Anticipate new opportunities and manage resources in B2B Marketing”
The B2B Marketing function has a chance to rejuvenate itself. Marketers can draw insights from Prof. C. K. Prahalad’s “The New Age of Innovation” to leverage multi-institutional technology resources and build capability to deliver bespoke, integrated experience to future prospects and customers.
Nowadays, conventional marketing metrics such as the size of a contact database, a number of event attendees, webpage views, click-throughs, social media followers, and a number of unqualified leads fail to strike a chord with sales forces. So what excites B2B hunters and farmers? The answer to this lies in fundamentals cmo email database such as revenue growth, customer acquisition and retention, etc. This is not so much about ignoring the first set of metrics; it is more about bridging the gap between the two set of metrics and marketers have to play a protagonist here.
“You have access to Global Resources in Digital era (R=G)”
Technology is no longer an enabler; it’s a driver that redefines every aspect of business. It helps global enterprises realize the competitive advantage. As marketers demonstrate their value and compete for the budget, technology can help them map program costs with revenues. Technology-based solutions allow marketers to focus on measuring outcomes, not just program outputs.
Today, the technology stack of marketing automation platforms comprises marketing dashboards, integrated campaign management, and webinar planning systems. Data analytics generates actionable insights such as pipeline visibility, predictive scoring, lead nurturing and forecasting. Marketers leverage automation, standardization, and process re-engineering to deliver outcomes for their enterprise.
“Address every Lead in a discrete fashion to drive Sales (N=1)”
Need to hear from the horse’s mouth – As sales interact with customers every day, they are the best judge to capture prospect requirements and pain points. Marketing needs to leverage sales exposure to understand customer needs and create relevant and consistent positioning.
Relationship building to drive Lead Nurturing – With the rapid expansion of digital technologies, a greater percentage of lead nurturing is driven by marketing vis-à-vis sales. Marketers need to position the solutions and post relevant messages to guide prospects during the initial 70% of the buying cycle. At the same time, multi-channel lead nurturing, at present, includes micro-segmentation, integrated content creation, targeting emailing, distinctive positioning, engagement scores, and social mapping.
Finally, all organizations need to outline a clear vision for marketing. The top-down approach allows marketers to define clear goals and deliver greater business impact. Here, the role of CMOs is critical to build confidence in marketing activities and help for CEOs and CFOs attain nirvana.
The relationship between sales and marketing has always been complex and multifaceted. While efforts of both functions are indispensable towards organizational success, the onus is more on marketing when it comes to drive coordinated efforts. This article is aimed to bring out how marketing can play a leading role to streamline the joint efforts.
