Picking An Enterprise Marketing Automation Solution For Your Business

Marketers are coming under increasing pressure to improve the efficiency of marketing campaigns and to do a better job of measuring the results of those campaigns. Senior management requires that marketing resources be optimized, and holds marketing management accountable for resources and expenses.

In order to obtain a competitive edge, many companies are turning to enterprise software solutions to manage and improve their marketing campaigns. This new technology has not always found widespread acceptance, due in part to several factors. Software implementation can be expensive and difficult to mesh with current systems, and may not meet intended performance objectives. For these reasons many marketing professionals are hesitant to embrace this technology.

The issues that drive the need for an enterprise marketing automation solution are related to an organizations increasing requirement to be efficient and accountable. Efficiency is best realized by providing focused messaging to the right prospect by means of the appropriate channels. Employing a manual approach to this process is not effective in a large business. A comprehensive marketing software tool incorporating a resource library is therefore required. Accountability is realized through effective tracking and analysis of results. Without an automated means of providing this data, campaign effectiveness and departmental ROI are nearly impossible to determine.

Customer relationship management, or CRM, also plays an important role. This is where customer responses and preferences have traditionally been stored, and this type of information must be used to drive marketing campaigns to the high degree of segmentation and customization needed. Only in this way can communications that are meaningful, relevant and useful (in the opinion of the recipient) be directed toward prospects and customers. Such targeted approaches are often referred to as precision marketing.

Determining the right enterprise marketing automation solution is extremely important. Initially, a business must examine their own marketing process and identify the objectives required at each step that need improvement. This might include shortening the sales cycle, improving response rates and reducing the cost per sale.

After the specific marketing objectives have been identified, they need to be developed into functional requirements which will be addressed by the software. Future requirements should be determined as well to ensure the system remains relevant as your business grows. The system will need to accommodate the scope, size and segmentation of your data as well as storage capacity requirements.

When potential software solution candidates have been identified, it is important for each department within the company having a stake in the implementation to assist in the decision making process. They must also be committed to the configuration, training and use of the product. Typically the sales and marketing departments, as well as the IT and Customer Service organizations will be involved.

There are several different scenarios under which an enterprise marketing automation solution can be deployed. Each solution type has potential benefits and drawbacks which need to be considered. Having an on-site solution provides the highest degree of configurability and security, but requires a higher initial expenditure due to hardware and software costs as well as the training and staffing expenses incurred. A second option is software as a service, also known as SaaS. This model differs in that the vendor is responsible for hosting and maintaining the hardware, software and client data. One benefit to this approach is a lower initial cost, although long term expenses can vary based upon the product and vendor. A third deployment option is called mid-source which is a blend of the two previously described models. It allows the customer to retain their marketing data in house while the processing or technical services are outsourced.

Once a marketing solution has been identified and implemented, an internal point of contact or responsible party must be identified to provide consistent daily management of the system as well as maintain open communication with the vendor. This will improve the success of the investment and can ensure that all the departments involved are not only engaged in the process, but are receiving the desired benefits as well.

A well implemented and managed enterprise marketing automation solution can greatly increase the effectiveness of a companys marketing and sales program by increasing lead conversions, reducing the lead-to-sales cycle and improving customer satisfaction, which then adds to the profitability of the company.