Winning at the Conversion Quest
Finishing up explaining the 6 functions Marketing Automation can do that CRM can’t, here are the remaining 3:
4. Online Behavior Tracking
The appropriate tracking codes need to be present on all web pages. Besides having Web Analytics activated, Marketing Automation platforms use special coding to track online behaviors. For example, Marketo uses munchkin code as part of their lead scoring feature. When you set up your automation software, you’ll modify settings to help you track and score specific web activity.
For example, someone who visits one product page versus another who sticks around to view multiple pages including pricing, will be a stronger prospect. Conversely, those who visit your Careers page for job openings, can be assigned a negative score.
5. List Management
You can slice and dice your lists based upon various criteria like geography, decision making status, recent events, company size or earnings, etc. If a hot lead is currently being worked on by a sales rep, there’s also a way to suspend marketing messages to that lead. Sometimes, you need to allow the relationship to evolve and allow time for direct and personalized communication.
Additionally, it’s not uncommon for competitors to shop your website and marketing materials. Platforms like Marketo, HubSpot and Eloqua allow you to black list known competing company IP addresses. Of course this isn’t fool-proof, but it helps to keep the list clean and targeted.
6. Marketing Automation Measurement & Analytics
There are several standard performance measurement reports. You can review performance by time frame, campaign, email performance, landing page performance, and many others. Marketing automation can do advanced level analytics that can integrate with a CRM. This ties revenue performance directly to a campaign or multiple campaigns. You can then calculate much more than cost per lead. You can determine if specific campaigns are efficient lead generators or dead weight. Insights — particularly sales insights — provide feedback on how to improve a campaign as well as help sales teams better prioritize and qualify leads through the sales process.
These are just six key differences between Marketing Automation and a CRM. You can probably tell I’m a fan. What’s been your experience? What are your favorite features?
Beth McCullough 