Do you
think sales automation software and marketing automation software are the same?
The answer is not really. Both sales automation software and marketing
automation software have their particular features and utility in the sales and
marketing process. Sales automation software and marketing automation software
have become an integral part of businesses these days. Seeing at a macro level
sales automation software and marketing automation software looks similar;
however, they serve different purposes. Let us compare and contrast marketing
automation software with sales automation software:
The difference in Primary User: The primary user for sales automation software and marketing automation software is different. Sales automation is
used by sales executives, whereas the marketing team uses marketing automation.
Now, it doesn’t mean that only the sales team using the sales automation
software; there are other teams as well using the sales automation, but here we
are only discussing the primary user. Marketing automation software is more
advanced than sales automation software as it is developed to fulfill the
requirements of different types of marketing campaigns. Marketing automation
software allows performing different action types, like changing field values,
editing records, aligning records to a CRM, distributing leads, and so on.
However, with sales automation software, it has workflows used by the sales
team when tracking leads like sending emails, text messages, and so on.
Email Source: Another notable difference between marketing automation software and sales automation software is the manner that email
messages are sent. In marketing automation software, emails are sent through
the marketing automation provider’s network; however, in sales automation,
software emails are sent through the company’s own email server. It can be an
Exchange server, Office 365, Google, and so on. Sales automation software
offers better control over the emails with better deliverability, and an option
to unsubscribe in the emails.
Tracking Emails: The third difference between sales automation
software and marketing automation software is the level of tracking emails.
Marketing automation software tracks the number of emails opened and clicked;
however, it doesn’t detect if anybody replies to an email. Contrary to this,
sales automation software can detect replies. With sales automation software,
contacts can be automatically removed from the workflow if the deal is closed
or not interested in the offer; however, with marketing automation software,
leads need to be manually removed if they are closed or not interested in
product or service. Marketing automation is ideally used to nurture
relationships with existing clients; however, sales automation is used for
establishing new relationships.
Target Audience: The last major difference between sales
automation software and marketing automation software is the target audience
contacted and in which stage of a buyer’s journey. Sales automation software is
simple, and due to its sales-friendly setup, it is used to fill the top of the
sales funnel. Relationships at the top of the sales funnel are delicate and not
completely established; in such scenarios, sales automation software acts as a
savior to create strong connections. Sales executives can take most of the
advantage of sales automation software that helps them to build strong
connections at the beginning of a buyers’ journey. On the other hand, marketing
automation software is ideal for contacts in the middle or bottom of the
funnel, when a relationship is already established.
In a nutshell
automation software is used by marketers and intended for middle to bottom of
the funnel people. It is perfect for nurturing warm prospects or existing
clients, establishing stronger relationships, and up-selling customers.
However, sales automation software is used by sales executives and intended for
the top of the funnel sales activities. It is perfect for Account-Based
Marketing (ABM) and prospecting.
The Blog post is really helped me!
ReplyDeleteI was bit confused about Marketing Automation Software and Sales Force Automation Software.
The blog post shared made get clear info about softwares.
Online Advertisement – The Next Big Thing
ReplyDeleteWith the present world being rechristened with digital era, the medium of promotions and advertising is also getting digital. More and more companies are following the online medium of promotions. It has become a promising platform for SMEs to build their brands, as it allow them to be flexible according to their ease and approach niche target audiences in an innovative manner. Online advertising needs a meager amount, but has the potential to be competitive with the large advertisers. This point has become the biggest USP for online advertising which is the need of the hour and latest buzz in the SME circuit after online marketing and matchmaking.
Advertising is one of the inevitable part of branding and promotions and with SMEs making a foothold in the international global business scene. Its indispensable for them to promote and advertise themselves and online medium is so economical that it entice every emerging entrepreneur.
Any one can start advertising at a meager amount of Rs. 200 – 300 per day and on the basis of results they can alleviate the expenses. Companies like carwaale.com, bazee.com earn most of their business through online promotions at various google sites.
Google ads have been the favourite among the SME sector. But now numerous SMEs are availing the services of google and other highly visited sites for their promotions like the popular B2B portals and B2B matchmaking platforms in order to hit the pertinent audience.
“SMEs contribute a significant portion of our ad sales revenue. We are seeing a good proportion of incremental spends from existing advertisers and there is a healthy growth in new SME advertisers signing up with us. A wide range of SMEs find value in advertising on the digital medium. They vary from car sellers to coaching institutes, chemical companies and stock brokers.” as told to business standard by Sridhar Seshadri, Business Head, online sales operations at Google India.
The flexibility provided by the campaigns like to pay on the basis of results make such online promotions once a worth try. And as most of them are producing significant results which thus streamline the business communication.
SMEs are looking for being advertise in various formats, from simple text to more intricate gadgets and videos concentrating their prospectives on the basis of pretext, keywords and content. Nevertheless, in general, for simple products and simple results, text is the preferred medium. It takes less than 5 minutes to actually make the advertisement and can be changed instantly as per the need. Hence, many SMEs prefer this.
Seeing the enthusiasm of SMEs in online media, companies like IndiaMART.com , Hellotrade.com are taking initiatives to educate the SMEs about online presence, ICTs, online promotions and online advertisements. IndiaMART.com is doing this through a drive which includes seminars, events and one to one engagement to enlighten the SME entrepreneurs.
With a hope that SMEs will enter this digital age in order to benefit themselves through the use of various online tools as B2B matchmaking, B2B marketplaces, B2B directories, promotions all of which are present online. But before all this, advertisement is the most nascent step which they have to follow and with the above listed scenario, the future seems to be bright for Indian SMEs.