Marketing Automation Software Blog

In this final installment of our whiteboard session with Mac McConnell, we cover the strategy for building a lead scoring model. Mac shows how different criteria should be weighted based on the company’s target market. Then he discusses how this score can be used to determine when a lead is ready.

You know you need lead scoring, but what exactly are you scoring? In this second installment of our series with Mac McConnell of BlueBird Strategies, Mac discusses the different criteria that can be used to create a lead score. His approach looks at demographics, behavior and qualification.

Mac McConnell, partner and founder of BlueBird Strategies, came into our office recently to do a whiteboard session on lead scoring. Marketers are familiar with this term, but what does it really mean for your pipeline? In this first video, Mac discusses how lead scoring improves movement in the sales pipeline.

There has been a lot of buzz in the enterprise software space about this new term, Revenue Performance Management (RPM). But what is this new TLA? What implications does it have for the marketing automation industry? We did an in-depth analysis of the term in an attempt to answer these questions.

There are a lot of things that go out of style – 8-tracks, your bellbottomed jeans, and Zach Morris’ cellular device. It’s about time to add the whitepaper to that list. Once used to promote thought leadership, whitepapers are glorified sales pitches that today’s buyers don’t have the attention spans to digest.

In this final segment of our video interview with Joe Chernov, Director of Content Marketing at Eloqua, we discussed how Eloqua approaches personal branding. Joe talks about the importance of maintaining relationships with the Forresters and Gartners of the world, while reaching out to other trusted voices in the industry.

In this second installment of our interview with Joe Chernov, Director of Content Marketing at Eloqua, we discuss the different approaches to building a brand. What is best approach? Is it to pursue a strictly corporate or personal brand? Joe suggests a hybrid of the two.

It’s SXSW time in Austin, Texas, again. That means we get a lot of interesting people floating through our city. One of them, Joe Chernov, Director of Content Marketing at Eloqua, was able to take a break from the SXSW madness to stop by our office. Eloqua hosted a panel this year.

This is the final video in our series with Jon Miller, VP Marketing and co-founder of Marketo. In this segment, Jon discusses the role of a Sales Development Rep (SDR). The SDR serves a critical filter between sales and marketing, ensuring that no lead gets passed onto sales until they are highly qualified.

The Software-as-a-Service Market is highly competitive. However, Marketo has managed to blow the competition out of the water, becoming the second fastest growing SaaS vendor on the market today. Jon Miller, VP Marketing and co-founder of Marketo, reveals the company’s secret behind their impressive growth.

In part one of this whiteboard session, Jon Miller, VP Marketing and co-founder of Marketo, discusses Revenue Performance Management. The world of marketing has transformed from the “Mad Men” days, when the vendor was in control. Now, with an overabundance of information, the buyer is in control.

Last week, an article by Mac McConnell of BlueBird Strategies posed an intriguing question – “You’ve Got Marketing Automation. Now What?” This question is often asked by marketing practitioners who buy into the idea of automation, yet do so without having a clear plan or strategy…

A lot has been written about marketing automation applications being just a technology tool. Much of this discussion wraps around the need for good process and alignment between sales and marketing in order to make the most of the investment. However, until the system is turned on, these conversations are theoretical.

Marketing automation is a hot market right now. Marketo, Eloqua and Pardot are getting a lot of buzz. How important is this market to Microsoft? Brad Wilson, General Manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, discusses Microsoft Dynamics CRM current marketing capabilities and their strategy for competing in this space.

Software Advisory Board member, Jeff Pedowitz, contributes a controversial post on why the marketing automation software industry is underperforming (relative to its sales and service counterparts). He proposes a 5-step plan for vendors to course-correct, grow the market and maximize adoption.

In this video, Carlos Hidalgo, CEO of Annuitas Group, discusses the importance of implementing a lead management framework. Without it, you cannot fully realize the value of marketing automation software. Hidalgo also provides tips for buyers on how to navigate the marketing automation software market.

In the latest of our Executive Interview Series, we met up with Christopher Doran, VP of Marketing at Manticore Technology, to discuss what makes their offering unique. In this clip, Doran introduces their Customer Success Manager program (CSM) and talks about importance of the vendor-customer relationship.

Sure, Salesforce.com is a go-to solution when it comes to customer relationship management (CRM) software. But what about marketing automation? Should they be in the running with best-of-breed vendors such as Marketo, Eloqua and Pardot? Read our full report to help with your evaluation.

Software Advisory Board member, Mike MacFarlane, explains how to integrate marketing automation software with customer relationship management (CRM) software. He discusses benefits of integration, the underlying technology and 10 questions to consider when evaluating marketing automation software.

Teradata today announced their purchase of Aprimo, a traditionally strong player in the marketing resource management space. Expectations aside, there is still much to be said about the implications of this deal. Does this signal a move by Teradata into the B2B market?