Marketing automation is used by 69 percent of top B2B performers for customer acquisition and 50 percent for customer retention. With adequately positioned advertisements and inbound marketing, B2B marketing automation may help you impact your prospects’ interactions with your software development company FortySeven47.com, evaluate their converting potential, and streamline their conversion process.
B2B vs. B2C Marketing Automation: Sales Cycle
Even though B2C and B2B marketing have similar goals, B2C and B2B marketing processes may differ. B2C refers to a purchasing journey in which the customer is at the center of the automated process. The purchasing decision is typically autonomous and spontaneous, resulting in a shorter sales cycle and a single communication vector with the buyer.
B2B businesses, on the other hand, have longer sales cycles that require numerous key individuals to reach a purchasing decision on their behalf. As a result, your software development marketing automation should be centered on raising brand recognition and distributing valuable information to generate leads and retain B2B customers.
Automation of Critical B2B Marketing Processes
1. Lead scoring and categorization
I recommend starting with content and offers that entice your prospects to click on your custom CTA (landing page, email, social media, etc.). The prospects receive the promised content/offer, and you receive their contact information, making it a win-win situation. Your mobile app development lead generation database will begin with this contact information.
You can score and categorize leads based on their degrees of interaction. For instance, you might award a high score to people who look at your development pricing page and a low score to people who look at your About page. The campaigns that follow will be targeted to the lead categories.
2. Prospect management and conversion
Along the route, guide your prospects until they become leads and collect prospect data for additional insights from numerous touchpoints. Instead of using the same marketing methods for all of your custom software agency’s contacts, you may adapt the parts of the buying experience to certain prospect groups with that information at your fingertips. One group, for example, will receive emails on impending product discounts to urge them to buy, while another will receive free newsletters to spark their interest.
3. Alignment of efforts on key accounts
Once your prospects have reached the end of the buying cycle, you can coordinate your efforts with the sales team of your custom software development firm to close the transaction. This strategy is particularly effective in B2B, and it focuses on high-value accounts that are just one step away from becoming loyal customers. Marketing and sales teams can create scheduled and targeted campaigns for such prospects with automation in place.
Top Marketing Automation Platforms Suitable for B2B
1. Dynamics 365 Marketing
It’s a marketing platform with sophisticated lead management capabilities that gives you a complete picture of your prospects.
Some of its distinctive features are:
- Event Management
The marketing department of development companies can host events to highlight products and services while also inviting B2B prospects. Dynamics 365 Marketing assists you in planning an event, registering guests, broadcasting the event, and analyzing the results.
- Connection to LinkedIn for lead generation
Because of the platform’s business-centric character, more B2B marketers are flocking to LinkedIn. Many potential B2B clients are looking for products and services that can benefit their custom software development companies.
- Analytics
It enables you to track your marketing KPIs without the need of a custom software developer to obtain insight into your performance and discover which actions contribute positively and which do not.
Limitations: Dynamics 365 Marketing includes a rudimentary WYSIWYG design editor that can create personalized marketing content challenging; therefore, you may need to use HTML/CSS instead.
Pricing: The cost of the service varies depending on how many apps are used. It costs $1,500 a month for 10,000 contacts as a standalone app. It costs $750 per month for 10,000 contacts as an add-on to your Dynamics apps package. Additional contacts can result in a price increase.
2. Pardot
Pardot is a Salesforce-based B2B marketing automation platform. Take a peek at some of its distinguishing characteristics:
- Forms with Intelligence
Progressive profiling gathers data from intelligent forms at each stage of the prospect contact. It keeps customers from becoming frustrated when they have to fill in too many details.
- Integration with Google Analytics and AdWords
Pardot connects smoothly with Google Analytics for syncing and analyzing leads, as well as AdWords for faster management of advertising campaigns so that you can obtain an accurate view of your custom software development company’s ROI.
- Einstein AI
You can use CRM data to forecast which types of prospects are most likely to engage with your content/ads. Based on their behavior, Einstein Behavior Scoring can tell you when leads are ready to buy.
Limitations: In terms of scheduling, participants, and facility management, Pardot provides limited event management capabilities.
Pricing: The cheapest subscription for up to 10,000 contacts costs $1,250 per month. The premium package costs $15,000 per month and includes up to 75,000 contacts.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot takes pride in being at the cutting edge of inbound marketing. The following are some of its distinguishing characteristics:
- Workflow automation
Allows you to develop, visualize, and attach your marketing processes to a specific goal, giving you complete control over your marketing campaigns and multi-stage customer journeys. You may use it or the assistance of FortySeven to rate prospects, lead them through the purchase process, and send internal notifications when a customer performs a significant action.
- Integration with Salesforce
Qualified leads are transferred to the sales team of your custom software development company without the need for manual effort with this integration.
- Personalization and email marketing
Allow for the construction of email templates and automatic customizing of subject lines for each recipient and A/B testing to see which message/content has the best reach and conversion.
Limitations: Customization options in software may not be able to meet specific marketing requirements.
Pricing: HubSpot CRM is available for free. The Marketing Hub costs $800 per month and includes all-in-one marketing custom software.
Conclusion
With 63 percent of software development companies using marketing automation to outperform their competitors, you should jump on board. And, to complete your automation journey successfully, FortySeven software professionals will propose that you begin it with a reputable marketing automation implementation partner. Give the FortySeven IT professionals a call if you need assistance with any area of marketing automation.
