Earlier this week one of my colleagues, Scott Thornton, forwarded a link and review of a blog post from HubSpot. It's a review of a survey from Focus.com that talks about the top investments for Marketers this year. The top ones being Social Media Monitoring, Web Analytics, Email Marketing, and CRM. The article also makes the case for HubSpot/Salesforce/Marketo.
I am sure there are a lot of companies looking at making software “investments” separately. What they may not realize is that that you can combine these investments to reduce the cost and maximize ROI. For example:
1. If you need Social Media monitoring and web analytics and email marketing … well you don’t necessarily need 3 pieces of software. Or do you? Maybe you can do all 3 with HubSpot? Hubspot offers an all-in-one marketing software platform for small and medium sized businesses. Over 4,000 companies in 31 countries use HubSpot software to increase the number of visitors to their website and convert more of those visitors to leads and customers. Applications in the software platform include website management, blogging, search engine optimization, lead management, marketing analytics, email marketing, landing pages, and social media monitoring.
2. If you’re looking at CRM, email, and business intelligence… could it all be done through customizing Salesforce, or with the help of pre-built apps on the Salesforce.com AppExchange? OnPath offers customization, implimentation and training services to Salesforce.com Ottawa and Salesforce.com Toronto customers. Salesforce.com is a cloud based CRM company with services translated into 16 different languages and currently has 82,400 customers and over 2,100,000 subscribers. The best part about Salesforce, because everything is in the cloud, is that you have flexibility of design and the ability to customize the system to fit any number of applications and uses, tailored to meet your needs. Bottom line, "you can customize it really good…"
3. If you're looking for Marketing Automation, maybe you can do everything in your CRM? Or maybe you need a full blown marketing automation system like Marketo? Maybe you need both? Last year we actually debated this topic in a webinar called "Marketing Automation vs CRM." Panelists include Darryl Praill (OnPath), Ardath Albee (Marketing Interactions Inc.), Jep Castelein(LeadSloth) and Tim Rees (OnPath). Watch it here.
Post your comments and tell us what areas you are making your investment(s).
Article by Scott Thornton, Program Architect at OnPath. Follow him on Twitter @sthornton or connect on LinkedIn.
If the marketing automation space was a pool, for quite some time you’d find HubSpot quite content sitting by the side of it, applying suntan lotion, just dipping their toes into the cool water.
As recently as last month in a question on Quora, HubSpot continued to focus on differentiating inbound marketing from marketing automation, and affirming their expertise in the former.
As a Certified HubSpot Professional and HubSpot partner, I wholeheartedly agree with their stance on HubSpot being an “all-in-one” marketing software for driving ‘top of the funnel’ activity. They pioneered the Inbound Marketing category, helping their 4000+ clients to get found online by more qualified visitors, analyze and optimize website performance, and to capture & convert more leads from said visitors. With a CMS, blog, and landing page development platform, SEO tools to track keyword performance, insights and tips and tricks to improve individual page performance, or overall traffic, it can be a game-changer.
But not quite marketing automation.
No doubt, HubSpot is an incredibly powerful platform. I’m sure you can look at their 4000+ customers and recent injection of funding from heavyweights Salesforce.com, Google Ventures, and Sequoia Capital as a testament to the value of their team, and the potential in their Inbound Marketing Software. But again, being conscious of the differentiation - it may not have the depth and functionality in terms of nurturing leads and effectively handling leads throughout the lead lifecycle that you would expect to find in a more robust Marketing Automation platform.
For perspective, I think HubSpot Co-founder Dharmesh Shah probably put it best at the time in a LinkedIn Q&A when he said (in 2009);
“I don't think we compete with the current marketing automation players in the same way the iPhone does not compete with a Canon digital SLR. Sure, the iPhone *has* a camera, but that's not the reason I bought the iPhone. Similarly, if you're serious about photography and have the time/energy/resources to devote to it, you opt for the "professional" option and buy a nicer camera, because the iPhone camera just doesn't meet your needs. But, for many people, the camera in the iPhone works just fine -- and they appreciate the *other* things the iPhone can do.”
Fast forward to last week, and you’ll see that Hubspot moved away from the side of the pool, and was spotted climbing up the ladder to the diving platform. They didn’t quite dive in headfirst, but it’s clear they have every intent of making a big splash with the announcement of their acquisition of marketing automation vendor Performable.
The acquisition opens the door for more sophisticated ‘middle of the funnel’ marketing automation functionality for HubSpot customers.
As a user and partner, I’m excited about the additions to the HubSpot team, and the continued evolution of their product.
But as a marketer and self-admitted enthusiast of technology (read: geek), I’m excited about what this might mean for the marketing automation space as a whole. With a plethora of vendors carving out niches for different parts of the funnel, specific industries and segments, and sizes of companies, I can only imagine that HubSpot’s recent acquisition has the potential to make some serious waves…
Article by Scott Thornton, Program Architect at OnPath. Follow him on Twitter @sthornton or connect on LinkedIn.
Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times (1936).
By Jeff Pedowitz, President & CEO of The Pedowitz Group and a Software Advisory Board member at Marketing Automation Software Guide. Read the original article here.
The Marketing Automation Industry is approaching its 13th year. Originally pioneered by Epiphany and Pivotal in the late 1990’s as an On-Premise Module added on to key CRM functions, it took off when SAAS entered the scene in the early 2000’s. Today there are many vendors in this space competing for wallet share.
There are 5 primary reasons why this industry is underperforming:
- Wrong Executive Target
- Failure to Broaden Vertical Expansion
- Too Much Competition, Not Enough Education
- Too Complicated
- Economic Pricing Model
To successfully grow the market, maximize adoption and grow vendor shareholder value, we recommend the following course of action:
- Expand target focus beyond the marketing department
- Expand vertical offerings
- Work collaboratively to educate but still compete aggressively
- Simplify the concepts and simplify how the software works
- Change the positioning of the pricing model
We live in a customer-driven economy and there is plenty of room for multiple vendors in this space. In fact, competition is good. It is the mother of invention, which ultimately benefits the customer.
The Pedowitz Group believes cooperation, focus on these 5 areas, and continued expansion of the partner ecosystem will successfully drive industry adoption and grow the market beyond the $1B mark by 2015.
If you are looking for more information about Marketing Automation we can help. OnPath is a certifed partner and reseller of HubSpot and Marketo. Call Us: 613.842.4174
2.jpg)
Duration: 29 Minutes
Watch the On-Demand Video: http://bit.ly/i99c8g
It's the classic match between Sales vs Marketing - Outbound vs Inbound. Who generates the most value? Who gets the biggest bang for the buck? Watch an exchange of blows that promises to entertain and educate.
Blue Trunks(Representing Sales / Outbound): Terry Ledden, President of Sales AboutFace Sandler Training.
Orange Trunks(Representing Marketing / Inbound): Peter Caputa, Marketing Manager of HubSpot.
BONUS: Included in the video are links to complimentary whitepapers. Whitepaper 1: “Why Salespeople Fail” by Sandler Selling System®. Whitepaper 2: “Inbound vs Outbound Marketing” by HubSpot.
Duration: 29 Minutes
Watch the On-Demand Video: http://bit.ly/i99c8g
-resized-600.bmp)
It's the classic match between Sales vs Marketing – Outbound vs Inbound. Who generates the most value and who gets the biggest bang for the buck?
Blue Trunks (representing sales/outbound): Terry Ledden of Sales AboutFace - Sandler Training. Orange Trunks (representing marketing / inbound): Peter Caputa of HubSpot. Watch an exchange of blows that promises to entertain, engage and educate. Register here
Bonus 1: Free report “Why Salespeople Fail.” Attendees will get a link to this report after the event. Once you read this report, your view of selling will never be the same. Most modern-day selling systems and sales management efforts have many deficiencies that hurt sales numbers and forecasts. The Sandler Selling System® methodology completely changes the tenor of sales encounters with its honest, no-nonsense, dignified approach to selling that places salespeople firmly in control to sales goals.
Bonus 2: Free report “Inbound vs Outbound Marketing.” Attendees will get a link to this report after the event. The Internet has changed the dynamics of the business world, necessitating a change from “old marketing” techniques to “new marketing” techniques. With "old marketing" techniques, you are trying to reach a broad audience and hope for some small percentage (usually 1-3%) to respond. Looking at this another way, 97% of your marketing is wasted and 98% of buyers search in Google.
Register for the event here