Closing the Marketing and Sales Gap with a Next-Generation Collaborative Platform

Marketing Automation 2.0 is an advanced and integrated software platform designed for inside sales

, sales, marketing and web optimization. It goes beyond demand generation and workflow automation while providing insight into a website visitor's intent, deriving actionable intelligence to convert a visitor into a qualified lead and subsequently into an opportunity. It bridges the gap between sales and marketing to drive sales success.

Marketing Automation uses effective collaboration methodologies and analytics, provides a holistic view of each prospect, and enables sharing and up-sell opportunities within communities across an organization's internal and external networks sales success. MA 2.0 also uses effective collaboration methodologies and analytics, provides a holistic view of each prospect, and enables sharing and up-sell opportunities within communities across an organization's internal and external networks.

To understand why Marketing Automation 2.0 represents a quantum leap in capabilities, need to first understand the limitations of the current generation of marketing automation platformsMarketing Automation 1.0.

1. Incomplete capture of prospect information

Most the existing marketing automation solutions can find anonymous visitors on a website and, based on their activities on the website such as downloading a whitepaper, or requesting a demo etc., can shortlist which lead is considered good enough to be sent to the sales team for further action. The short-listed lead may be someone from a commercial organization who visited the website.

2. Meaningless lead scoring

When a Marketing Automation1.0 platform captures details of all the visitors who browse an organization's website, lead scoring becomes an integral process of segregating the good from the useless. It also forms the basis of future action both by the marketing and the sales teams.

3. Lead scoring is very mechanical.

The marketing and sales teams define a good lead and then all leads are measured against this information and prioritized on the number of actions' they performed on the website. Since the process fails to give any actual insight into the intent of the visitor and his/her behavioral analysis, the lead funnel gets populated with a lot of leads which may not be relevant.

4. "Wait and watch" lead nurturing approach

The process of lead nurturing is critical to converting a lead into a prospect, and a prospect into a sale. This is one process which can give the organization a sense of having its lead funnel buzzing with activity, but without any real data on when all those "leads-in-waiting" will actually convert to sales.A successful lead nurturing program requires insight into the actual needs and requirements of the online visitor.

5. Gap between marketing and sales

Marketing and sales are two beneficiaries of the same lead funnel. For both of them to succeed in their respective roles, it is essential that they collaborate and interact in real-time. The Marketing Automation1.0 platform has managed to bring these two important divisions of an organization closer but has still not completely bridged the gap.

6. Poor collaboration and no common "view"

The process of lead nurturing is critical to converting a lead into a prospect, and a prospect into a sale. This is one process which can give the organization a sense of having its lead funnel buzzing with activity, but without any real data on when all those "leads-in-waiting" will actually convert to sales.

7. Lack of Web 2.0 integration

Web 2.0 has changed the way businesses function. Leveraging social networks and various other web 2.0 platforms is an integral part of modern day marketing campaigns. These platforms encourage marketing, sales, partners, and customers to contribute and collaborate in real-time. These attributes can make a significant difference on how marketing and sales teams find, nurture and pursue a lead. This is Marketing Automation1.0's biggest drawback. It fails to provide its users with a platform where all the stakeholders can share, discuss, and strategize their next moveand take action their collaborative decisions in real timeand a major reason why existing automated marketing software are reaching obsolescence.

Closing the Marketing and Sales Gap with a Next-Generation Collaborative Platform

By: ajax

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