Alex Wares, from intelligence-led B2B marketing agency Transmission, believes that the siloed approach where marketing and sales teams operate as separate departments is outdated and a new approach is needed. Transmission offer a unique Account Based Management approach and today Alex explores how individually targeting content to different personas can lead to more sales-qualified leads and shortened sales cycles:
Retailers can build for the future with new approach to marketing
According to industry commentators, the UK retail sector looks set to continue battling difficult market conditions throughout 2018 with increased international competition and political and economic uncertainty. This is combined with increasingly savvy consumers looking for better prices which, in many cases, is resulting in reduced revenue per transaction.
As a result, sales and marketing departments are under pressure to help drive sales and revenue – but in many cases they are being asked to do it on a much-reduced budget. I believe that there are opportunities for the sector to spend marketing budgets in smarter, more innovative ways.
In response to this, retailers need to leverage the power of data to create targeted, bespoke marketing campaigns that drive engagement and deliver true return on investment. Sophisticated marketing solutions, designed to support the creation of quality sales leads can help satisfy those management teams that focus on ROI.
This can also greatly help companies that want to evaluate lead generation. For most companies “needing more leads” is their #1 challenge, with “prospects not knowing who we are” ranking as #2. Unfortunately, the traditional marketing tactics typically employed to tackle challenge #1 don’t really help in addressing #2.
Utilising a unique blend of tech and predictive analytics can identify the most qualified and engaged prospects ‘surging’ around topics of interest and pain-points retailers can help to solve. It is essential to analyse the decision-making units across these businesses and determine where and when they fit into the decision-making process. In doing so, each piece of content can be tailored accordingly for various personas and deliver the most relevant messaging at the most poignant time. Ultimately, this leads to more sales-qualified leads (SQL) and dramatically shortened sales cycles.
This approach provides a foundation to Account-Based Marketing (ABM) which is relatively new outside the technology industry. We believe it will allow retailers to proficiently target the right people in the most effective way – leading to an increase in engagement. When done correctly, ABM cuts wastage and maximises the efficiencies of marketing budgets. It is worth noting that in the technology sector, where adoption of ABM has been the highest to date, 97% of marketers said this approach yielded a higher ROI than any other activity.
In addition, we appreciate that those marketing teams operating within the sector continue to face pressure in terms of productivity and ROI, which is why a fully integrated solution from campaign conception to delivery is key. This ensures any content is completely fit for purpose, has maximum impact, minimum wastage and is fully measurable.
Whilst the retail industry will continue to face a number of difficult and elongated challenges over the coming months, it is vital that marketing is considered an investment and able to show its value. By leveraging the power of data to identify and target new audiences, marketeers will be to be more accountable than ever before, whilst solving the challenge of accurately measuring ROI.
In conclusion, with the right approach, organisations can put the end customer at the center of what they you do, understanding their needs and integrating sales and marketing. This will help to get buy in from senior management (as opposed to more a traditional siloed approach) and help deliver big wins.
