By Jody Spencer
Director of Marketing
Snowbound Software
The evolution of marketing tactics has shifted
monumentally in the past decade. The
tools now at our disposal as marketers are helping shed the cost center perception
while elevating the function to a seat at the executive table where marketing
can drive business decisions and provide counsel on strategic initiatives. Most
importantly, we can do this with confidence and proven intelligence.
Marketing
Back In The Day
When variable print capabilities and PURLs
(personalized URLs) first appeared, marketers were finally able to speak to
prospects and customers as individuals. We offered them promotions we thought they would be interested in
based on our understanding of the needs of their personas. Unfortunately, it
was all conjecture and pseudo-science. We didn’t really understand the
individual’s interests or needs and we certainly didn’t understand what it
would take for them to make the next step in the buyer’s journey, at least not
with any amount of certainty.
We were still performing traditional
marketing efforts, but with a personalized twist such as inserting their name
or an industry-specific image. We were still making a lot of assumptions and blindly
testing theories in the hopes of increasing click-through or download
statistics. Always the bridesmaid, we were the “other” department that was
trying to earn respect from sales and, more times than not, not winning the
age-old marketing vs. sales war.
Marketing
Today
As we look at the current state of affairs
in 2015, times have changed. Marketing can now gather information on the individual in real-time and begin a
conversation based on what they are doing on a website, how they interact
socially, what materials they find interesting, and how they interact with
emails. We are able to gather all of
this information about a person without them ever picking up a phone or engaging
on chat. The Marketing Automation system gathers all of this information behind
the scenes and enables us to send relevant communications at the right time to
these individuals. These capabilities accelerate the buying process for the
sales team, making them more efficient as well.
With these advancements in automation, we
have finally reached a point where sales and marketing can work together in
harmony. Marketing is now able to arm
sales with information that is critical to their sales process and has earned respect
within the organizations with tangible results.
Sales teams can now close deals faster and even increase the size of the
deal by leveraging intelligence that can also assists their cross sell
efforts.
Revenue
Generation Tomorrow
Marketing Automation solutions are the
catalyst for this evolution. Measurement and automation tools in particular
have transitioned marketing from a perceived cost center to a revenue
generation unit in its own right. By providing valuable intelligence on
prospects that was impossible not so long ago, marketing has also earned a
coveted seat at the executive table and the ability to have a significant influence
in conversations about who the organization targets, how it should be selling, and
how it can shorten the sales cycle.
Marketing is no longer just a department
that spends money to create awareness for a brand and generate leads. It is now the central intelligence unit that
helps sales close more deals faster and best of all, they have the numbers to
prove it.
Jody Spencer has over 15 years of marketing, communications and
business development experience. As Director of Marketing for Snowbound
Software she is responsible for developing, executing and analyzing programs to
increase sales and generate brand awareness.
In addition to marketing, Jody also manages inside sales, business
development and the Partner program at Snowbound. Her expertise
spans marketing automation, branding, messaging, social media, SEO, PR and
business development.