By Matt Massey, President, drive2 Inc.
Where to begin with 2.0? - That's what I thought too. If you're in marketing or sales, C-level executive, or an independent consultant, keeping up with the most current marketing trends is a daunting proposition. There are literally hundreds of 2.0 tools out there to help companies big and small rev up the marketing and sales machine faster and more effectively than ever before.
The Challenge? Sorting through the variety of tools, software and web-based applications, all falling under a general industry-labeled banner of Web 2.0, and selecting the ones that will work best for your company.
My Recommendation - Take a holistic view
If you're a technology company, you probably already have some tools in place. Most likely starting with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application, maybe an e-newsletter or email campaigns and possibly a Google AdWords strategy to drive traffic. Each of these tools, if used effectively, allow companies a level of measurement of their individual marketing programs, however, they don't necessarily allow for a holistic view of your company's marketing effectiveness.
To be clear, my view of marketing's role within any organization extends beyond the provision of another suspect name and phone number to an already overworked sales team. Marketing's responsibility extends into the sales cycle further and with far greater responsibility. Web 2.0 tools and Performance Measurement Dashboards (insert your own acronym here), give marketing total control of the prospect relationship and allow for greater qualification and nurturing of leads an optimal, active sales prospect.
There are a pile of 2.0 tool applications now available on the market with more coming out each day. Taking the holistic approach means employing the tools that will give you the greatest visibility into the effectiveness of your marketing programs. The best tools allow for maximum integration between marketing programs and tools like your CRM to measure the entire cycle from lead acquisition to closed sale.
If you're wondering where to get started, begin with looking at CRM systems that allow for the integration of 2.0 tools. Salesforce.com, NetSuite and a new open source CRM, SugarCRM are good bets for building your marketing and sales infrastructure. Other tools like Eloqua allow for greater marketing automation and programs management but can be labour intensive for smaller companies and start-ups. As I mentioned, there are literally 100s of offerings out there, and if you spend sometime Googling, you will quickly be able to sort through the offerings.
What's the Plan?
My initial recommendation is to look beyond the tools and focus first on your overall demand creation strategy. Get a full understanding of what it will take to get on a prospect's radar screen and which sales and marketing tools you'll need to have in place to nurture that relationship throughout the buying cycle. Once you've established strategy, evaluate and purchase the tools that will help you improve and maximize the effectiveness of your marketing programs. The plan doesn't solely rely on marketing automation tools. Traditional marketing tools are still equally as relevant as technology-based or Web 2.0 tools.
drive2 is a Demand Creation & Lead Generation company. We develop performance driven, results-based demand creation strategies and tactical lead generation programs for technology and services companies. For more information on demand creation strategy, lead generation programs and on how drive2 can work with your company, visit drive-2.com.
