Regarding choosing the right tools for marketing support B2B marteers are in the same shoes as their B2C mates. In which technology to invest?
Forrester reveals contextual marketing as the end goal - meaning a 'Brand-specific platform and processes that exploit customer context to deliver utility and guide the customer into the next best interaction'. It all about the two main activities in a marketeer's life: gaining customer insight and using this insight to increase customer engagement.
Forrester expert Rusty Warner uses these two main activies to dive the complex system landscape into two corresponding main categories -- systems of insight and systems of engagement.
While B2B marketeers might not be fully convinced of their advantage from originally b2c channels as Facebook or twitter tools for Channel Marketing Automation and Avocate Marketing are sure to be considered. Sales enablement is already a must-have.
Forrester elaborates three actions for B2B marketing executives when deciding how to invest for future growth which I would strongly agree upon:
#1. Inventory your current tools and wish list items. CMOs need to ensure that their teams have the right tools to meet their marketing goals, that they are using them effectively, and that functionality is not doubled in a lot of tools questioning their focus and added value. So consolidating information about all of your current -- and planned-- investments is a key first step.
#2. Choose categories which help you to find needs and gaps more directly: this could be the proposed Forrester set up as well as your main processes or business driver which you plan to improve and think you should develop inhouse. This breakdown can also help you identify where you can either eliminate or integrate functionality - and then begin to manage your contextual marketing capabilities more effectively.
#3. Create a shortlist of strategic vendor partnerships. Make a list of the top traits you want in your technology providers - from cultural fit to business accumen to industry expertise - and evaluate your current roster against that list. Bring your team together -- and your sales and BT colleagues -- to plan your future investment approach and align roles.