The challenge is that each step of the cycle requires a different marketing approach. So it is essential that we are able to provide the right marketing strategy and content at the right time, for each step of the way, and help to boost the effectiveness of our client’s sales cycle.

However, with many sales cycles starting with a database of thousands of potential client customers, how can we optimise the process, and monitor and manage the entire process efficiently and productively?

A manual approach is likely to be resource heavy and inefficient and, while there are many tools to help manage and automate separate tasks, these do not provide a coherent end-to-end integrated approach. So what’s the answer?

Marketing automation tools, such as SharpSpring, HubSpot, Infusionsoft, and many others, are powerful tools that help B2B marketers to automate and optimise the end-to-end marketing cycle, particularly for clients with long sales cycles.

These tools offer powerful capabilities, such as: WYSIWYG email design; behavioural-based email automation; rules-based lead scoring, which adds a ‘score’ to lead activities to reflect relative interest; built-in CRM; integrated call, web and CRM tracking on a single platform; unified reporting; and so on.

The benefits of marketing automation are numerous. The ability to create more and better sales leads, through more focused segmentation and nurturing, being the number one benefit. But there are many others.

According to a 2014 Forrester Research report, for example, B2B marketers using marketing automation software can expect to increase the sales pipeline of their client, on average, by 10 per cent. Furthermore, it notes, companies that excel in lead nurturing generate 50 per cent more sales-ready leads at 33 per cent lower cost per lead.

A similar study by Nucleus Research shows that marketing automation can, on average, drive a 14.5 per cent increase in sales productivity with a 12.2 per cent reduction in marketing overheads. A further important benefit of marketing automation is the ability to shorten the sales cycle and close deals more quickly, saving costs and boosting sales productivity.

That’s why, at RMA, we use SharpSpring marketing automation software in order to help our clients create better leads, boost sales productivity, and shorten the sales cycle.

If you would like to discuss how we can boost the efficiency and productivity of your sales cycle process through efficient, targeted marketing, please visit www.redmillcommunications.com.