Let data work for you

An up-to-date database and CRM is absolute key to the marketing and sales efforts of any company. As the saying goes, rubbish in, rubbish out. Data has long been recognised as a key asset for any organisation. It drives customer engagement, increases customer retention, generates additional revenue (first time sales as well as up and cross selling), and enhances marketing efforts. When undertaking foreign prospection and to extend your reach, you can purchase prospect lists from third party providers based on various selection criteria and which are already GDPR compliant. The lists are normally provided in excel format for easy upload to your database.

Quick tips for success:

Database Set up

• Centralise your data in one company database and ensure you have it securely backed up
• Build the fields to allow you to effectively drive and manage your business. (Market and customer segmentation, source, geography etc.)
• Include a language field to enable you to communicate with prospects and customers abroad in their own language
• Automatically synchronise your CRM to your marketing database with a bi-directional interface for data integrity. (Many marketing automation software packages include this feature)
• Ensure GDPR compliance and appoint a data protection officer who will normally be involved in the database management aspects to ensure conformity

Email – a very popular marketing channel

Email marketing is one of the most popular, cost-effective and conversion-rich of all digital marketing channels. Combining email with marketing automation allowing for segmentation and personalised content i.e. delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time, can increase email effectiveness considerably.

There are 2 types of automated emails:

1. Transactional (order or delivery confirmation, password reset, policy updates, abandoned cart emails etc)
2. Marketing email (newsletter, special offers, product updates and promotion polls etc)

Marketing automation software:

• Includes email functionality and enables you to send time and action triggered emails in an attractive and personalised format
• Lets you add dynamic content (unique for each profile or person)
• Enables you to build landing pages quickly and easily. You can then link your email to a customised landing page for increased effectiveness
• Allows you to do lead nurturing, part of a successful inbound marketing strategy, automating emails to accounts in every stage of the sales funnel and buyer journey based on the behaviour of the prospect or lead. This positively impacts, even accelerates the sales decision.

Lead nurturing is a great way to increase lead generation efficiency:

• Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at a 33% lower cost. Source: Marketo
• Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads. Source: The Annuitas Group
• Lead nurturing can also be used for post engagement to foster loyalty and customer feedback
• Allows you to set up drip campaigns sending an automated series of emails over an extended period of time e.g. educational, re-engagement, on-boarding, thereby differentiating yourself from the competition

According to GetResponse and its Email Marketing Benchmarks 2019 here is some interesting data about average open and click-through rates and metrics to measure after each campaign. Open and click rates may vary by sector.

• The overall average open rate for email marketing is 22.86%
• The average CTR is 3.71% (CTR = click-through rate i.e. the number of clicks on a hyperlink or CTA (call to action) divided by the total number of delivered messages
• The average click to open rate is 16.23% (CTOR compares the number of onetime clicks versus the total number of people opening the email)
• Unsubscribe rates, on average, are 0.21%

An incremental online channel

Blogging allows companies to show case their brand online and can differentiate them from the competition and allow them to engage with prospects and customers in a less formal way. Blogs can also enable companies to gain a deeper insight into customer needs and expectations. To start with, you should ensure that setting up a blog makes sense in your overall international digital marketing strategy.

Companies set up blogs to achieve a number of things.

• Showcase the reasons to purchase from you
• Add weight to their social media presence
• Portray you as an expert and opinion leader in your field
• Allow you to engage in conversation with prospects and customers
• Help you achieve higher ranking with Google and help with SEO
• Develop a community and encourage advocacy

Setting up and maintaining a blog can be time-consuming so you need to look at the potential ROI. Some marketing automation software packages include blog functionality, otherwise you can set up a blog easily and cost-effectively using third-party software.

Managing efficiently existing leads is as important as generating new leads

The goal of campaign management is to help you prioritise your different campaigns (emails, social media, ads, etc.) based on similar KPIs in order to reach your ultimate goal (more leads, more sales, more customer retention). Campaign management involves developing a pricing, marketing and sales strategy to optimise turnover and profits. This feature included in most marketing automation software packages is also used to automate and streamline the processes across different digital marketing channels as well as tracking, reporting and carrying out analysis of marketing campaigns.

If marketing automation is king, content is queen

Content management and marketing automation really do complement one another. Use of marketing automation will enable you to improve the effectiveness and consistency of your overall content marketing strategy. Scheduling posts 2 weeks in advance for example makes it easier to stay consistent and publish frequently across different channels which will also help strengthen your brand.

• Content can be more easily shared across other digital channels such as website, social media, online advertising, e-newsletter, blog etc.
• Triggered responses can be generated if a user clicks on or downloads a piece of content and the software can generate the appropriate email and update the account history accordingly.
• Based on the user profile, relevant content such as whitepapers or promotions can be shared with the user at the appropriate time.
• Content views can be monitored by marketing automation across different channels to avoid duplication of content and to ensure that each touchpoint moves the relationship to the next stage.
• Marketing automation can also measure how content influences the buyer journey and decision making process.

Protect your business

No company with an online presence is immune to a cyberattack. However, there are several precautions you can and should take to protect yourself and your business.

Marketing automation platforms and the CRM require a large amount of data to perform and need to be totally secure. Special care should be taken

• to access control (with strong passwords and two factor authentication);
• to limit access to the platform only to the employees who really need it;
• to train employees well in correct use of the platform and to avoid accidental data leaks;
• configure settings to avoid data leaks or misuse;
• limit the lifetime of the personal data to the required duration.

In addition, you should also monitor the platform in order to detect unauthorised access attempts or misuse.

“If you don’t collect any metrics, you’re flying blind. If you collect and focus on too many, they may be obstructing your field of view.”

Make data-driven decisions

Regular tracking of key marketing metrics will allow you to make continuous improvements including how to increase traffic, potential sales and user retention. Most marketing automation packages include built-in metrics and dashboard functionality. It is always good to compare monthly, quarterly and even yearly statistics to identify trends.

Begin by setting up SMART goals aligned to what you want your marketing automation to deliver then off you go.