One emerging trend in business-to-business marketing is the growing use of marketing automation technologies by B2B companies. Marketing services providers who serve B2B companies need to be aware of this trend because, over time, it will change the way B2B companies approach marketing and the kinds of marketing services they will require - and be willing to pay for.
While there are many similarities between B2B and B2C marketing, there can also be some significant differences. For example, many B2B companies have selling cycles that are measured in months, and B2B purchasing decisions can involve several "buyers." Today's B2B marketing automation technologies are designed to address these important and distinctive characteristics of B2B marketing.
B2B marketing automation systems - also called demand generation systems - are software tools that are designed to help marketers acquire, nurture, qualify, and distribute leads to sales. Demand generation systems automate four types of B2B marketing activities.
Lead Generation - Demand generation systems enable users to create and execute lead generation e-mail campaigns. They can also host landing pages and the forms that are used to capture campaign responses. Most also have some ability to track visitis to Web pages at the company's main Website in addition to the campaign landing page(s). Support for channels other than e-mail and Web pages is inconsistent.
Lead Nurturing - Lead nurturing is the process of communicating with prospects on a regular basis until they are ready to buy. For example, a lead nurturing program might involve sending a prospect a particular sequence of e-mails on a specified schedule or in response to the prospect's behavior. Demand generation systems automate the execution of lead nurturing programs. Automated lead nurturing is probably the most important feature of demand generation systems because nurturing programs are difficult to implement without automation.
Lead Scoring - Lead scoring is a method of qualifying prospects by assigning numerical "points" based on information provided by the prospect and on the prospect's behavior (e-mails opened, white papers downloaded, Webinars attended, etc.). Demand generation systems allow users to define scoring criteria and assign scoring values to those criteria.
Lead Distribution - When a prospect's lead score reaches a pre-determined value, or when some other specified event occurs, the lead is deemed to be sales ready, and the demand generation system automatically passes the lead to sales. Most, if not all, demand generation systems offer integration with salesforce.com, and some vendors offer integration with other sales automation and CRM products. This integration makes distributing leads virtually seamless.
Forrester Research has estimated that only 2 to 5 percent of B2B companies have implemented demand generation systems, although the adoption rate has certainly grown since that estimate. I believe that this market is on the cusp of a huge growth spurt. This growth will occur for three reasons. First, demand generation systems exist for virtually all sizes of B2B companies. Monthly costs start as low as $200, and I know of at least one company - LoopFuse - that offers a free version. Second, all of the major demand generation systems are sold as a hosted solution, which means that companies don't need extensive IT resources to implement and use them. And finally, there is a growing body of evidence from early adopters that demand generation systems can significantly improve marketing and sales performance.
B2B demand generation systems can be very affordable and easy to use from a technological perspective. For MSP's, the important message is that how these technologies are used is what really determines success. And companies - especially small and mid-size companies - will need help to leverage the full capabilities of these systems. This opens the door for MSP's to offer a new set of services, and I'll talk about some of these new services in a future post.
Discussion
By Matthew Quinlan on Jul 07, 2010
Nice overview of the core features of marketing automation systems. I agree wholeheartedly that marketing automation is just about to "tip". It will be exciting when M.A. is seen to be as a given by organizations the same way CRM is today.
By Chuck on Jul 08, 2010
Yes, good overview David. I will very much look forward to your explanation of how printing companies (i.e., "MSPs") fit into this equation. Hopefully with some actionable detail.
By Don Dalrymple on Jul 08, 2010
Marketing automation is critical for engaging buyers in the way they like to buy - using the internet. Today, the buyer is in control. Noone wants to be sold, thus, a responsive, automated and relevant engagement to nurture the buyer helps a company date their customer. Customers are less tolerant of the hard close and seek to be educated. Marketing automation is highly empowering towards this end.
By Keith Burrows on Jul 09, 2010
David,
Very nice synopsis, as I run alliances for Eloqua and work with MSP's to deliver our platform. The game is changing rapidly, and MSP's not only need to care about successful campaigns for the marketing orgs, but driving the revenue engine (the link between sales and marketing). Feel free to check out www.eloqua.com/partners to learn more.
Go grab your share of Revenue!
Keith
By Tewks on Jul 11, 2010
David,
Your post definitely got me thinking. At Alterian we spend a lot of time the working with MSP's. We count 9 of the top 10 as partners. The MSP space is going to need to involve.
While the marketing automation space is of some interest, and certainly accessible given Loopfuse's Freeview, for MSP's I think the game is really going to be integrated profile management. There's a company by the name of Knotice that is doing a good job there.
By Andy Ellicott on Jul 14, 2010
Nice article! Speaking as a Marketing VP for an early stage software company (b2b) and a some-time MSP, marketing automation is a must-have for small to medium size businesses like ours (VoltDB). We implemented Loopfuse (the paid version), and it tells us volumes about about the behavior of people visiting our web site, which helped us tune our launch messaging and sales-marketing machine. Its lead nurturing capabilities help us keep sales costs low by auto-qualifying and nurturing leads for the sales team and focusing them on the best leads. I know I'm preaching to the choir here :-)
Wearing my MSP hat, I think the free edition of Loopfuse is a game changer. I've already referred a few colleagues to it, and they're up and running. Its lead nurturing and scoring capabilities allow MSPs to make a noticeable impact on lead handling (instant gratification for the MSP & client).
The lead segmentation, nurturing and scoring capabilities provide a ton of upside for the MSP. Once the customer starts seeing the benefits, there's a lot of incremental, high value-add automation work for the MSP, creating and tuning lead flows and such. A nice bonus with Loopfuse is the price (free or paid license); its monthly cost is much lower than the likes of Eloqua or Marketo (but still delivers much of the same capability). This means MSPs have the potential to get a higher share of the client's Web marketing budget than they would with the higher-priced solutions.
My 2 cents. Thanks David.
By David Dodd on Jul 14, 2010
Thanks for your comment, Andy! It's great to hear from someone who is using these technologies and, more importantly, reaping the promised benefits. I also appreciate your thoughts about how MSP's can benefit from helping their clients leverage the full potential of these technologies. I'll have more to say about that in a future post.
As I said in the original post, I believe that the market for these technologies is poised to grow rapidly. One of the main drivers of growth is cost. Any B2B company can find a marketing automation solution that fits its budget. LoopFuse offers a free version, and there are several others that can be had for about $200 per month. If you go up to $500-$600 per month, you have even more choices.
Thanks again, Andy.
By Adam Sharp on Jul 28, 2010
David,
I enjoyed your article, you make a lot of great points.
I run a Marketing Automation consultancy in the UK and we have implemented on multiple platforms for many clients, so am not tied to any platforms.
That said one point I would pick up on your article is that you mentioned the differences between B2B and B2C, actually this is changing too. We are now seeing increasing amounts of B2C companies looking to deploy some of the lead scoring and nurturing techniques familiar to B2B companies. Companies such as Silverpop will do very well in this space as they are now integrating their B2B and B2C offerings.
In terms of succesful deployments too many companies underestimate the resource required to implement marketing automation. If we can share this advice, I hope it will stand others Marketers in good stead and that is to think about a 4 step approach to Marketing Automation.
Step 1. Deliver a unified marketing prospect database.
Step 2. Agree the buying cycle and agree a common language between marketing, telemarketing and sales.
Step 3. Match your content and digital assets to the stages in the buying cycle.
Step 4. Map the right technology platform to your needs. (We think a good MA platform does 5 things well- a. has a database for lead scoring and lead nurturing, b. web tracking, c. integrates social media, d. integrates to CRM well and e. has automated routing.) Based on this criteria Act-on is a great SMB choice, Manticore is for the mid-market and Silverpop & Eloqua for the higher end.
We see too many organisations jump to Step 4 and overfocus on the MA brand only to back fill later which can be costly excercise.
Hope this helps.
regards Adam
By David Dodd on Jul 30, 2010
Adam - Thanks for the great comment and for sharing your important insights! I completely agree with your view that many companies jump to the acquisition of a marketing automation platform and mostly ignore the tasks that are essential to reaping the full benefits of marketing automation.
There are four "pillars" that provide the foundation for effective marketing in today's B2B business environment - people, process, content, and technology. If you ignore any of these pillars, your marketing efforts will be shaky at best.
By the way, earlier this week I began a series of posts here at PrintCEO that will discuss the major tasks that marketers must perform in order to fully leverage the capabilities of marketing automation technology. The title of the first post is, "How MSP's Can Take Advantage of B2B Marketing Automation - Part 1."
I'd love to hear your thoughts on these posts.
Thanks again for your comment.
Discussion
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