Top Gear: Useful Internet Marketing Strategies & Tips to Move You Forward: 2015

Thursday 31 December 2015

Inbox Placement Rates 2015: Detailed Analysis

Every year Return Path does the analysis of inbox placement rate.Related Articles

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Last Chance to Save $150 Instantly: Get Pro Plus Before It Becomes Recurring

lock in the pro plus all-theme pack today (and save big)

This is it …

Time is running out to get our Pro Plus All-Theme Pack for WordPress before the new recurring element is added at the end of January 2016. (Here’s what that means.)

It’s also your last chance to get $150 off.

And it’s your last chance to book the expense on your 2015 taxes.

If you’ve waited until the last minute, wait no more.

Click here to claim your $150 Pro Plus discount, lock in your account before recurring payments are added, and book it on this year’s taxes

This offer expires today, December 31, 2015, at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

And if you’re feeling at all rushed because it’s New Year’s Eve and your head is already in the clouds getting ready for tonight … don’t.

We offer a no-questions-asked, 30-day, money-back guarantee. We do this to make your decision as easy as possible.

Get started with Pro Plus today and take all of January to decide if you want to keep it. If you decide you don’t, just email our Support team and we’ll issue you a full refund.

You don’t even need to give a reason.

We just want you to have the StudioPress design you need for your WordPress website when you need it … for as long as you choose to maintain an account. Pro Plus gives you that, and so much more (and you don’t pay another dime after today).

Click here to find out about everything Pro Plus has to offer and get started risk-free today

Remember: This offer expires today (12/31/15) at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

Then after you get started with Pro Plus, go be safe and have fun tonight.

Tomorrow it’s time to start working on our goals for 2016.

About the author

Brian Gardner

Starbucks addict. Sarah McLachlan fan. Maker of Rain.
Founder of StudioPress. CPO and Partner at Rainmaker Digital.

No Sidebar / Twitter / Instagram

The post Last Chance to Save $150 Instantly: Get Pro Plus Before It Becomes Recurring appeared first on Copyblogger.

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Marketing Resolutions for 2016 and Other New Year's News

Today is the last day of the calendar year 2015. I hope it has been a good one for you and yours and I wish you all nothing but the best in 2016. In honor of this auspicious occasion, I give you a special Friday Five: New Year's edition. Note: the first article is by yours truly, hence the reference to a certain NFL team.

7 Marketing Resolutions To Make As The Year Ends

Most of us are going to be making at least one or two resolutions pretty soon. Mine involve weight loss, of course and my beloved Philadelphia Eagles – it’s a long story. It’s just that time of year. Whether for business or personal improvement, making goals and resolutions is a crucial step towards improving anything.

Read the full story on Forbes.

6 New Year’s Resolutions You Can Apply to Your Marketing Life

More than 980,000 posts about New Year’s resolutions have been published on social networks, according to social listening and analytics company Sprinklr. While most posts focused on overall happiness, other key words included “work out,” “weight,” “smoking” and “unplug.”

Many people set New Year’s resolutions to keep their lives on track or to improve their overall well-being. What if I told you some of these same personal resolutions can be applied to the professional lives of marketers, as well?

Read the full story on business2community.com.

7 Secrets Of People Who Keep Their New Year's Resolutions

Making resolutions is a popular holiday tradition, but keeping those resolutions past the first week in January is the hard part. Statistic Brain, using data from the University of Scranton, says while 45% of Americans regularly make New Year’s resolutions only 8% actually keep them. So, how do those 8% do it?

Here are some of the best tips from people who successfully keep their New Year’s resolutions:

Read the full story on Fast Company.

Five New Year Resolutions for Marketers

As 2015 quickly wraps up, here are five resolutions for marketers to consider in 2016 in order to enhance their customer understanding and drive their brand experience.

Read the full story on Loyalty 360.

Email marketers' top New Year’s resolutions for 2016

Virtually everyone is infatuated with Instagram and Snapchat. Few of us can remember the days before Facebook and Twitter.

But email is still the best way to drive sales. In fact, a survey we conducted revealed that nearly 60 percent of Americans prefer brands contact them via email, and email marketing continues to yield higher ROI for marketers than any other channel. We can say with certainty that 2016 will be a boom year for email.

Read the full story on Venture Beat.

Now as far as predictions go, as compared to resolutions, you will want to download The Future of Modern Marketing: 2016 immediately and see what some of the brightest minds in marketing today foresee for the year ahead.

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Announcing: Copyblogger.FM

Introducing Copyblogger.FM

AKA the Episode Where Sonia Seizes All the Power …

If you’re reading this on New Year’s Eve, you’re probably a diehard. (Which we love, by the way.)

You might have been reading and listening to Copyblogger content for a long time now. And you may well know our original podcast, The Lede.

It started life as Internet Marketing for Smart People (audio edition) with Robert Bruce and Brian Clark, then over time morphed into The Lede, most recently hosted by Jerod Morris and Demian Farnworth.

In 2016, the show is transforming once again, and The Lede becomes Copyblogger.FM.

And I (ahem) kicked all those jokers off the platform and am taking over.

Last time I saw Farnworth, he was demolishing his console with his lightsaber, but I’m sure he’ll get past it. We’re here for you, bro.

Announcing: Copyblogger.FM

What’s the new show about?

Copyblogger.FM is about content marketing, first and foremost. We’ll be covering:

Emerging trends
Interesting disasters
Enduring best practices
Worthwhile news
Practical strategies and tactics

We’ll also let you peek behind the scenes at the content strategies for the Copyblogger blog and Rainmaker Digital as a company, so you can learn from our experiments and observations.

And I may go on a rant once in a while.

If you’re already subscribed to The Lede, Copyblogger.FM will use the same feed, so you can just keep listening to the new incarnation without doing anything special.

If you’d like to try it out, you can find us here: Copyblogger.FM.

Serious thanks to our great team

Kidding aside, I want to thank Jerod and Demian (and Robert and Brian) for all of the hard work and insights they’ve delivered over the years. They’ve created something valuable, and I promise I will work hard to keep building on what they’ve created.

They will, of course, be showing up on the new version of the show with their wisdom and occasional shenanigans. We’ll also see lots of Pamela Wilson, our EVP of Educational Content, who will be sharing behind-the-scenes news about Copyblogger.

The team and I are greatly looking forward to seeing you there!

The Cornerstone Content Challenge

Have you signed up yet for our January Content Challenge?

We’re going to be walking folks just like you through a powerhouse strategy to make your site more authoritative, more attractive to your audience, and just plain more awesome. We’ve got tutorials, a free webinar, and even a pop-up forum to help you get it done. And it’s all free.

Join us for the Copyblogger Content Challenge.

Footnote: By the way, yes, I’ll still be producing my own show, Confessions of a Pink-Haired Marketer, which is focused more on who we are as individuals and how that plays out in our work and business lives.

That one is around 80 percent rant and 20 percent strategy; on Copyblogger.FM, we plan to reverse that ratio.

About the author

Sonia Simone

Sonia Simone is co-founder and Chief Content Officer of Rainmaker Digital. Get lots more from Sonia on her podcast, Confessions of a Pink-Haired Marketer, or come hang out with her on Twitter.

The post Announcing: Copyblogger.FM appeared first on Copyblogger.

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Wednesday 30 December 2015

Inspirational Feeds for Your 2016 Email Campaigns

Favorite go-to destinations for inspirational content.Related Articles

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How to Effectively Use Remarketing (Infographic)

It seems that each year that passes brings some new forms of advertising that marketers can add as another tool in their arsenal.

These past few years have brought native advertising to the mainstream, which comedian John Oliver analyzed this past August:

Native advertising has taken hold online. Here’s an example from Buzzfeed:

This native advertising happens offline as well, as it’s seen in newspapers, magazines and radio.

The web has also exploded with the growth of exit intent popups. Hover your mouse near the top of the browser to close or switch a tab and out of nowhere comes a near full page ad asking the visitor for something before they leave – typically an email address. Here’s an example, courtesy of 2xecommerce.com:

In recent years we have also seen the growth of retargeting. This purpose of this is to advertise to people who have previously visited a specific site.

For example, let’s say you visit amazon.com today, place a few items in your cart, and leave. A few days later you’re browsing nytimes.com and see an Amazon advertisement with the products you put in your cart. You can then click the ad and are directed back to Amazon, and complete your purchase.

Sound like a new channel you’d like to test? Neil Patel of Quick Sprout has created an infographic to help you out. Whether you’re just diving into retargeting or have been around the block a few times and want a refresher on some of the principles.

How to Effectively Use Remarketing to Increase Your Revenue

Courtesy of: Quick Sprout

Resources for Learning More

We’ve covered retargeting in the past, including a couple webinars:

You’ll also find some great content around the web:

If you’re going to dabble in retargeting, it’s important to measure the results. You can use Kissmetrics to measure and optimize all your marketing campaigns. I’ve written some articles about how to do this:

You can also request a personal demo of Kissmetrics to learn more.

About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) is the Blog Manager for Kissmetrics.

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The 30 Most Viewed, Shared, and Savored Blog Posts of 2015

222!

That’s the number of blog posts we published for you this year – excluding this one.

Here are the top 30 based on views, shares, likes, retweets, claps, cartwheels, and uncomfortably long hugs. In case you missed any, enjoy!

Email

25 Comical Subject Lines + Tips for Funny Writing – Stand out from the crowd and engage your contacts by using this list of tips and examples to write humorous subject lines.
5 Subject Line Tips You Haven’t Heard – Need a little help creating subject lines? Use these five out-of-the-box tips as a guide.
5 Tips to Creating a Sense of Urgency in Your Writing and Emails – How do you get people to take action quickly with your business? By creating a sense of urgency in your writing.
4 Aspects Every Outstanding Product Announcement Needs – The key to getting your audience excited about your latest business offering is by answering these four questions in your next product announcement email.
12 Months of Inspiration for Engaging with Your Email Subscribers – Surprise and delight customers with these creative email campaign ideas for 2016.
Emails That Encourage Customer Engagement – Check out these four hassle-free emails that can increase customer engagement and boost sales.
6 Design Tips to Make Your Email Newsletter Visually Appealing – Use these six simple design tips to create an email newsletter that draws your audience in.
75 Email Newsletter Content Topics You Can Use ASAP – To keep relationships going strong, provide your subscribers with consistent and interesting content. Here are 75 topics you can use in your email newsletters right now.
Tips for Email Newsletter Campaign First-Timers – Part I: Content – Even a first-timer can create a successful email newsletter campaign by following these three golden rules centered around content.
List Segmentation By Campaign Activity: Why Do It and How to Get Started – Aim to reach more people, but don’t send one email message to everyone. Here’s why list segmentation at the campaign activity level makes sense and is easy to do.
5 Tips to Increase Your Email Delivery and Open Rates – If you’re suffering from bounce rates or spam complaints, improving your email delivery rate is key. Read on for five tips to make sure your emails get delivered.

Social Media

11 Words & Phrases to Avoid Using on Social Media and What to Say Instead – Avoid sounding like everyone else on social media and stand out from the crowd.
3 Things You Can’t Do on Facebook Anymore – Learn about the three biggest Facebook updates that could impact your business page.
4 Ways to Use Social Media to Increase your Email List – Boost your email contacts through social channels.
Social Media & Your Business: Choosing the Best Platform – Tap into your key demographic by incorporating these basic principles into your social media journey.
9 Social Media Hacks Every Small Business Can Benefit From – Learn how to increase sales and customer engagement with these nine social media hacks.

Non-Profit

10 Crowdfunding Websites Every Non-Profit Should Know – Looking for ways to raise money for your non-profit? We have a list of ten crowdfunding sites you’ll want to check out.
9 Emails Non-Profits Should Send to Attract and Maintain Donors [GUIDE] – A look at nine emails that can help non-profits attract and maintain donors.

Retail

10 Retail Marketing Ideas to Boost Sales – We assembled ten retail marketing ideas to help bring increased sales and more loyal customers.
5 Customer Appreciation Emails Retailers Should Send – Share some love. Show your customers that you appreciate their business with these five customer appreciation emails.

Customers First

10 Questions to Ask In Your Business Demographics Survey – Having a better understanding of your customers is critical for success. Here are ten questions to include in your business demographics survey.
5 Ways to Create Added Value for Customers – Here are five ways to create added value that can improve your customers’ experience.

Event Marketing

You’re Invited: 6 Components of a Successful Event Email – Make sure your next event email brings in guests by using this handy cheat sheet.
5 Event Ideas that Attract Customers – Wondering how to get customers to attend your next event? Here are five event ideas to attract customers and get the word out to make your next event a success.

More Marketing Tips

Why Certain Marketing Words Sing, While Others Just Stink — and How to Tell the Difference – More than knowing what to say and what not to say — learn why! Here is the breakdown on why certain words are powerful while others are useless.
The Ultimate Guide to ‘Google My Business’ – Learn how to set up, use and get the most out of Google My Business.
Making Content Marketing, Email and Social Media Work in Harmony – Understand and master these three approaches to make your online marketing plan come together beautifully.
6 Free SEO Tools to Boost Your Search Engine Rankings – A list of tools to help you land a better spot in search results.
Calls to Action: 50 that Sell and 10 that Repel – Need a little help writing an effective call to action for your next email? We’ve got you covered.

Our team is focused on offering you more great articles to help your business grow in the new year. Thank you to our customers, hundreds of thousands of newsletter subscribers, and millions of blog visitors.

We wish you all the best and much success in 2016!

The post The 30 Most Viewed, Shared, and Savored Blog Posts of 2015 appeared first on Vertical Response Blog.

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Why Content Marketers Need Editors

how an editor helps your content shine

I’m good at math.

If you looked at my standardized test results from when I was back in school, you’d see I scored very high in math and very low in verbal.

And yet, today I’m a professional writer and editor.

It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world.

Sort of. Your content needs to quickly communicate what your audience wants and needs, so my natural abilities are actually the perfect fit for content marketing.

You probably possess some of these editing skills too, so let’s examine how you can use them to become a discerning content marketer.

Turning a “weakness” into a strength

Most of my English tests in high school weren’t adorned with those coveted “A” grades because timed exams to test reading comprehension didn’t fit my reading style.

I read text passages slowly, studied each word carefully, and analyzed how the writer could have presented his or her message more clearly.

It’s no surprise I’d run out of time before I finished every question. (It’s okay, 16-year-old Stefanie. The future looks bright for you.)

My poor test scores could have convinced me that the English language and reading comprehension were my weaknesses, but instead, I turned my way of reading into a career.

We’re in The Editor Age

The title of this interview on Contently’s The Content Strategist says it all: ‘You Need Editors, Not Brand Managers’: Marketing Legend Seth Godin on the Future of Branded Content.

When asked how he’d build a brand media property, Godin replied that brands often opt for playing it safe rather than thinking, “How can we be more interesting?”

Then, Godin concluded:

That’s not what happens when you want to make a hit TV show or a website that people care about. You need editors, not brand managers, who will push the envelope to make the thing go forward.

Editors produce enjoyable content

“Enjoyable content” sounds a bit weak, doesn’t it? It’s less serious than “effective content” or “content that produces business results.”

But enjoyable content is a prerequisite if you want your content to be effective.

Editors produce the right content experiences with refined messages that help meet your business goals. This meaningful content gives your ideal prospect an enjoyable experience that produces results.

For example, I enjoy painting, but I don’t always have time to paint on canvas, so I frequently paint my nails. It’s relatively quick, and I get to display my work every day for as long as the manicure lasts.

Essie is my favorite nail polish brand and the company’s YouTube channel has a collection of nail art tutorials. To communicate a persuasive message, each concise video required a focused vision and intentional refining.

Here’s a tutorial that has more than one-million views:

Every aspect of the video also forms a seamless call to action — the instructive lesson makes you want to buy the products used in the tutorial so you can try the look yourself.

That is enjoyable content for a nail polish lover. I watched a number of Essie tutorials while researching this article and now have a long list of new colors I’m going to buy.

8 steps to become a content marketing editor

“Egregious grammar errors make your content confusing and typos are distracting,” said Captain Obvious.

There’s more to becoming an editor than aiming to produce error-free content.

Here are eight steps that will help bring your inner editor to the surface during your content creation and production process:

Research. Your content marketing strategy begins with research. In addition to optimizing your chances of connecting with your target audience, research is also the foundation of captivating content. It helps you stand out with unique ideas your audience won’t find elsewhere.
Prepare. I prefer preparing over planning because it allows for more flexibility when unforeseen circumstances arise. If you’re prepared, you can easily adapt. Editors prepare their content schedules in advance and adjust them as needed.
Write. Synthesize your research into a cohesive presentation, whether it’s an article, podcast, or video. “Don’t try to do too much” is my favorite writing advice. While first drafts are certainly the place to let your ideas run wild, stay focused on the message you need to communicate.
Delete. Remove repetitive and excessive content. In the Essie nail art tutorial above, only essential information made the final cut. For example, our guide, Rita Remark, didn’t distract viewers with statistics about how many people give themselves manicures each year. That information doesn’t directly match the video topic or serve viewers.
Push. In the video above, Rita explains that the argyle print she’s creating is composed of diamond shapes. Take a closer look at the bookcase in the background. Notice anything? Yep, it has diamond-shaped compartments. The producers of this video pushed themselves creatively beyond a standard plain background to construct a complete experience for viewers.
Refine. Once your content is complete, how can you make it sharper? Is there a more succinct phrase you could use, or do you need to explain a point with more details? To address a possible concern, about halfway through the nail art tutorial, Rita reassures the viewer, “This may look difficult, but don’t be scared. It just takes a little practice.”
Polish. I’m not talking about nail polish this time! Grammar and spelling lovers rejoice; this is the step where you check for mistakes — large and small. Dedicate time to fact-checking (even if you think you already did) and hold every aspect of your content up to professional standards.
Publish. You don’t have the chance to make a positive impression on your ideal prospects until you release the content you create. Confident editors have overcome the false security of perfectionism and publish their best efforts. They simply stay vigilant about possible ways to improve in the future.

Present a refined message to your audience

Think like an editor to become a more persuasive content marketer.

And, as you adopt the perspective of an editor who critically evaluates every aspect of his content, recognize your opportunity to take any supposed “weakness” you have and turn it into your winning difference.

What do you do differently that you can harness as a strength?

Additional reading

About the author

Stefanie Flaxman

Stefanie Flaxman is Rainmaker Digital's Editor-in-Chief.

The post Why Content Marketers Need Editors appeared first on Copyblogger.

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Tuesday 29 December 2015

A Heart of Business with Rose Bowl Parade Colored Glasses

We talked to William Flinn, the Executive Director of the Rose Bowl Parade, about the event and all the prep that goes into it. It's a great look into community, tradition, event planning and so much more.Related Articles

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Get the All-Theme Pack Now Before It Becomes Recurring (Plus: $150 Off Instantly)

lock in the pro plus all-theme pack today (and save big)

A change is coming to our biggest and best-selling product.

The StudioPress Pro Plus Pack — which gives you immediate, on-demand access to every active theme in the StudioPress library — is about to add a recurring component.

Note that I said about to add. Nothing is changing immediately.

But the change is coming soon (likely at the end of January 2016), which is why we’re letting you know about a special offer happening this week only.

We want you to have every opportunity to lock in the current Pro Plus offer.

Here’s the offer …

For a single investment in Pro Plus today, you get unlimited access to:

All current StudioPress themes (there are more than 40 as of today) 
All future StudioPress themes (several are already in development) 
All design, security, and functionality updates 
All current and future third-party themes we add to Pro Plus (there are five currently)  
Support for all themes  (we support StudioPress themes, while the third-party developers support their themes)

You get all of this for the lifetime of your account. You never make another payment.

Until this special offer ends on Thursday, December 31, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time — you get $150 off as well.

It’s the largest discount we’ve ever given for Pro Plus.

That’s more than 30 percent off of a deal that already saved you more than $1,500 compared to purchasing everything separately.

Click here to learn more about Pro Plus
(and get $150 off)

And Pro Plus keeps getting more valuable as more themes get added.

What will the recurring element look like?

It will be pretty simple.

Right now, you make one payment and receive everything as long as you maintain your StudioPress account (so, basically, as long as you want it).

Once the recurring component is added, new Pro Plus customers will make one payment to activate their accounts and then make smaller annual payments to maintain access.

Obviously, recurring customers will get to keep any themes they have downloaded and are using, but they will need to make the recurring payment each year to maintain their access to:

All existing themes
All future themes 
All updates 
Support

Again: this change is not happening now. It’s happening at the end of January 2016.

But we wanted to give you a heads up way in advance in case you want to lock in a Pro Plus account before the recurring component comes.

Plus get $150 off when you do.

Click here to learn more about Pro Plus
(and get $150 off)

Grab your Pro Plus account today. The value will never be better. Offer ends at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on New Year’s Eve (12/31/15).

About the author

Brian Gardner

Starbucks addict. Sarah McLachlan fan. Maker of Rain.
Founder of StudioPress. CPO and Partner at Rainmaker Digital.

No Sidebar / Twitter / Instagram

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The Best Resources for Account-Based Marketing

I’ve spent the past few weeks discussing account-based marketing (ABM), a powerful but under-implemented strategy. My first post covers the history of account-based marketing, from the “Mad Men” days of the 1950s to today. My second post reviews the reasons B2B firms should implement account-based marketing.

Of course, understanding why you should implement account-based marketing and actually doing it are two different things. Knowing how to implement the right technology stack is essential to unlocking the true power of ABM. For the final post in this series, I’ll go over the best resources for setting up account-based marketing.

What’s ABM, again?

Let’s quickly review the definition of ABM:

Account-based marketing focuses marketing and sales resources on a defined set of targeted accounts, where personalized campaigns are tailored to each account.

Now that we understand what account-based marketing is, the next step is incorporating the right technology. Many times firms adopt technology without understanding its real purpose, sometimes without any real marketing strategy. Before you fall into the same trap, you need to take a hard look at the health of your Marketing and Sales departments.

Understanding Your Experience with Technology and Training

Every marketing firm is different. From client experience to employee expertise, your firm is going to have unique resources and know-how. While this might include SaaS, you have to be willing to admit when you aren’t ready for new tech.

Is your staff experienced enough with SaaS solutions to adapt to new systems and processes? Do they have good habits in place with existing SaaS solutions, like LinkedIn Business? Have you introduced new systems in the past?

After answering these questions, you’ll be able to realistically determine what you’ll need for ABM. Asking yourself the hard questions will help you determine the right resources and training for your team’s success.

Make Sure Marketing and Sales Speak the Same Language

No matter the firm, Marketing and Sales should be on the same page. Marketing and sales alignment is necessary for marketing to ensure their campaigns align with the needs of prospects identified by sales, and for sales to make sure they’re selling the right stuff to the right contacts. Both departments need to have the same success metrics, otherwise efforts from one could be counter-productive for the other.

Implementing a technology stack makes this relationship more important than ever. Solutions are built to streamline processes such as updating lead and contact information and streamlining campaigns, so the more you have your ducks in a row, the better. (And let’s not forget the cost of purchasing new SaaS.) As with any investment, you need to make sure you’re getting the most value you can.

Understand the Purpose of Your Technology Stack

It’s not uncommon for many companies, big and small, to jump on new technology. The enthusiasm is great—the fallout, not so much. Many Marketing departments don’t have a clear purpose or strategy for incorporating their chosen technology into their existing sales and marketing pipeline.

Before adding a tool to your technology stack, ask yourself what value it will add to your sales and marketing efforts. Do you want to use ABM because of its laser focus on lead generation and management? Are you looking for automations tools to help with campaigns? Many account-based marketing solution companies offer more than one product. Knowing what you need will help you and your potential provider find your ideal solution.

Identify Tools to Help Achieve Your Strategy

Finally, we’ve arrived at the most important question: What should you look for in an ABM solution? Some important features may include:

Action-Oriented Insights

Any ABM solution can slice and dice data into metrics and charts. However, these insights are useless if you can’t create actionable plans from them. Solid account-based marketing programs will provide straightforward metrics that you can readily understand and use effectively. Ideally, the system will also offer flexibility for you to create customized drill-down reports as you become familiar with your particular needs.

Lead and Contact Data Automation

The very objective of having an ABM stack is to reduce time-consuming tasks so you can focus on engaging your targeted segment. Good ABM solutions will help manage contact and lead information, such as automatically updating contact information or mapping new contacts into the appropriate accounts.

Reliable Support and Services

Just as your firm focuses on marketing and tailoring your services to your customers, your ABM provider should offer reliable real-time support. While this includes a traditional help desk, some firms go so far as to provide consultant services and host educational events.

Integration with Existing Solutions

We’ve already mentioned that account-based marketing requires constant communication with sales. ABM tools that integrate with existing solutions like Salesforce and marketing automation solutions like Marketo will keep your teams running smoothly.

ABM Technology to Add to Your Stack

Now that you understand what to look for in an account-based marketing system, I’m sure you’re wondering where to even begin looking for the solution that’s best for you. Fortunately, there aren’t too many out there right now:

Engagio – Though new to the ABM scene, Engagio delivers reliable automation and analytics no matter the size of your target segment. This solution connects to your existing Salesforce and Marketo accounts and your website to keep track of leads, marketing programs and site visitors. The utilization of metrics such as “engagement minutes,” allow for a more straightforward way of tracking lead interest.
LeanData – This California-based company delivers two ABM products. Sales Accelerator focuses on lead management, including automated lead conversions and contact owner assignments. Demand Management focuses on account-based reporting and nurturing, ensuring you have the proper data to adjust campaigns and properly target leads.
DemandBase – DemandBase offers a full suite of solutions, called the Marketing Cloud, to help teams streamline every step of the marketing process. Solutions include advertising, personalized site experiences and account-based measurements. DemandBase also provides consulting services by experts that will help create a marketing plan that’s best for you.

Before You Hit “Start”

Finally, we come to the $6 billion question: Is it time for you to implement account-based marketing? To review, here’s what’s on the table:

The opportunity to target “whale” accounts with tailored marketing campaigns.
The power to engage contacts and create organic referrals within accounts.
The confidence to sell more than ever before once you’ve set up your stack and hired in the right talent.

Like I’ve said before, ABM really is a no-brainer. But you have to be prepared.

Jumping the gun and setting up an ABM stack the wrong way will just make life harder for Marketing and Sales. Take the time to review your existing solutions and align your firepower with your targets. ABM will help you get where you want to go, but you need to be facing the right direction, first.

About the Author: Alp Mimaroglu is a Marketing Luminary. He specializes in marketing automation, demand generation, analytics, and marketing technology. Alp has extensive experience with both business and consumer marketing. He’s passionate about how technology is rapidly becoming the key to success in both the corporate sales and marketing landscapes. Follow Alp on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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