Dive Brief:
- Marketing automation software vendor Salesfusion conducted research on almost 700 small- to medium-sized (SMB) company marketers and found that 62% have adopted marketing automation from 40 different vendors.
- Leads were the primary reasons given for adopting marketing automation solutions including lead nurturing (68%), increasing lead volume (63%), and improving lead quality (59%).
- Illustrating the importance of an integrated technology stack, research respondents were two times more likely to be unhappy with marketing automation solutions that were not tied to CRM software.
Dive Insight:
"The findings support the idea that automation platforms, by themselves, are not a silver bullet for solving common marketing and sales challenges. While marketing automation can make life easier for organizations that use the tools correctly, marketers also need a solid strategy and supporting processes to generate the positive results they desire," Malinda Wilkinson, CMO of Salesfusion, told Marketing Dive. "The trick to success is finding a provider that optimizes marketing programs by helping internal teams better understand what processes are working well."
Leads are always a challenge for B2B marketing, but technology has driven home the message that higher quality leads is better than a higher volume of leads. Salesfusion’s research found that 60% of respondents reporting having marketing automation in place that is integrated with CRM software said communications between sales and marketing was “strong.” Salesfusion said theses businesses reported seeing improvements in communication, efficiency and effectiveness.
These results drive home the point that technology is bridging the divide between marketing and sales departments within companies, and also makes clear the increasing importance of the CMO, or other marketing leadership, as a buyer of technology. Gartner has previously predicted that CMOs will be spending more on technology than CIOs by next year.
