A world in crisis challenges the sales and marketing processes, but it can also mean opportunities. In our latest podcast you will learn more about Inbound Lead Conversion and which strategies you should use during the current pandemic. I interviewed Nicolas Vandenberghe, CEO and CO-founder of Chili Piper, and got some important learnings. Listen to the full podcast episode here or get a summary of my learnings below.
Marketing Automation doubles the conversion
Nicolas means one of the advantages with the technology we have available today, is that it enables you to connect with contacts in real-time, whereas traditional sales involve so many steps you risk losing the customer along the way.
Marketing Automation is a huge part of this technology, and the fact is that it really works. If used correctly, it can generate fantastic results. If you are new to this technology, now is really the time to test it (at Brightvision, we like the marketing automation systems HubSpot and SharpSpring). When everything is done immediately without delay, there is no need for a service level agreement between marketers and the revenue team anymore. A test conducted in collaboration with the company Segment showed that conversion almost doubled when automation was applied (!).
If you want to learn more about what marketing automation system to choose and where to start, check out this blog post or contact us for a consultation.
Offer varied content to connect and engage
Because of the crisis, a large chunk of the market mix has been lost since it’s no longer possible to carry out public events. Instead customers stay at home and have more time for research and to read great content. This makes this a perfect timing to offer great and educational content to your personas. But remember, any content is not good enough. To stand out and engage – you need to offer a varied content library.
So make sure you put some effort into understanding what kind of content your persona needs, and that you have something for all the different buyer stages (like an eBook for awareness stage, a webinar for decision stage and a free trial or customer case for decision stage). When you have your content ready, use your marketing automation system to automate the lead generation process. Remember customers of today are more open to rethink their processes, and are usually open to take in the content you are providing.
But of course, there are still times when personal contacts are more effective. For small companies with fast-moving products, flexibility is crucial. In these cases, a phone call still works best. The same applies to the high-end market where a personal contact may be needed to find out if the buyer is qualified.
Get higher sales meeting attendee rate with the right technology
Today, most of the sales meetings takes place virtually. And for them to be effective, the technology should be applied here as well. Attendance rate at sales meetings is often considered a success factor for building long-term relationships. Here, too, the solution is about technology and automated messages. Nicolas suggests working with three simple steps:
3 steps to a high attendance rate:
- (24 hours before) - send a message describing the content and purpose of the meeting
- (1 hour before) - send a reminder giving the recipient an opportunity to reschedule
- (1 minute before) - a message for the recipient's convenience, with a link to the meeting
In summary, Inbound marketing is being reinvented with new technology and it becomes an even more critical factor to success when we are in the middle of a pandemic and can't meet physically. But it also means that competition will increase, as the solutions becomes more and more sophisticated.
Would you like to know more about the most successful inbound marketing strategies for B2B tech companies? Download our eBook here.
