Prediction #1 for 2013: Marketers Shift to Broader Suites – Not More Point Solutions

This is the first of several predictions I have for 2013. Prediction #1. Digital marketing agencies and business marketing teams will be looking for solution suites not more point solutions.

Marketing is a new world with new challenges

Digital marketing has changed the marketer’s job drastically in the past 5 years – and accelerated the rate of change in the last 12 months. The move to content-based inbound marketing and lowering budgets for paid media and direct marketing are driving a different marketing plan, spend and timelines in 2013.

• High expectations. We all know that executives and clients want faster results and greater ROI on marketing programs – more than ever before. The advent of highly measurable online programs have given marketers a great opportunity and at the same time monumentally raised expectations.
• Instantaneous reporting and tracking. Along the same lines, the same teams that are asking for faster and greater results are asking for immediate feedback and reporting on marketing programs.
• Limited resources. Target, Integrate Execute, Measure and Optimize with as little resource as possible is the order of the day. Most campaigns today cut across multiple digital channels – a two week Twitter campaign linked to a customized landing page for a white paper download, with the resulting leads being nurtured via email is the norm not the exception. In today’s marketing world, this is one of many activities a staff member can launch in a day.

With high expectations, massive reporting requirements and limited resources, how do marketing professionals not just keep up, but thrive in this environment?

Thriving, not just surviving, requires an integrated solution

Yesterday’s process won’t work. Separate tools for contact management, email, landing pages, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), lead scoring and website data/monitoring followed by weekly spreadsheet Olympics to deliver reporting and dashboards aren’t sustainable. We already have point solution overload.

We have seen this movie before. Anyone remember when Salesforce was a lead and sales management tool? We had other tools for managing customer tech support and data, managing sales workflow, partner programs, sales communications, sales and marketing documents – just to name a few. Today, we have a broad integrated set of capabilities hosted in the cloud called CRM.

This movie is playing out right now in the Inbound Marketing and Marketing Automation tool segment. Look for solutions like Optify that allow you to integrate multiple digital programs and then immediately report on your results.

Optify is a simple and uniquely powerful integrated digital marketing solution

Today, right now, you can eliminate point solution overload compounded by the spreadsheet Olympics. Imagine this. Import your contacts from your tradeshow, now quickly build an email making them an offer to join your newsletter. Create a landing page for them to sign up (and perhaps request a demo) and insert the link in your email. Send the email to your contact list and see who opened, clicked on the link, came to the website and/or took the demo. Then, select a report and share your results with your client or sales team. All from one solution. No IT staff, no administrator – just you and Optify!