I sometimes hear that Marketing Automation is a tool suited to B2C. To answer these questions or sometimes assertions, it is true that Marketing Automation adapts very well to situations where a company, an industrial business, or an e-commerce site for example has a consumer as its customer.
You will find an example of use at the link below: Marketing Automation for my Prestashop e-commerce
On the other hand, it is completely wrong to think that Marketing Automation is not suited to companies that work in B2B. I am going to prove it to you with a few examples of using the software in a business-to-business context…
I am a Prospector or Hunter Salesperson
I am a hunter salesperson, I need to build a database of prospects. In my company, we have adopted a Marketing Automation tool.
It helps me a lot in my 3-step approach:
I capture leads
My Marketing team has produced numerous pieces of content and put them online on our site in exchange for an email address. That means many email addresses with whom I can then get in touch; these are what we call “Inbound Leads” because they come to us after searching for information (often high-quality information). We respond to that search either with a case study or a white paper.
I enrich the data on my leads
Moreover, with the forms feature with progressive profiling, each time a visitor submits a form, the Marketing Automation tool will check in our database the information associated with them. This way, we only ask for their first name once and ask for their company name or industry instead on their second visit.
I automatically offer my leads webinars, demos, and other content…
My Marketing team has set up nurturing campaigns that will automatically send these new leads, in my name, emails inviting them to participate in our upcoming events and discover new content.
The goal is simple: maintain the relationship with them, spark their interest, and encourage them to take action.
I am an Account Manager
I must stay alert regarding my client portfolio and not let any opportunity slip by. Objective 1: Up-selling. Objective 2: Add-selling.
I have visibility into my clients’ activity
Indeed, my market manager, with whom I work as a duo, has set up a daily report for me on the recognized visitors to my site. Real tracking of my clients’ behavior on my site (and my emails).
This information is very valuable; several lessons can be learned:
- My client visits my site: I did not get a call, they may be looking for information or have an issue, I take the time to call them to make sure everything is going well, I take good care of my clients.
- My client looks at a feature they do not have: this is the perfect time to offer it to them or to offer a more powerful version of the product I sell them during our next meeting.
Even better, if my client goes to my site to look at a product they are not a customer of, I get an instant alert so I do not miss the boat. They may be preparing a tender and I need to be the first on it to avoid leaving any room, even a small one, to a competitor. The risk is too great!
Here are a few small illustrations of how B2B Marketing Automation can be used for a sales team. You also have the possibility to automatically segment your visitors according to their behavior, and many other features applicable to B2B!
