leadmaster marketingSelectHub, a technology selection company, recently conducted a survey of companies considering marketing automation platforms. This survey ranked the top six priorities of these prospective customers based on their responses.

The survey was sparked by the growing popularity of marketing automation software:

  • In 2014, there were nearly 11 times more B2B organizations using marketing automation than in 2011 – SiriusDecisions
  • 54% of the most successful companies use marketing automation tools extensively – Marketo
  • 91% of the most successful users say marketing automation is very important to the success of their marketing programs. – Marketo

Why has marketing automation become so popular? The proof is in the pudding:

  • Nearly 90% of agencies say their marketing automation strategy has been successful – SharpSpring
  • 80% of marketing automation users saw an increase in leads. 77% saw an increase in conversions – VB Insight
  • B2B marketers see an average of a 20% increase in sales opportunities from nurtured leads after deploying a marketing automation strategy – DemandGen

What is Marketing Automation and How Does it Stack Up Against CRMs?

[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Marketing automation tools help you to develop leads and get them ready for the sales team. Typically, once a visitor has become a marketing qualified lead, companies start to track interactions through a CRM.

Meanwhile, CRMs store information like records of any prior purchases, how long a contact has been a customer, dates and notes of any phone or email conversations you’ve had with leads and customers, and more.

You can see how information from CRMs can be helpful to the marketing department. If your marketing automation system is tied in closely with your CRM, your sales and marketing team together experience increased effectiveness and efficiency:

  • The CRM & Marketing Automation system will deliver messages with the right content to the right audience.
  • You will close deals faster because of increased automation.
  • That means you can enjoy increased revenue.

See where we’re going with this? You can save time and effort if your marketing automation is combined with your CRM. Save even more time and effort when your marketing automation system is built into your CRM. That’s where LeadMaster comes in.

As you’ll see, LeadMaster delivers the top priorities of businesses considering marketing automation.

Let’s take a look at the survey results and LeadMaster features:

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”33107″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Survey Respondents Had Their Heads in the Cloud

Of all survey participants questioned, cloud-based software ranked as the number one priority with 48% of respondents considering cloud-based vendors and 30% preferring one.

This isn’t a real shocker. Cloud-based systems cost less and are easier to manage than on-site software.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”33402″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Security issues with web based CRM management sometimes give potential users reason to pause, but LeadMaster puts these fears to rest.

With LeadMaster, Your Data is on Lockdown

The data fundamental to your business growth is protected with LeadMaster both physically and virtually.

Physical Security

  • Security personnel monitor LeadMaster’s network operations facility 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year.
  • The facility even holds a Class-A government disaster rating to shield equipment and data against hurricanes, power failures and more.

Virtual Security

  • Multiple firewalls and operating system lock-downs are in place to prevent unauthorized access.
  • Security patches are monitored and kept up to date on all servers.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

The LeadMaster app – Sign in From any Device With Our Highly Customizable Smartphone Phone Application

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”33404″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]You might be aware that you can log in from any device with cloud-based software, but you probably never guessed it could be so easy with the LeadMaster app.

Our smartphone application is designed with the hectic lifestyle of businesspeople in mind.  It’s easy to learn and you can access critical activities from the app menu.  Need information in a rush? Quick search by voice.

  • Access charts that feature crucial marketing data.
  • Thanks to LeadMaster customizability, you’ll see only what you need to see. Nothing more, nothing less.

Survey Respondents Want Things Automated

SelectHub determined that email automation was the second most popular priority with 39% of survey respondents agreeing that this is a must-have.

LeadMaster presents users with an ultra-easy email workflow process.

It takes only a little while to learn, and LeadMaster has an abundance of free help videos, tutorials and training if you still happen to be confused after tinkering around.

Here are some workflows you can fire off for a killer email automation strategy:

  • If a visitor signs up or registers on a landing page, send them a welcome email.
  • If a visitor clicks on a link from your welcome email to sign up for a free trial, send them another email to follow up with demos and tutorials.
  • If a customer hasn’t been active for some time, send them an email that contains an exclusive offer or lets them know about a sale.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Survey Respondents Like Nurturing Leads

Lead nurturing came in third with 36% of respondents agreeing it’s a priority as a marketing automation tool. It’s built into our system and you can string emails and calls together to combine marketing and sales activity in a snap.

Here’s an example lead nurturing track that you could use with a visitor who has just converted from a landing page with LeadMaster:

  • Top of the Funnel: After initial conversion, promote a blog post via email related to the landing page conversion.
  • Middle of the Funnel: Promote an e-book or case study related to the initial conversion.
  • Bottom of the Funnel: Provide a BOFU offer like a free trial or demo.
  • Follow up Call after BOFU conversion: Have sales call the prospect.

Tied for fourth most popular requirements were campaign tracking, customer tracking/lead scoring and access for multiple users at 23% each.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Survey Respondents Like to Track Campaigns

Tracking marketing campaigns is easy with LeadMaster. You can:

  • Create an unlimited number of landing pages for marketing campaigns. When you do this you can assign specific lead source data for each campaign.
  • Import leads easily with our list import feature. With LeadMaster, simply add columns to a spreadsheet for lead sources and related information before you import the data into the system.
  • Attach electronic forms to the lead information for your campaigns. These forms are like blank sheets of paper – collect, utilize and analyze any data you like.
  • Report on an abundance of data with a variety of charts. Check out this simple sample chart of leads by status in a marketing campaign:

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”33408″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Score! Survey Respondents Like to Track Their Leads and Customers

For lead scoring or customer tracking, you need to have two types of data in place: demographic information from conversion forms and behavioral data on how a lead interacts with these forms.

Collect this information from questions you can create with LeadMaster landing pages:

  • Job title or role.
  • Company size or number of employees.
  • Company type or industry.

Use LeadMaster’s Lead-Xtreme Features to See:

  • Who has visited your website and landing pages.
  • Top of the funnel email clicks, like your pricing pages or tutorials.

You can also use LeadMaster to determine and analyze:

  • Number of times that someone viewed a page on your website or landing page.
  • The typical sales cycle (for example: how long until a customer converts or doesn’t convert).

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”33002″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Survey Respondents Want Access to Marketing Automation Tools

LeadMaster provides multiple user types making access easy and affordable.

Our system offers a solution called Lead-Xpress. Your staff who don’t need full access to the program can still use the system. Everything is done via email so you don’t have to pay extra for a full license or spend time training each employee to use the whole system.

Let your sales department:

  • Update the status of a lead.
  • Add notes and attach files.
  • Nurture leads.
  • Turn leads into customers.

All through email, without logging in.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

All Marketing Automation Priorities are Built into LeadMaster

Why spend extra time and money by tying your marketing automation system into your CRM? Both are important to your business’ bottom line, and marketing automation features and CRM features are built into LeadMaster. Set up LeadMaster to be customized for your company, import your marketing and sales leads and you’re good to go. It’s as simple as that.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]