Technology & Marketing Maturity

Friday, January 29, 2010 by Robin Collyer

Technology now sits at the core of every Brand’s marketing activities.

Point solutions prevail for those brands that are still finding their way in the digital world (Microsite Software, Search Marketing Software, Marketing Communication Software etc).

As the level of sophistication grows, however, marketers find it increasingly difficult to hold all the moving parts together. At this stage, marketers are faced with 3 options:

1.       Work longer hours

2.       Grow the team

3.       Find a smarter way of working

Work smarter, not harder – Coordinate your efforts!

If your marketing sophistication is in the ascendancy and you’re wondering when you’ll find time to sleep in your efforts to stay on top of the complexity that this generates, you need a platform that pulls it all together (Marketing Professional Software).

If you can link your Capture, Engage and Convert activities in one place, you can not only streamline your processes (Marketing Workflow), you will also surface the crucial Marketing ROI that CFOs now rightly demand to justify budgets. Clear collaboration with Sales (B2B & B2C) and open visibility of Marketing's contribution to the bottom line shouldn't be aspirational - they are pre-requisites.

If your day revolves around making things happen at the last minute, juggling all the moving pieces and shouting as you go, there'll never be time to think.  

Know where you are, how you got there, what’s working (and what isn’t) and – crucially – ensure you have enough time to apply your marketing genius to the rapidly changing environment. 

Marketing platforms like Aprimo Marketing Studio enable Marketers to shine.

Marketing: Active Listening vs Shouting

Monday, November 2, 2009 by Robin Collyer
Robin CollyerThe great news about blogging is that you'll already be interested in what I have to say or else you wouldn't have found me! (Keyword Response Attribution in practice ....)

Recognising that shouting about Aprimo's new SaaS offering - Aprimo Marketing Studio - in the UKI market isn't an effective way to reach my target market, I am opting for some "active listening" - which I guess you could label as a form of Influencer Marketing.

My name is Robin Collyer and I am responsible for Aprimo's Sales and Marketing Operations in the UK & Ireland. I have worked around Marketing Professional Software for the last 10 years and am looking forward to sharing my experiences in this blog as I experiment with all the new ways to influence a market and maximise sales.


When we talk about Marketing Communication Software, we instantly think of all the messages we want to send to the market - but who is really listening?


I have recognised that the power lies firmly with my customers and prospects - not me - so I need to help them find me (Capture) - making Aprimo easy and fun (Engage) to buy from (Convert) as I go.

Should I even introduce myself in terms of "Sales and Marketing"? I guess I view my role as more of a facilitator or Head of Engagement, where the line between Marketing and Sales is all but non-existent. e.g. Is this blog a marketing initiative or a sales tactic?

How does this resonate with you? What are your thoughts on shouting vs active listening and how to influence a market?

(Loving Twitter's 140 character limit - follow me @AprimoUKI).

Interactive Marketing can Lead to Interpersonal Experiences

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 by Barbara Kovacs

Ok, so my core compentency is NOT marketing.   It's sales.  And I have never, ever worked in any other capacity for a marketing professional software company until now.  In my opinion marketing has always been behind the car, not  the wheel, when it comes to generating quality leads for sales people.  Can I get an Amen on that?  

My dad had always said that the best way to ensure getting the job done right is doing it yourself and when it comes to finding viable opportunities in the market place I have always depended on....yours truly.  However, with the onslaught of new technologies and forms of communication getting more and more fragmented, (text me....google me...find me on facebook...you know all the social media tools out there!) I have had to retool my strategy of finding great leads by adding in the mix one of my old true blue favorites....the phone.

Yes, at Aprimo, we are a fully integrated marketing powerhouse. At the end of the day, the one-on-one relationship over the phone is what often times drives our understanding of what kind of information we need to present and when we need to present it to our prospects, online.

The key to success in the B2B lead/demand generation sphere is knowing who you are trying to reach - meaning that their job title is not necessarily an indicator of what they do and there are many sources to assist you in doing a quick search....which I will go into later.  Most importantly, when you reach out to someone via the phone, make your message a quick and succinct touchpoint that gives them a compelling reason to either speak to you then or return your call if you have to leave a voicemail.

The great part about using the phone is that based on the dialog you can quickly collect information that can be used in your CRM to market back to your prospects and most importantly you can gain their permission to stay in touch.  By the way, does your company demand it's sales reps to use the CRM? Ours doesn't, and it seems to really affect how we deal with our prospects.

Creating excitement for your website and having people download whitepapers, case studies, podcasts or webinars is great. What further compliments the online experience is the personal interaction that provides you a better understanding of your prospect -through tone and inflection - this affords you insights into their interests relative to your offerings. 

So, what do you use to compel your prospects to continue to stay in touch with your organization?
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