Posted on Wed, Mar 17, 2010 @ 09:42 AM
The transition is on. Either you're ahead of the game or you will be switching your methods later (and that can be costly). Traditional marketing principals based on spend and interruption are waning quickly, and
inbound marketing or "getting found" is providing your company a better dollar-for-dollar return.
Internet Marketing technology is very cost effective. The best part - it all works while you're home sleeping. Here are 4 automation tools you can't live without.
1. Content Management Systems (CMS)
Hosted CMS Solutions (commonly known as Software as a Service) enable companies to build and manage a website. Prior to the advancement of CMS systems, websites were all built in code, which made administration expensive because it was only accessible by programmers. CMS solutions, like HubSpot, have enabled sales and marketing professionals to administrate their own websites by making it easy to build web pages, add sales lead forms and provide links without needing a webmaster.
CMS solutions are very advantageous to companies because they often have built-in general features like website performance analytics and social media tools. Some CMS packages are even focused on certain industries. For instance a CMS package for real estate agents may have a real estate listing feature available or a packages for travel agents may have an interface to airline flight arrival and departures.
2. Email Automation Solutions
The new practice of lead nurturing harnesses email marketing systems to engage prospects intermittently. Email marketing automation solutions like Eloqua and Constant Contact enable companies to proactively engage prospective customers or clients who have provided the company with permission to market to them. As these people move closer to a buying decision, company news can spring up or changes in the industry can occur. Always keep the prospective customer in in your sight, and in the loop.
3. Social Media Sharing Tools
Sharing tools are a very effective way of pushing out content quickly to a variety of viewers. If used properly, it can save yourself the time from having to input your blog into each social network individually. Some of the social bookmarking sites are very mindful of what is said on their sites, so avoid sounding promotional because you will be denied access. Through trial and error, KeChange has found these sharing tools to have great value:
- Ping-o-matic!- Input for this sharing tool is made very easy, just remember to delete your cookies each time you input a new blog.
- Onlywire- Fairly new to my sharing tools, but a very effective tool. Pushes out content to some of the biggest networks for quality viewership.
- Ping.fm- The most reliable tool for distributing blogs. Offers a variety of small to large networks for sharing.
4. CRM Solutions
CRM Solutions (Customer Relationship Management) have automated the once cumbersome processes of sales management and reporting. Delivered as a SaaS (or Cloud Computing), Salesforce.com's CRM offering lets companies centralize and automate all sales activities under one roof.
Salesforce.com can:
- Automatically capture a new lead from a CMS system when it arrives
- Populate in into the CMS management tool based on rules
- Provide a "prospect management console and contact database" for salespeople and other executives
- Customize the look and feel of a company's sales funnel by aligning different sales stages in the software with that of the company.
- Provide robust sales reporting solutions in real time, so one doesn't spend hours massaging sales data.
Salesforce also can effectivly integrate and work with with most of the systems mentioned in this article, including Hubspot. When paired together, the two can provide businesses with a "shrink-wrapped" sales and marketing solution that entirely closes the loop between lead and sales management.
KeChange is an authorized partner of Hubspot, SalesForce.com and Constant Contact.
By Stephen Polinsky, CEO