Better Lead Qualification through Marketing Automation

Improve your sales and marketing activities with technology-driven insights.

Adcetera and Acquia hosted a webinar in which we discussed several common challenges facing today’s digital marketers, and how effective marketing automation and the skillful application of a digital experience platform (DXP) like Acquia can help solve them. Below are some of the key takeaways from that discussion, as well as some important lessons learned from our ongoing automation projects.

Filtering good leads from the crowd

Not every lead is a promising one, and not every promising lead converts to a sale.

Empathy is your best tool for understanding your customers and their intent, and it comes from careful attention to their engagement with your website and extended online presence. By following the digital breadcrumbs your customers leave behind, you can discover those pivotal moments of truth when they decide to move forward.

Once you understand your customers’ behavior and decision processes, you can create a scoring model that favors their most valuable actions and discounts those that do not demonstrate clear intent. This formula can and should evolve over time in response to your marketing activities and shifting trends. Be sure to account for negative points and time decay.

Aligning sales and marketing processes

Automation technology isn’t a magic bullet, and it doesn’t work in a vacuum. It can be a powerful tool, but only in combination with broader sales and marketing efforts.

The most overlooked factor in marketing automation is integration with existing sales and marketing processes. Together, these tools can provide incredible visibility into the sales funnel. Integrating sales and marketing with digital analytics and automation requires a common frame of reference, built on deliberate communication and coordination among stakeholders.

Start by mapping marketing processes and data, establishing a clear lexicon so everyone concerned and exchange ideas and information clearly without misunderstanding. Your objective is to bring clarity to the process. Clarity brings accountability. Accountability brings revenue.

Cultivating worthwhile leads

You pay for every lead you get. Many — even most — won’t pan out, but you want to make the most of every lead that comes your way. Anything you can do to shift the balance by even a percentage point is worth your while.

You’ll find your best opportunities for conversion among the leads that are already in your pipeline. You can nurture and cultivate those leads by delivering content calculated to appeal to the customer at every step of their journey through the sales funnel. When your message aligns with your customer’s present state of mind and their progress toward conversion, you create value for your business.

Improving ROI through analytics

Marketing automation is a process that demands continuous attention, adjustment, and improvement. And the only way to improve its performance over time is by gathering and evaluating data. That means proper tracking and attribution, built on a solid foundation of digital analytics, requiring collaboration between sales, marketing, and digital teams.

Leaning on advice and experience

The challenge of identifying and developing qualified leads can seem overwhelming. The good news is you don’t have to figure it out on your own.

Adcetera has a broad range of skills to suit a wide variety of technology stacks and digital experience platforms. Whatever your needs, our automated marketing professionals can help you meet them. Contact us today for more information on being your lead generation agency.