What a great time to be in marketing within manufacturing-based industries. Many manufacturers use retail and wholesale distribution channels to help move their products into the market. This creates an interesting dynamic of deciding exactly who the "customer" is and what level of influence you can or want to have at each level of distribution. Manufacturers who build customer personas and their respective customer journeys combined with marketing technology platforms such as Pardot, HubSpot or the Salesforce Marketing Cloud can produce increased lead generation rates and higher engagement levels when compared to less targeted communication tactics.
"We define a customer journey as the collection of the customers' processes, needs, desires, & perceptions throughout their interaction and relationship with an organization. Understanding these journeys is a broad body of work that takes true cross functional work in order to accurately map."
Still with so much data, dynamic strategies and innovative technologies, our research has revealed that many well-established enterprise manufacturing organizations struggle to actually define, plan and execute a data driven customer journey that becomes an operational standard within their marketing and sales functions. Below I introduce 3 points that must be embraced when implementing a transformational change that includes defining your customer journey and working to provide unique experiences based on learning's across your organization. Download our white paper at the end of the post for a deeper dive into the topic and to get all 5 points that I believe to be vital to becoming a Modern Marketing Organization.
1. Senior Education and Senior Sponsorship is a MUST!
If you are reading this blog its safe to assume that you see room for improvement in your Customer Journey and or Marketing Automation efforts. Without support from the most senior ranks of the sales and marketing organization and, indeed, the senior leadership of the company as a whole, you will likely be limited to a campaign here or there and never realize the full power of leveraging the customer data that will provide the competitive advantage that you seek to create.
2. Sales does not own the customer and Marketing does not own the data
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard from sales leadership or other members of a sales team across many different industries that "I own the customer" or "I own the customer relationship!" Well, it is certainly true that the sales team is often the group that is most visible to the customer but visibility does not equal ownership. In a similar fashion I have heard time and time again "marketing owns the data." The simple fact is that we all own the data. If a sales team member misses an opportunity to share information, and the marketing team fails to use useful data, then an opportunity is lost. Advantage to the Competitor!
3. Great Technology + Bad Strategy = Unpredictable Results
A recent survey amongst Stratagon customers and prospects revealed that over 73% had experienced a failed marketing or sales technology implementation at some point during their careers. There are a lot of cool and powerful marketing technologies in the market and the innovation cycle is so fast that it's tough not to request a quote from that beloved technology vendor who promises to solve all of your marketing operational problems and jump in head-first. These tools can range from simple email marketing apps such as Constant Contact, marketing automation tools such as HubSpot or enterprise CRM platforms like Salesforce. Remember, though - an all inclusive approach to marketing is great and jumping in head-first is encouraged, but you have to give it time. It's all about strategy and mapping out your Customer Journey ahead of time.
So what?
Effectively bringing together marketing and technology takes knowledge, skill and a commitment to view marketing in a new light. Manufacturers who take a customer-first approach and align their marketing & sales strategies with enabling technologies and a skilled team will be winners in the marketplace.