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Marketing Process

Technology has given businesses plenty of opportunities to improve their marketing processes and their marketing strategies. Unfortunately, many of the techniques that businesses use bother the customers because of the advertisements they use. No customer likes to be bombarded with advertisements. Thankfully, your marketing process can be improved by using the right customer relationship management (CRM) software.

In the earlier years, customer relationship management software did not have many features. The only things CRM (ACT!, Salesforce, HubSpot) software could do was obtain notes from a phone call with a customer and manage the contact information from customers. Companies would use this information to tailor their marketing strategies to meet the needs of their targeted customers.

Today, CRM software has far more capabilities than in previous years. CRM software can do more than track and manage important customer information. The CRM software that businesses use can display data and show certain sales patterns which will make creating marketing strategies and marketing campaigns easier than ever before.

The CRM software you choose will allow you to stay on top of all the customer trends and popular items so you will know what direction to gear your marketing strategies toward.

You will not have to make any guesses about your marketing strategies because you will already have the information on popular items and you will be able to look for customer feedback while using your CRM software.

If you have not used effective CRM software yet, you will definitely appreciate everything it has to offer. Contact us today for more information.

Marketing Process

Patience is a virtue, especially within the context of your marketing process. A common mistake businesses make is rushing their campaign and as a result, sending an unclear message.

The best marketing campaigns and slogans weren't planned overnight. Even if an idea pops into your head, you need time to carefully plan your strategy, identify your target audience, and create realistic and attainable goals. Since some creatives have a reputation for procrastinating, you'll ultimately have to find a balance. According to a recent Business 2 Community article, marketers should learn how to take short breaks and walk away from their work:

"The next time you are planning a marketing initiative and reviewing your marketing process, allow your staff the gift of waiting. The best plans come out of careful consideration, creating, and tweaking. I don’t mean to say that delays should be built into the timeline, but after developing an idea, reading copy, or reviewing a layout, set it aside and do something else."

As long as you slow things down, finding a balance shouldn't be hard. There are enough factors and deadlines pressuring you to work, so it's unlikely that you'll fall too far behind.

The important thing is that you allocate more time to strategy planning. A few extra minutes at the end of the day when you're already tired don't count, either. Thought and consideration are what matter here, and you can't exactly measure them in minutes.

We're stressing this point because if you don't have a good strategy, it's highly unlikely that your campaign will be successful. You can tell when a marketing campaign was rushed, and that's not a message you want to send to your customers. Businesses can improve their marketing campaigns just by putting more time into strategy planning.

To talk more about your marketing process, or anything else, contact us today.

Sales Process Improvement

There's no doubt that marketing plays an integral role in the sales process. Moreover, we encourage businesses to align their sales and marketing processes for optimal results. What we don't condone, however, is when businesses rely on one department for both marketing and sales.

Marketing isn't selling, no matter how promotional your tone is. There's always going to be a difference between marketing your product and converting leads with your sales team.

A recent Chicago Tribune article talks about the division between marketing and sales. According to the article, marketers often try to get involved in the sales process, and businesses should prevent that from happening:

"Unfortunately, somewhere along the small- to medium-size business path, salespeople and executive leadership have been led to believe marketing is selling. Maybe this fallacy is the result of marketing firms who attempt to justify their high prices or possibly a lack of understanding the regarding the sales process along with the word sales."

Neither your sales nor your marketing process will be efficient if the two departments overlap. If marketers try to take on the role of sales representatives, then they won't be paying enough attention to the marketing campaign.

Rather than blending the two departments together, your goal should be to keep them separate and aligned. Your marketing and sales teams should work together to provide an optimal customer experience.

Implementing sales software is one way to keep your marketing and sales teams aligned. By collecting customer data, your marketing team can create an effective campaign for your target audience and your sales representatives will understand the customer experience you're offering.

The first thing we suggest to small business owners is to keep their sales and marketing teams separate. To talk more about implementing sales process improvements in your business, or anything else, contact us today.

ACT! Software

One of the most intelligent and effective software on the market is Act! software. This software has the right features and the right enhancements that are perfect for your marketing efforts. Your marketing efforts and strategies will easily turn into a successful sale rate.

You will be able to easily connect and grow with your customers and you will be able to obtain new customers. It will be easier to attract new customers because of the integrated marketing features, and you will be able to strengthen your relationships with current customers because you will already have the customer's information in your system.

You will be able to know what the customers like and what they do not like. You will also be able to improve your workforce's productivity and efficiency because all of the customer information and interactions can easily be accessed by the sales team. Since every team member will have access to the information, it will be easier for each team member to log into the system and view all the interactions that have taken place.

When using the Act! software, you will be able to do the following, and more:

•easily access all resources that will allow you to get the most out of the software

•access various features and applications from the marketplace

•create effective campaigns that will allow you to reach your target audience

•know what customers need to receive a follow-up call

You do not have to sit back and let the competition pass you by. You can integrate Act! software into your business and change the way your customers see your business. Contact us today if you are interested in more information.

Market segmentation is crucial to a business’ sales and marketing programs. If they’re going to be successful in marketing their product, they need to target people who would actually have a need for it. Otherwise, businesses would be spending tons of money on unprofitable ventures.

Market segmentation is generally looked at as a part of the marketing process. Sales representatives aren’t supposed to think about their target audience, rather they’re supplied with it by the marketing team. The communication between the sales and marketing teams is crucial for the effective targeting of the market segment.

With CRM software, however, the process changes a bit. With all the data stored about customers in the software, businesses can easily find their specific target market. This information needs to be communicated between the sales and marketing teams. When done correctly, this process is more efficient and effective.

A recent Toolbox article discusses marketing segmentation and the use of CRM. According to the article, businesses can improve their segmentation with CRM software:

“There's an art to effective market segmentation, but it's an art that can be learned. What's more, modern CRM tools can help you come up with effective segmentation and guide you in producing strategies aimed at maximizing returns on the segmentation approach.”

With CRM software, sales representatives are better equipped to finalize sales with the data and information about customers stored in the system. The data allows them to predict customers’ needs and wants based on their past order history.

In addition, marketers are better informed with CRM software because they have information about their target market. They can analyze statistics and incorporate the new information into their market segmentation process.

If you would like more information about CRM software, contact us.  Enjoy your Labor Day!  

In these times, any business that uses computers or other mobile devices is probably active on social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and so on. This does not necessarily mean that the business completely uses the full benefits of the social media networks, or uses them to their full potential. When this happens, it becomes unfortunate because there are numerous benefits waiting for companies to explore. What makes these networks so great is that they do not cost a penny to use.

Social media marketing has taken over the traditional methods of advertising and marketing, especially when it comes to finding potential customers or prospects. Since people love sharing the products they love and the services they use, instead of talking about it, people take to social media to post a status about it or tweet about it. There are different ideas and platforms that a small business and medium-sized business can really use to enjoy all of the great benefits that the larger businesses accomplish with their big marketing campaigns.

A social media marketing software can help companies engage with their customers in their own element, which can truly be an effective way to engage and connect with the customers the company seeks to target. If a company has ever considered creating a stronger customer base by using social media networks, then a software can be the option or solution it is searching for. A software can make marketing by social media easier and less time-consuming.

When you use social media marketing software, companies can find easier ways to find potential customers who are constantly involved with social media networks. A software designed to help you market your brand on social media can search for actual conversations that are being discussed. Those conversations can be about things they are considering purchasing or the kinds of services they are looking to find.

When the software helps find those conversations, a product or service can be shared with the people involved in the conversations. There can also be a way to offer the potential customers a little bit more if they agree to share the conversations or statuses with their friends or followers.

Social media definitely has the power to join potential customers and businesses together because of the incredible method of communication. Everyone has the opportunities to freely express their ideas and suggestions that could help a business grow. There are endless possibilities and opportunities out there.

Is your business doing all it needs to do to be one of the best on social media? Contact us, and with our diverse portfolio we can assist your company with whatever it needs.

While some businesses rely on the skill of an individual person to do business, this is generally not the most effective method of doing business because it is unreliable and hard to repeat success. Each individual is going to be slightly different in their methods of communication with customers, which can lead to inconsistencies from your employees and dissatisfied customers at times.

It is better to create fluidity with marketing software, which will help you get all of your employees on the same pathway that will lead to the same positive results.

Better Handling of Customer Data

Marketing software allows for customer information to be stored and accessed within seconds. Instead of an employee having to pull up some data or not have any at all, they will have plenty of information at their disposal to use for providing the greatest experience.

Consistent Customer Communication

As a business, you need to work on representing the same positive image to every potential and existing customer out there. Unfortunately, this cannot be accomplished without marketing software because your employees will lack the ability to communicate with customers in the same manner every time. Marketing software gives you what you need to be consistent in providing superb customer service.

Higher Performance Levels

When your employees and customers and communicating at an overall positive level, you will notice that customers make more purchases and employees work better than normal. It is a change that can be permanent when you use marketing software and make sure your employees use it as well.

Consistency is just one benefit that comes with marketing software. Contact us with any questions you may have, to acquire more information about our marketing software, or to get your hands on this software that is certain to bring success.