"The Growth Blog" - A resource for B2B Business leaders & marketers

More and more organisations are reaping the rewards of an investment in marketing automation technology.

According to Gartner, companies that automate lead management see a 10% or greater increase in revenue in 6-9 months.

This is probably why marketing automation is the fastest growing CRM-related segment in the last 5 years (Focus Research). In fact, the adoption of marketing automation technology is expected to increase by 50% by 2015 (Sirius Decisions).

Initially, marketing automation exists to make marketers more efficient by automating repetitive steps. Thanks to marketing automation software, we no longer have to devote huge chunks of time  on manual tasks associated with lead generation and nurturing. It helps eliminate human error, and gives more time to be more productive in tasks that require creativity and brain power.

But it doesn't end there. Good marketing automation software allows you to personalise the way you respond to vistors and leads, adding much needed context to the content you send your carefully nurtured leads. It is this "higher order" marketing automation that really lets those companies deploying marketing automation stand out from the competition.

So if you haven't yet jumped on the marketing automation bandwagon, then here is an infographic outlining what you should consider in your search:

Embed Marketing Automation Platform Must-Haves for B2B Marketers on Your Site: Copy and Paste the Code Below

Sources:

• Over 50% of CMOs see content creation as a very effective tactic to improve SEO rankings - via MarketingSherpa Survey of more than 1,500 search marketers.
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• 45% of businesses state that the inability to prove ROI was the biggest roadblock to social media investment - Economist Intelligence Unit via Jeff Bullas.
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• B2B companies that blog only 1-2x per month generate 70% more leads than those who don't blog - via Hubspot Marketing Benchmarks from 7,000+ Businesses, 2012.
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• 59% of B2B marketers say email is the most effective channel in generating revenue - BTOB Magazine, March 2012 via Hubspot.
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• Companies with 30 or more landing pages generate 7x more leads than those with <10 - via Hubspot. <10 via @g2m_Solutions http://bit.ly/TOd4H1" title="Tweet this stat!" target="_blank">
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• 79% of marketing leads never convert into sales. Lack of lead nurturing is the common cause of this poor performance - MarketingSherpa via Hubspot.
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• Businesses that use marketing automation to nurture prospects experience a 451% increase in qualified leads - The Annuitas Group via Hubspot.
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• By 2020, customers will manage 85% of their relationship without talking to a human - Gartner Research via Hubspot.
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• Just 56% of B2B organisations verify valid business leads before they are passed to sales - MarketingSherpa via Hubspot.
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• Only 25% of leads are legitimate and should advance to sales - Gleanster Research via Hubspot.
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• Only 33% of companies who use both CRM and marketing automation said the two integrated well - The Experts Bench via Hubspot.
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• 65% of companies fail to leverage marketing analytics in their marketing projects - CMO August 2012 Survey.
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