Business owners must be careful to abide by the laws of various countries when tracking customer data online

The internet has erased many international borders when it comes to commerce and interactions. However, business owners must be careful to abide by the laws of various countries when tracking customer data online. Marketing automation is the use of systems to collect and store visitor information with the goal of fine-tuning customer-directed messaging to produce income through sales. In its broadest sense, any collection of information from the computer or device used by a website visitor that identifies them can be considered marketing information. [caption id="attachment_134955" align="alignnone" width="640"] [Image Source][/caption]Privacy policies are required to disclose what information a website or app will track and collect from the visitor. In recent years those policies have drowned in legalese and the consumer data…

Are you looking for something that gives you the edge and helps take email campaign performance to the next level?

So you’ve been optimizing your email programme for a while now, you’ve segmented your database, developed customer personas, and you’ve implemented a range of triggered campaigns. However, your competitors have also raised their game, and the ‘business as usual’ option just won’t cut it anymore. You’re looking for something that gives you the edge and helps take email campaign performance to the next level.

AI technology and marketing – a match made in heaven?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already helping marketers by serving personalized content at scale, reducing campaign production times, and enabling them to boost revenues and engagement. Forrester Research has predicted that businesses who use AI to drive marketing will gain $1.2 trillion per annum from those who don’t. [si_guide_block id="44461" title="Email marketing trends 2019" description="Read our free report delving into the biggest email marketing trends…

The future is now with chatbots, so you need to consider how you can use the technology to improve lead generation

In case you haven’t heard, AI’s promise isn’t based on future advances. It’s being used widely now to transform digital businesses. Powered by smart algorithms and machine learning, chatbots (automated chat messaging) promise to allow companies to connect with their prospects even better than humans can, while at the same time dramatically lowering headcount and overhead costs. Dozens of tech companies have created chatbot platforms that serve up pre-programmed responses to questions; responses informed by things like prior website interactions, social media activity and semantic analysis. Most importantly, these bots can decipher the intent of your visitors. If you know intent, you know what to say next, which is the 'secret sauce' of lead nurturing. [si_guide_block id="87369" title="Download our Business Resource – AI and Machine Learning for marketing" description="The guide aims to…

The right vendor depends on your own personal requirements

Marketing Automation vendors are not one-size-fits-all. It is important that you choose the right vendor for your specific business requirements as B2B companies have more complex and longer buyer journeys and more people involved in the buying process. Your Marketing Automation platform selection should focus on finding the best fit with your business plans, resources and company culture. There are several ways to navigate the selection process, including a formal RFP (Request for Proposal) for shortlisting vendors to running in depth demonstrations. Here are six steps that will help you in this process.

1. Define Your Business Goals

In order to know what a Marketing Automation vendor should be able to deliver in terms of features and service, it is important to clearly define the business challenges or opportunities that you are facing. Describe the gap between the current situation and the desired state.…

The many ways technology has transformed our lives can be seen clearly in the ways we live, work, shop and communicate

Customers today are more likely to use online channels to complete their journeys than ever before. Gone are the days when customers were anxious about ordering online. Nowadays, many people are just as confident and trusting of websites as they are of heading into a physical store. This isn’t just for impulsive, cheap purchases like fast fashion or consumer goods either. As online channels continue to become normalized, customers are also increasingly heading online to shop for higher ticket items too, such as cars and high-end electronics. [si_guide_block id="57383" title="Download our Individual Member Resource – Website and e-commerce personalization guide" description="This guide is aimed at marketing managers involved with making the business case for personalization, looking to plan a personalization implementation or extend their use of personalization."/] The many ways technology has transformed…

Marketing automation is a godsend for digital marketers, but needs to be closely monitored, otherwise your investment may be for naught. The following metrics will help you keep tabs and get the most of your automation software

If you’re a digital marketer, you’re probably using marketing automation software, and for good reason. You may be looking to avoid human error, to be more responsive or to reduce overhead. When creating and managing automations, you most likely use many features, to try and give your users the best possible customer journey.  Whatever be the case, you need to be able to measure how well your automations are panning out. It turns out, however, that for most, this is no simple task. In fact, studies show that 50-60% of those who use marketing automation, find measuring automation performance to be the most challenging part of engaging in automations. [si_guide_block id="58833" title="Managing B2B marketing automation…

Think of deal management as a tool that helps you get the right information to reach the desired outcome

What is deal management?

Deal management is a strategy that is used by companies to define deal parameters. These include customer history, product status, discount supplied and other operational constraints in the sales review process. It is used as a tool to maximize company margins, profits and revenues. Deal management software uses visual indicators to help increase the chance of up-selling and cross-selling. As Alexander Graham Bell said, "Preparation is the key to success." Think of deal management as a tool that helps you get the right information to reach the desired outcome. It prepares sales reps to improve their sales pitch and performance, which ultimately leads to increased revenue. [si_guide_block id="87369" title="Download our Premium Resource – AI and Machine Learning for marketing" description="The purpose of this guide is to cut through…

"Diamonds are forever but converted customers are even better" (unknown digital marketing guru). We couldn’t agree more, and marketing automation is the perfect tool for optimizing your conversion funnel. We invite you to read on to learn how to streamline your funnel with an automation tune-up.

As diamonds make their way from mine to shop, an assortment of professionals carefully tends to them, transforming "rocks" into luxurious jewels. Much in the same way, businesses strive to convert leads into valuable assets, i.e. customers, by nurturing them along their journey from awareness to conversion. Marketers call this a "conversion funnel", and marketing automation, such as that offered by leading email marketing platforms, is all about making the best funnels possible. Yet, the automation of your conversion funnel has another far-reaching benefit. The process of building and configuring automated activities for your funnel forces you to frame your efforts in a strategic perspective, considering…

Marketing automation industry is currently valued at $1.65 billion, and the majority credit for this jump in value goes to the introduction of AI in marketing automation; more-so the AI-enabled chatbots that are taking marketing automation industry by storm

Here we will go over three significant reasons for why every brand should consider a chatbot while framing their marketing automation strategy. The first breakthrough was the introduction of social media within marketing automation strategy. Marketers started using various tools and software to make the maximum out of their social media activities. Things took a more substantial leap when artificial intelligence made way into marketing automation strategy. The simple concept of making repetitive marketing tasks easy got a new lease of life with predictive analysis and personalized marketing. With AI, marketing automation became more human. Fast-forward to present time; AI…

See the latest email marketing and automation statistics to help benchmark your current performance and plan improvements

We've recently updated our State of email marketing report, Email Marketing and Marketing Automation Excellence report 2018, in partnership with GetResponse. This year's report shares some interesting findings from an analysis based on over 500 respondents working in a senior position across B2C, B2B or both. Use our findings to help benchmark your current performance and map digital improvements. Throughout the report, we highlight the features businesses should try and start implementing straight away, whilst exploring how current marketing automation is used in the industry. The report covers a range email marketing and automation results, challenges and use of features, including: Investment in Email Marketing Evaluation and tracking Targeting Communication strategy Testing and optimization Open and CTRs based on industry Lead generation Read our summary below, or download the full report today, for free. [si_guide_block id="59002"…