Automated Enterprise Marketing Software For Both Traditional and Emerging Channels

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Automated Enterprise Marketing Software For Both Traditional and Emerging Channels

Marketing professionals are facing increased accountability for the results of their campaigns. Marketing resources must be justified through improved measurement and analysis of the results of their campaigns, which in turn must show results that meet or exceed the requirements issued by senior management.

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.

Larger companies are finding it increasingly important to hold their marketing departments accountable to measurable performance indicators.  This requires establishing a set of defined results leading to a determined return on investment.  Improved campaign effectiveness is often determined by the ability to provide the right message to a target audience, through the proper channels.  This will result in converting more leads into prospects which then increases sales.  The ability to track, measure and analyze campaigns accurately is essential to improving sales, but extremely difficult and time-intensive to perform manually.

By means of highly directed communications with prospects and customers, also referred to as precision marketing, a high level of effectiveness can be achieved.  Use of a software-based Customer Relationship Management tool, or CRM, can be useful in helping to segment and target your customer base.

The decision to select a vendor for your enterprise marketing automation solution should not be taken lightly. As a first step, organizations should examine their marketing processes and identify specific objectives which they would like the new solution to achieve. Examples might include a higher frequency of marketing communications touches, reduced operational costs, shortened sales cycles, and increased response rates.

Once the initial objectives have been determined, they need to be broken down into steps or functional requirements. It is imperative that a business look ahead to future requirements in addition to current needs.  This will be useful in determining if a potential software solution will be able to expand in functionality and capacity as the business grows.

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 ways an enterprise marketing automation software system can be deployed. The first is through an on-premise installation which provides the greatest flexibility of use and highest level of security. The downside is that this solution requires the highest initial investment since there are up-front hardware and software purchase costs, plus the cost of training internal personnel involved in addition to the maintenance costs.  A second deployment method is a popular option known as Software as a Service, or SaaS. With this model, the vendor maintains the hardware and hosts the software and data.  The up-front costs are generally lower but the long-term management costs can vary widely depending on the vendor and level of service required.  Another model that is gaining in popularity is referred to as mid-source.  Businesses that use this method maintain their contact and sales data in-house but outsource the technical and data processing functions to the vendor.

Finally, it is important to identify an internal owner or champion, who is responsible for day-to-day implementation, operations, and relationship with the vendor. This person can bring commitment to the process and make sure that all of the stakeholders are properly engaged.

A well researched and implemented enterprise marketing automation solution which is actively and earnestly used by all required personnel can make a significant improvement in the efficiency and profitability of a marketing organization.  This will be realized by an increase in qualified leads, more refined prospect targeting, improved customer relations and better overall client satisfaction which then lead to improving a business profitability.

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