Marketing Automation: Simplifying Customer Acquisition and Retention
Given that 63% of B2B buying research starts with a search engine, search results are often the first step in the customer acquisition process. For the past 10 years, search marketing has been the forerunner in placing specific company information in the visual field of targeted potential customers.
Acquire: Targeting Potential Customers
When B2B buyers research products online, they become self-identifying, meaning they submit specific data about what they’re looking for which can be mined to create a customized outreach unique to that customer, creating a higher value target and lead.
Convert: Nurturing the New Relationship
The second phase of the acquisition process hinges on communication. This process, called “learning theory”, focuses on the nurturing aspect of client acquisition by building a communications strategy around a lengthy learning cycle where smaller blocks of information are fed out to prospective clients to help build brand awareness and educate the buyer on a company’s products and services.
Retention: The Follow-Up
Since retention programs need to be highly specific and personal, the process of reaching out to current customers can be time-consuming, especially for smaller sales teams that need to focus more of their efforts on customer acquisition. A survey by Loyalty 360 and SAS reported that even though B2B companies report the majority of their sales generated from current customers, only 55% have people within the company focused on customer retention. An alternative to reinvesting current human resources or hiring additional marketing and sales team members is marketing automation: the process of creating a set of rules and conditions wherein these touch points can be handled seamlessly by a piece of code.
Harnessing an incredibly customizable algorithm, Endai’s marketing system can segment your customer lists to a highly granular level, allowing for personal outreach and touch points before, during, and after the sales cycle that build on previous interactions to deepen your relationship with clients without pulling limited human resources from new client acquisition. Contact us to see how we can put our market-proven system in play for your company.