2022 Trends in Martech & CRM

by | Mar 17, 2022 | Martech and CRM

2022 Trends in Martech & CRM

Martech & CRM: Too Many Choices

Martech and CRM platorms? We’re now up to 10,000 martech platforms alone.

How is a small-ish company supposed to navigate this?

The big names, like Salesforce and Hubspot, command ridiculous prices. Unless you’re already in the $500 million+ range in revenues, there are way better choices.

When you hop over to Capterra to look at platforms, you’ll still see they’re divided into ‘CRM’, ’email marketing’, et.al.

We believe sales and marketing functions are on a collision course to become one function, underpinned by a single platform.

There’s not much reason for those two functions to be in separate silos anymore.

Today, both functions are playing nicer together. There are too many interdependencies to do otherwise.

Many, many companies do not need the more expensive platforms. Those companies just need to use, more effectively, the platforms that cost a fraction.

Culling your stack in 2022

Not many tech or SaaS marketing departments can stay on top of new developments in martech and CRM. Most are busy chasing new prospects.

Here are the key trends for 2022:

  1. Prices keep coming down. Every new entrant in this space intensifies competition.
  2. There’s no reason to buy and manage separate platforms for marketing and sales. There’s just too many that do both functions well. Native integration is a huge bonus for users.
  3. The C-suite is waking up to efficiencies gained, and costs cut, by culling sales and martech stacks. Many are replacing outdated stacks altogether with all-in-one solutions that cost less and are easier to use.

Look familiar?

The latest generation of Martech & CRM solutions

New and better sales and marketing automation platform emerge continuously. Purpose built for small and mid-sized B2Bs, these platforms are designed. from the ground up, to integrate sales and marketing.

  • No more jumping around from platform to platform to get a campaign out the door, send alerts to the sales people and measure engagement.
  • No more ‘who do I call’ when something goes wrong.
  • Best of all, no more annual subscriptions and cumbersome contracts.

Smart tech and SaaS companies are taking advantage of new offerings.

Maybe it’s time you take a look?

 

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Marketing automation driving you nuts? What clients are saying…

by | Mar 2, 2017 | Martech and CRM

Marketing automation for SMBs

I can?t tell you how many of our SMB clients have bought sales and marketing automation platforms and then essentially let them sit there or used only a part of their capabilities. Purchasers get all excited about the sizzle and forget how much ‘chopping wood and carrying water’ is needed?to make these platforms work well.

Homer Simpson overwhelmed with marketing automation

? 20th Century Fox and Matt Groenig

Our clients are typically tech and manufacturing companies in the $20-$150 million range.

Some?of these companies bought Salesforce.com, for example, when they really didn’t?have the employee bandwidth?to learn and use it correctly.

Today we have hundreds and hundreds of sales and marketing automation platforms from which to choose, which makes things complicated for first-or second-time time buyers in 2017.

The good news, however, is we?re seeing an influx of hybrid platforms, built specifically?for SMBs, that handle both sales and marketing automation.

Examples include Infusionsoft (more sophisticated, more $$$) and Jumplead (less sophisticated, less $$$). These platforms, and many others, manage your CRM, contact management, sales pipeline, inbound and outbound digital marketing and provide easy-to-use dashboards for metrics at a glance.

What we’ve learned from clients…

      • Right size, right price is vital. Many of today?s apps will scale pricing as your needs grow. Pick one with an affordable?opening price point that fits your budget today. There’s no need to pay up front for excess capacity you won’t use for a while.
      • Top down support is essential. If your CEO is not on board, let alone your sales and marketing leaders, don?t bother.
      • Go cheap at first and grow from there. You can go to www.capterra.com and find a wealth of information on the top several hundred apps including features and pricing to fit your company?s specific needs and goals.
      • Understand that these apps are human resource intensive,?regardless of the vendor’s claims. You will need to dedicate at least one or two in-house folks to learn, use and evangelize the new platform.
      • Marketing automation integration with CRM is crucial. Marketing?s primary role is to serve as a front end for the sales team, so technology integration across both sales and marketing platforms is a must.

Enterprise apps are for big companies

For example, Salesforce/Pardot is enterprise ? for big companies, in my opinion, even though they have an SMB offering. Why? Because it?s more complex and time consuming?to onboard and use, regardless of company size. This is the #1 platform I run into where it?s installed but not used or used poorly. The smaller the company, the less likely it will have the human resources or patience to stick with it. Marketo, the most popular marketing automation platform, is enterprise for the same reasons.

Products like Jumplead and Infusionsoft, in my opinion, are less complex and have a faster ramp up. Remember, there are hundreds?of others available so do your research. Start at?www.capterra.com.

Understand that all of these platforms have a steep learning curve, despite what they claim. I use Jumplead and my only complaint is that their help section needs a lot of help. But they are quick to answer questions by chat and email so I don?t stay grumpy for long.

By the way, investing in these tools has far more implications than just ?automating? sales and marketing activities. Proper use will yield critical information for corporate strategy, lead gen, conversion, metrics and other key areas.

Final word

Martech is a valuable tool but do your research and buy only what you need for where you are today. Expect to spend a lot of time ramping up.

Feel free?to?contact us at any time and we?ll give you some direction over the phone or?by email.

#marketingautomation #martech #b2bmarketing #demandgen