“Did you know 79% of top performing companies have been using marketing automation for more than two years?”1
Marketing automation has been around since the 1980’s though today’s concepts with real-time reactions to your prospects behaviour are a far cry from the name and address autofill of the past. We are now surrounded by possibility, we can build automation and segment our customers to our hearts content. We can create a million different channels to track them through, and thousands of email funnels to pour them through. We can watch, observe and learn. We can study, follow and gain. We can educate, cultivate and enlighten. And then we can sell. Quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. For this is after all the purpose of marketing automation – to increase sales. And it works. “63% of companies that are outgrowing their competitors use marketing automation.”2
Marketing automation companies are so confident in their product that they can invite comparison with their rivals. HubSpot recently sent a survey around their agencies asking them to compare themselves with SharpSpring. You have to have an overwhelming belief in your product to expose yourself in such a way. “People shop and learn in a whole new way compared to just a few years ago, so marketers need to adapt or risk extinction.” Brian Halligan the CEO and Co-Founder of HubSpot said. HubSpot is fully accepted as being pioneering in the world of marketing automation along with Marketo and Eloqua and between them these companies have educated the world of marketing in the benefits of marketing automation.
When we began researching to find the system to suit us, we looked at many of the market leaders. However what drew us to SharpSpring can best be summed up by the CEO of SMTP, owner of SharpSpring. “SharpSpring leapfrogs existing players because we provide a clearer, more complete picture of the customer than anyone else on the market today,” said Jon Strimling, CEO of SMTP. “This fits perfectly with our vision of helping businesses and organizations reach and connect with their customers like never before.” It really is that good. It is designed to be used and their openness to new ideas is second to none. If you would like to experience how user-friendly SharpSpring is we can give you a short online demo.
As marketing automation has made the industry more trackable and traceable, so too has it made it more accountable. It is no longer possible to hide behind a façade of creativity, with a veneer of respectability. It is no longer possible to baffle customers with clever words and numbers. We can see the results of our endeavours and so can our clients. They can see what they are paying for. And what they are paying for is good!
Happy marketing!
Lizzie
(Gleanster, Q3 2013 Marketing Automation Benchmark, Aug 2013)
2: (The Lenskold and Pedowitz Groups, 2013 Lead Generation Marketing Effectiveness Study, Nov 2013)