Need more sales? It’s time to implement marketing automation

Wondering how you can maximize the effectiveness of marketing efforts to get more sales? An online marketing system could be the missing ingredient. Whether you’ve been considering marketing automation for a while and didn’t think it was the right time or are new to the platform, you can see better sales going forward with one of these solutions in place.

Unless you are working with a very small number of leads, a marketing automation platform can significantly boost your results through lead nurturing programs, according to Business 2 Community. It’s nearly impossible to conduct nurturing initiatives without the use of technology because many software solutions can give indications of when leads are ready to move to the next stage of the sales cycle.

Advanced lead nurturing and scoring can make a huge difference in conversion rates. Marketing automation platforms are easy to integrate with customer relationship management programs, facilitating your sales representatives’ ability to keep in touch with contacts.

How to know when it’s the right time for marketing automation

While the majority of B2B marketers can benefit from implementing new technology for lead nurturing and qualification, there are a few triggers you should consider when making the decision, a Salesforce blog post said. Some of the reasons include the following:

1. You recently installed a new CRM

Even though you may think you need to take some time to get used to the workings of a new CRM platform, you can maximize the return on investment of both solutions when you integrate them at the same time. Your sales reps can make more effective use of both platforms.

2. Sales and marketing misalignment continues to be a problem

Disagreements and lack of collaboration between sales and marketing is a significant problem that plagues many organizations. Without maintaining even ground between these two groups, you could lose revenue because marketers are sending unqualified leads to sales, and your reps can’t convert these prospects into customers. Lead scoring gives both teams a shared definition of what equals a qualified lead to prevent lost revenue. Additionally, marketing automation tools can direct leads to a sales rep at exactly the right time.

3. Your website lacks content

Many B2B marketers are struggling to implement enough high-quality content to deliver value to prospects. Content can be difficult to create, and marketing automation can simplify the process of generating a wide variety of promotional materials for different stages of the buying cycle. These tools allow you to test campaign effectiveness to see which pieces of content work and which don’t. Additionally, by tracking the types of content prospects interact with, you can better align marketing materials to the sales funnel.

Whether you are experiencing some or all of these things, automation can streamline marketing and sales operations for better results. These tools have excellent benefits in lead scoring and qualification that can prevent your existing contacts from dropping out halfway through the sales cycle.