Business 2 Community:
Recently, Marketo hosted more 1200 people at their annual user conference, giving customers, employees, industry luminaries, and prospects from all over the world opportunities to interact. To me, the greatest part of the event was hearing about how others were utilizing Marketo’ platform, particularly everyone’s unique use cases for marketing automation. I ended up hearing over and over again how business owners used marketing automation for lead generation and nurturing purposes. However, I also heard about how they used it to drive engagement. I heard that it gave them opportunities to develop the following relationships:
Customers
Acquiring a new customer is expensive for most organizations. Therefore, it makes good business sense to ensure you keep the ones you have. This can be especially true for SaaS companies that rely on recurring revenue to create success. Moreover, it can also be important for all types of organizations. Perhaps you’re looking to have customers utilize your services or buy more of your products. On the other hand, maybe you want them to share information with their friends, giving you opportunities to gain referrals.
You can use marketing automation to share content to support each of these goals. What’s more, you’ll also score customers. Keep in mind, however, that there will be potential risk of churn. On the other hand, there will also be opportunities for them to buy add-ons or additional products.
Additionally, you can use the opportunities provided by marketing automation to educate your customers on how to use your product. This will ensure better overall utilization, which can’t help but improve customer satisfaction.
Partners or Brokers
Many companies sell through channels or brokers instead of taking opportunities to sell directly to the consumer. When this is the case, your company has to rely on others’ expertise to drive sales. One way to ensure partners know your product is to create a nurturing program for them. More importantly, marketing automation can be used to score these partners. This will allow you to know which are most engaged or successful.