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The Business Development Model for the future is Clear: Marketing Technology

Thousands of companies had to react quickly in 2020 and learn new ways to attract customers. For those teams that weren’t used to working remotely, it was a seismic shift that they are still reacting to. Frequently, old marketing systems just don’t work with fragmented teams working from home.

Atlas Rose, the marketing leadership company, has been following a trend that started a few years ago, but one that has accelerated recently: Marketing Technology. Gene Fedele, Atlas Rose Chief Marketing Officer comments “Digital integration is where the biggest marketing gains will come from in the future. Specifically, using a digital marketing platform that not only houses your email automation, CRM, and inventory but controls the entire customer experience for the life of the client relationship.

In years past we saw the rise of affordable single-function tools like Mailchimp and Basecamp, but now we are seeing full integration platforms that mine for data, predict behavior, and give sales teams valuable insights to move customer relationships forward.

There has always been a divide between the marketing and sales function of a business. But today’s marketing technology systems are better than ever in scoring incoming leads, deploying relevant messaging, and hitting the touchpoints that salespeople have done manually in the past.

In theory, we want our client’s salespeople to only be communicating with the hottest of leads that are ready to make a purchasing decision very soon. This is the best use of labor hours, which are usually the largest single expense for a business. All the other incoming leads can be serviced through technology and automation until they get warm enough to assign a salesperson.

While this method may seem impersonal and cold, it’s not, explains Atlas Rose CEO, Branden O’Neil. Consumers in both B2C and B2B environments are in control of the sales process. Frequently, it starts online where they are looking for a solution to a problem. Nobody wants to be sold to, but they love to buy. Nowadays, consumers control the pace at which a sale happens by educating themselves first. It might be through YouTube videos, reading a whitepaper, taking an assessment quiz, or reading a blog. In the course of doing that, intelligent CRM systems can start to learn the identity of the prospect and what’s important to them. At any time during this process, prospects can elect to communicate with a human.

The marketing technology tool Atlas Rose uses for clients is called the Atlas Rose Operating System (AROS). It’s a completely modern, yet user-friendly platform that systematizes the marketing function. The result is a predictable, measurable, and nimble resource for the entire company to use.

In the past, marketers did their job using a patchwork of tools designed to do just one thing. Companies had multiple sites they log into to monitor web traffic, advertising spends, email conversions, social media, and customer sentiment. “The complexity makes marketers prone to mistakes” says, Fedele.

Because we live in such an interconnected world, and our customers are reachable through multiple channels, we want to make sure that we are projecting consistent brand promises. When they engage with us, all of that interest has to intersect somewhere so we can take action. That’s what AROS does.

So what should companies focus on in 2021?

O’Neil feels strongly that it will be the customer experience that will separate great companies from the tone-deaf ones. No doubt about it, getting the marketing systems set up and talking to one another can be a daunting task without the help from a marketing professional. Once that’s done, organizations can focus on designing a sequence of events that deliver best in class customer service and creates raving fans. Some industries are seeing new lows in customer satisfaction and blaming their poor service on the existing health crisis. While customers are proving to be forgiving, they do have their limits. “I’m sensing their patience is reaching an end. Those companies need to adapt quickly, or they’ll die.

My advice is to take a step back and look at your marketing funnel through your customer’s eyes. Spot the gaps in communication and look to bridge the divide using a single tool you can grow with-and remote employees can leverage.”