Who Wins in the Conversion Quest?

Actually they both lose without each other. Many companies that focus on sales for the their bottom line put a lot of time and money in developing a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform. Until recently, marketing departments have had little opportunity to really track key measurements and Return on Investment (ROI). Programs like Marketo, Eloqua, and Hubspot can fill that gap.

In my experience, here are 6 functions that Marketing Automation software can do that a CRM simply can’t handle:

1. Lead Scoring

Basically lead scoring is the process that determines a prospect’s interest in your solution. It calculates several factors, including downloading a white paper, opening an email, webpage visits, traffic source (e.g., social media, special landing page, targeted email campaign). As a foundation, lead scoring requires defining your ideal target.

2. A Design Platform

Typically Marketing Automation software allows you to design landing pages, forms, emails, etc. with a WYSIWYG interface. That means you don’t need to be a HTML wizard when creating and managing elements of your marketing arsenal. Of course, you need to follow good design principles so landing pages and forms are intuitive, leading your prospect to take the next step.

3. Lead Nurturing

It takes multiple touches (anywhere from 7 to 20+) before a prospect becomes a customer. As the name implies, this process nurtures the prospect during the buying process.

For example, let’s say a prospect has been disqualified; that information is noted in a CRM. When CRM and Marketing Automation platforms are integrated, you don’t lose track of this prospect. Just because they aren’t qualified now, doesn’t mean they will remain unqualified. Marketing automation software allows you to systematically nurture the lead for the purpose of ultimately converting them.

Stay tuned for Marketing Automation vs. CRM Part 2 where I’ll explain the remaining three functions.