vendor that reflects your specific business requirements and fits well with your resources and company culture.
Here are seven steps that will help you in choosing the best marketing automation system for your B2B marketing operations:
Define your business goals
Make sure that the marketing automation tool that you are selecting can address your B2B marketing challenges. You need to define the unique business challenges you face with your marketing automation vendor and understand if they will deliver what you want in terms of features. Also, please explain what you are expecting from their automation platform by explaining the gap between your marketing system’s present situation and what it aims to achieve.
Avoid shiny object syndrome
Technological innovation in the marketing industry has developed numerous features for marketing automation platforms. While selecting a vendor, marketers can get overwhelmed by so many features to choose from! But remember, you cannot afford to get distracted as these technologies do not come cheap, and you should look only for features that your marketing system needs.
To avoid this ‘shiny object syndrome,’ shortlist what you want and need and then split it into different categories such as must-have features, key features marketing automation systems should have, and nice-to-have features. Moreover, by restricting your choices, you can save time and energy in researching through several vendors. Assess all the features found in your preferred and top marketing automation vendors so that you can shortlist a few automation software in your Request for Proposal or RFP.
Challenge vendors with a scenario
Once you are done shortlisting vendors after in-depth research of the vendors’ features and benefits and how they match your requirements, you need to test the vendor. Create a challenging scenario that can originate in your marketing system and ask the vendor how they would handle the situation using the automation system. You can also request a product demo to see how the software works. This is a great way to check if the vendors are capable of offering what they promise.
Services are as important as the product.
As much as the marketing automation tool has eased digital marketing, it has also complicated the whole process’s technicalities. Thus, just incorporating an automation tool into your marketing system is not enough, and you must be aware of how to use the technology to leverage the best out of it. Marketing automation tools that offer onboarding training on the system help you get used to your new marketing system faster. Your marketing tool must guide you throughout the journey from configurations set up to real-time help in accessing the system.
To effectively use B2B marketing strategies and reach your customers personally using digital marketing, you need to make sure that you are integrating the right marketing automation tools. Business customers can be picky and demanding, but keeping the avoid points in mind will streamline your search for the right marketing automation tool.
If you need professional assistance to select the right marketing automation software for your b2b business, then we’re here for you – all you need is to contact us or simply say “Hello” at info@marrinadecisions.com. Or you can DM us on Twitter, or LinkedIn.
