Ed Hadley
June 23, 2012
B2B Marketers Missing Out on Marketing Automation and CRM Software
According to research released from BuyerZone in June 2012, marketing automation (MA) and customer relationship management (CRM) adoption can give businesses an edge over their competitors. This data draws from the responses of 211 businesses, most of which are BuyerZone clients who completed an online survey during March 2012.
The data shows 56 percent of B2B marketing companies are currently using customer relationship management software to help maximize their lead generation efforts; however, this leaves 44 percent that are not. Some of the reasons cited for not having a CRM system in place include using excel to track leads and contacts (31 percent), unsure of what CRM software is (24 percent), and it’s not currently a priority (16 percent). According to the research, companies that do not have CRM software are missing out on an opportunity to bring a return of $5.60 for every dollar spent.
The number of B2B companies using marketing automation software is far fewer than those using CRM: 13 percent. Similar to the potential opportunities for success with CRM, marketing automation can provide significant results as well. From the research, “Businesses using MA are able to manage more lead sources: they averaged 4.7 sources vs. the non-users’ 4.1. Diversifying lead sources is good for long-term stability and helps lead buyers balance quality and quantity of leads.”
B2B marketers that do not have CRM or MA systems in place may be missing out on opportunities to improve processes and bring in more revenue. Most of the reasons cited by those surveyed have to do familiarity with current systems; however, vendors have the opportunity to show the results software can lead to and should educate those businesses that are unaware.
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