In a world inundated with communication, information is power. Competition is greater, customer behavior is more visible, and practically everything we do creates a data point. But, the reality is, your company probably doesn't use information as effectively as it could.
One reason is that most organizational functions still operate in silos. Each function has a specific set of tools and technologies to engage, track and monitor customer and prospect interactions. Today, the three different functional tools for engaging with customers across sales, service and marketing is defined as CRM. Often sales force automation (SFA) and customer service tools are integrated to create a holistic record of customer interactions over time. But what about the third pillar under the CRM umbrella: marketing? Where is the tool to manage and act on this data?
An emerging class of marketing technology has been developed to fill this critical void in CRM data marts. Marketing automation technologies typically include e-mail marketing, campaign workflow, Web analytics, content management, a marketing data mart and robust integration with SFA tools. However, marketing automation solutions are still emerging technologies. A few common misconceptions stunt adoption.
For example, consider this common question: "We use sales force automation to store prospect activity, and we have an enterprise-class e-mail marketing tool. Why do we still need marketing automation?"
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In a world inundated with communication, information is power. Competition is greater, customer behavior is more visible, and practically everything we do creates a data point. But, the reality is, your company probably doesn't use information as effectively as it could.
One reason is that most organizational functions still operate in silos. Each function has a specific set of tools and technologies to engage, track and monitor customer and prospect interactions. Today, the three different functional tools for engaging with customers across sales, service and marketing is defined as CRM. Often sales force automation (SFA) and customer service tools are integrated to create a holistic record of customer interactions over time. But what about the third pillar under the CRM umbrella: marketing? Where is the tool to manage and act on this data?
An emerging class of marketing technology has been developed to fill this critical void in CRM data marts. Marketing automation technologies typically include e-mail marketing, campaign workflow, Web analytics, content management, a marketing data mart and robust integration with SFA tools. However, marketing automation solutions are still emerging technologies. A few common misconceptions stunt adoption.
For example, consider this common question: "We use sales force automation to store prospect activity, and we have an enterprise-class e-mail marketing tool. Why do we still need marketing automation?"
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