The time has come for marketing to “step out of the shadow” of sales and take a lead across organisations. Automated marketing, used properly, can break down silos and bring digital assets together. And, at least in the view of one automated marketing provider, it can stop marketers getting the blame for dud leads “previously thrown at people” by legacy CRM systems.
Those systems are failing to leverage market information and position the right content in front of the right prospects from the outset, according to Aden Forrest, managing director of Marketo ANZ. Marketing has also missed out on the levels of systems investment businesses have focused on virtually all other areas, such as finance, HR, logistics, IT and sales, he said. That means marketers take the brunt of dissatisfaction when sales fail.
Cloud-based automation could change all that, and Forrest admits other big software firms will be soon arrive in Australia with the same pitch. For now, the firm has a six month head start and blue chip clients. Forrest claimed deals with local digital agencies are also imminent.
While automation can often translate into headcount reductions, Forrest suggested marketing automation frees up time for “high value thinking”. Moreover, companies “have to automate because of the scale of data involved” he said.
“Without an automated tool, there are silos of capability within organisations, even within departments: retail, online, social, PR, they don’t talk. This goes across the business,” Forrest said.
“Automation gives an insight to drive CRM. As marketing moves further from b2b and b2c to the peer era, it can create personas by better presenting content at the beginning of the cycle,” he claimed. “Marketers can ensure relevancy … do more with less...and see further down the pipeline.”
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