February 2016 – Lead Liaison

3 Easy but Important Steps to Prepare for Marketing Automation

February 23, 2016/0 Comments/in Best Practices, Marketing Automation, Revenue Generation Blog/by Lead Liaison

Automated marketing sounds complicated, but with some advance preparation, can be straightforward and managed with ease. The following three steps can make the process of launching an automated marketing campaign simpler, faster, and more effective. Let us help you with 3 easy steps to prepare for marketing automation.

1. Determine Sales Funnel Stages

Well-defined sales funnel stages are critical to automated marketing success. The goal of this process is to determine the various challenges and stages a prospective lead might go through before converting to a paying a customer. After these challenges and stages have been defined, marketing automation can be used to assist prospects in navigating the sales funnel with more ease. From sending prospects relevant, timely content at the various sales funnel stages to setting up campaign triggers to determine when leads are becoming hot, a well-defined marketing automation campaign can maneuver prospects through the sales funnel much more quickly.

2. Define Sales Targets

Far too many businesses skip over this step in preparing for a marketing automation campaign. It is vital to identify sales prospects along with their needs and wants. Consider the features of a product or service that prospects would appreciate most. What fears or concerns might prevent a prospect from making a purchase? What questions do prospects need answered? Understanding the answers to these questions makes it easier to identify prospects and develop content to drive greater success in an automated marketing campaign.

3. Match Content to Sales Funnel Stages

The entire goal of marketing automation is to provide the right content to sales prospects at precisely the right time. This means mapping content and correctly matching content to sales funnel stages at the appropriate time. Begin by identifying the type of content that will appeal most to target prospects, such as blog posts, videos, articles, whitepapers, etc. Next, determine which type of content sales prospects would find valuable enough that they’re will to provide personal information in order to receive that content. Finally, consider the type of content prospective customers would want once they moved further down the sales funnel.

Planning and preparing for an automated marketing campaign is vital to succeeding. With proper planning, automated marketing can help any business reach its expansion goals. We hope you enjoyed these 3 easy steps to prepare for marketing automation.

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5 Tips for Making Marketing Automation More Personal

February 16, 2016/2 Comments/in Best Practices, Marketing Automation, Revenue Generation Blog/by Lead Liaison

While marketing automation might seem a bit mechanical and cold, there are steps that can be taken to make it less robotic. The marketers who tend to make the most of marketing automation are those who take the time to understand their audience, and who customize their content to meet the expectations of that audience. Here are 5 tips for making marketing automation more personal.

1. Building Your Own Marketing Automation List

A marketing automation campaign is only as good as the quality of the list behind it. Rather than purchasing lists, generate unique lists featuring qualified leads. We suggest using a solution like SiteEngage™ to engage and convert visitors using relevant “engagement windows” to offer valuable content and build your list.

2. Scalability Over Time

A common mistake made by many new to marketing automation is trying to grow too quickly. This type of approach can result in an impersonal feel. A better approach is to start simple, by identifying the most important stages in the sales funnel. Over time, what is working or not working will become more easily visible, offering the opportunity to add additional stages.

3. Nurture Relationships

Ultimately, the goal of any marketing automation campaign is to develop and maintain valuable relationships that will increase both the quality and quantity of leads over time. By delivering high-value content to leads at the right time rather than focusing solely on numbers, it becomes possible to do precisely that.

4. Getting Creative

Marketing automation may get its start with email, but it involves a multitude of channels to move leads through various stages of the sales funnel. For a successful marketing automation campaign, it’s important to develop a marketing automation strategy that focuses on the delivery of relevant content throughout every channel.

5. Always Include a Personal Touch

Marketing automation performs at its best when it functions with a personal touch. Service is at the heart of marketing automation. Ideally, the needs of an audience should be anticipated in advance to ensure that customers receive the right information at precisely the right time. Never become so bogged down in the mechanics of an automated marketing campaign that the real goal is lost.

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Blog Disclaimer

February 9, 2016/0 Comments/in Revenue Generation Blog/by Lead Liaison

Please be aware that information provided by Lead Liaison’s Revenue Generation Blog is subject to change. We recommend that you do not take any information held within as a definitive guide to the law or the relevant matter being discussed. You are advised to seek legal or professional advice where necessary rather than relying on the content supplied by the author(s) of this blog.

Due to the nature of the matters discussed on this blog, the information contained within it and any pages linked to from it are clearly subject to change, without warning. The law, regulations and other forms of legal governance are constantly changing and adapting to meet the needs of the modern world and it is impossible to comprehensively detail the nature of such within the confines of a blog in a concise, up-to-date manner.

Any opinions expressed within the blog are those of the author and not necessarily held by Lead Liaison itself. For the most up to date information, prices, offers and more offered by our company, please visit our website.

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From time-to-time we have guest bloggers post on our site.

The views, opinions and positions expressed within these guest posts are those of the author alone and do not represent those of Lead Liaison. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them.

Improving Customer Relationships with Marketing Automation

February 9, 2016/0 Comments/in Best Practices, Marketing Automation, Revenue Generation Blog/by Lead Liaison

With all of the hustle and bustle associated with attracting, growing, and converting leads, it can oftentimes be easy to forget the real key to achieving sustainable growth: cultivating loyal customers. This means not only a customer that will offer a consistent source of revenue, but who will also provide valuable recommendations to help in enhancing products, and even drive new prospects to your brand by recommending your products and offering testimonials.

Strong customer relationships are vital to any business strategy, but unfortunately, they are often given little priority. Marketing automation can help in improving customer relationships. While there is a common misconception that marketing automation comes to an end once a customer is converted, that is actually not the case. Marketing automation can continue to provide a number of important benefits, even after a deal is concluded.

Improving Content

Oftentimes, marketing automation efforts focus on personalizing content for the purposes of bringing new clients on board. In reality, however, customization is just as important to current customers. Marketing automation can provide a wealth of information regarding a client’s recent activity, including any content he or she may have recently downloaded, areas where he or she may be struggling, or an area where they may be interested in expanding their knowledge. Having this information available can ensure that the right questions are crafted, while also ensuring that you’re providing a more valuable customer experience.

Identifying Brand Ambassadors with Lead Scoring

Lead scoring can prove to be a highly effective method for identifying the biggest fans of a brand quickly and easily. This is important for several reasons. Customers who download and share content regularly and who interact on social media accounts are extremely valuable. Not only can they offer credibility, but they can also become powerful brand ambassadors. Lead scoring offers the opportunity to identify such customers and begin the process of building relationships with those individuals, while also rewarding them for their loyalty.

Marketing automation is excellent at providing drip marketing capabilities, which can be quite beneficial for helping current customers have an even more valuable experience. This is precisely what drives true customer loyalty and retention.

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Mistakes with Marketing Automation – and How to Fix Them

February 2, 2016/2 Comments/in Best Practices, Marketing Automation, Revenue Generation Blog/by Lead Liaison

While marketing automation has become an increasingly popular approach for generating quality leads and driving them through the sales funnel efficiently, it’s not uncommon for marketers to make mistakes in implementing marketing automation tools. The power of marketing automation cannot be denied, but it also is not a magic solution that will resolve all marketing problems. As is the case with any solution, marketing automation is only as effective as the team behind it and the time you invest in it. Failure to properly implement and make the most of marketing automation will almost always result in failure. In this post we’ll share common mistakes with marketing automation and how to fix them.

Failure to Develop a Documented Strategy

Without a documented marketing strategy, marketing automation tools cannot possibly hit your desired target. A proper marketing automation strategy should effectively tie together the goals of a company with the techniques used to reach those goals. Marketing automation tools serve as a means to execute a proper strategy; they are not an actual strategy on their own.

Only Using Marketing Automation Tools as Email Marketing Tools

Marketing automation tools provide far more than just email capabilities. While email is still an incredibly effective marketing automation tool, a successful marketing automation campaign requires harnessing all available features, which may include lead scoring, search engine optimization, landing pages, and metrics and reporting.

Focusing on Selling Instead of Nurturing

Lead nurturing is one of the most powerful benefits of a marketing automation tool. When used properly, it can help to move prospects through the sales funnel more quickly than when using traditional marketing tools. The problem is that many marketers focus on selling rather than nurturing leads at the top of the funnel. When a heavy sales pitch is used too early, it often drives leads away rather than moving them forward. Selling should be reserved for the bottom of the funnel leads, while the top of the funnel leads should receive useful content related to their specific interests.

Tracking the Wrong Metrics

It can be incredibly easy to get sucked into the vast array of data available from marketing automation tools. Placing too much emphasis on the wrong data, however, such as social shares and traffic, can prevent you from tracking metrics that really matter, such as lead conversion rates. Always keep in mind that the importance of certain metrics may change based on where a lead is in the sales funnel.