Turning a contact database into a customer database. It is the daily challenge of every company. To meet it, they now have a major new asset : marketing automation. A discipline that, according to its supporters, can increase the number of qualified leads by 300%. Provided, however, that a few crucial rules are followed. Advice from Antoine Ferville, Marketing automation strategist at Webmecanik.
1. Do not underestimate the task
“ There is no room for magic. All the actions you are going to carry out as part of your marketing automation strategy must be thought through extremely carefully beforehand. ” This precaution concerns, of course, the design of technical elements (software, forms, etc.), but also the quality of the content produced (texts, newsletters, etc.) and the proper identification of the contacts being targeted. Before getting started, you therefore need to be sure you have enough time and/or budget. Attracted by the promises of marketing automation, some companies sometimes see their hopes for business conversion disappointed because they failed to properly anticipate the efforts required beforehand. “ To give an order of magnitude, excluding software costs, implementing the approach can represent five to ten thousand euros or even more depending on the number of scenarios and targets to address. And it can take 1 to 6 months depending on the maturity of the available content. ”
2. Not all email addresses are created equal
Having a qualified database is an essential prerequisite for successful business conversion afterward. “ Some companies still buy poorly qualified email address databases hoping to convert them. Today we know that this does not work, with extremely low interaction rates. ” Best practices now consist instead in restricting your actions to ultra-targeted contacts and/or those who have explicitly expressed an interest in the brand (the famous opt-in). In this spirit, you should also avoid focusing solely on acquiring new contacts. Marketing automation can also help make the most of what already exists by reactivating former customers (see the box).
3. No Marketing Automation without quality content
“ I usually compare Marketing Automation to a car. To move forward, this vehicle needs fuel. That source of energy is content”. In other words, the quality of the texts and information offered determines the quality of the email addresses collected and therefore, ultimately, the quality of business conversion. QED. You must therefore ensure that the content you distribute (articles, newsletters, guides, etc.) provides your contacts with genuine high-value information and not just simple self-promotional messages sent out en masse. A positioning that also ensures better distribution on social media.
4. A qualified email database = a segmented email database
Segmenting an email address database is based on two types of criteria : declarative and behavioral. The first brings together the information provided directly by the contact. Starting, of course, with their email address. Behavioral criteria then aim to qualify this contact according to their online activity : emails opened, links clicked, pages viewed, documents downloaded…
This information makes it possible to segment your database in order to then target content distribution according to contacts’ interests. Objective : improve the efficiency of the conversion funnel. “ If I am a car brand and I identify that you have visited the technical sheet of a certain model several times, I will obviously send you, as a priority, content consistent with that model ”.
5. Set up contact scoring
At what point should sales outreach to a contact begin ? The scoring method is precisely used to better assess a prospect’s maturity. “ A scale will be set according to the contact’s actions : 1 point for visiting a page, 5 points for watching a webinar, 10 points for signing up for a detailed demonstration or for visiting the pricing page… From a certain level – for example 20 points – this contact will be considered sufficiently interested to be followed up directly by a salesperson. ” To be effective, this scoring strategy must be constantly readjusted according to users’ behavior. Two mistakes to avoid: a scale that is too high or too low, causing the sales team to step in too early or too late.
Okédito’s point of view
Promising as it is, the scoring method can nevertheless present a major pitfall : taking into account only the contact’s absolute score, without integrating the time dimension. At Okédito, we therefore distinguish between “ absolute scoring” and “ dynamic scoring”. In this second classification, the validity period of a point is 1 month, for example. This makes it possible to identify, in real time, periods of “strong interest ” or “ dead calm ” among prospects.
Account Manager : How to sell after the sale ?
On average, a company has a 20% chance of selling its product to a prospect, compared with 70% to a former customer. It is therefore important to take particular care of relationships with former customers by offering them a dedicated relationship and dedicated content. “ I spend a lot of time supporting customers, explains Mabinty Sow, Account manager at Webmecanik. The idea is not to constantly be in a sales approach, but rather to learn to know our customers. By building this trust, we can then offer them training courses or new services that are genuinely suited to their needs ”.
Specific content
In practice, Webmecanik plans specific campaigns for its former customers. For example, every back-to-school season, they get the new training catalog in preview. They also receive a targeted newsletter whose content differs from the one sent to prospects. Beyond potential additional orders, this special bond also makes it possible to turn some customers into ambassadors. Influencers who are more willing to share its content, or even directly recommend Webmecanik to their network. “ This probably concerns about a third of the thirty or so customers within my scope. Building such trust requires teamwork. For it to work, you have to try to create a connection and provide value at every stage of the customer journey ” Mabinty Sow specifies.
About Okédito:
Okédito is a Content / Inbound Marketing agency based in Paris and Lyon.
Its credo: premium journalistic content to engage the right audience and turn that audience into loyal customers and then into ambassadors. Quite a program that the agency deploys thanks to marketing automation and its Content-to-Business® methodology stemming from 7 years of experience.
