Sales and marketing teams have their hands in many pots — all of which tie back to the larger goal of connecting with target audiences and fueling business growth. On any given day, these inbound marketing solutions could include tracking leads and customers, publishing new website content to boost traffic and drive engagement, and sending emails to segmented contact lists to promote said content. All the while, salespeople and marketers are likely to pull regular data and activity reports they can share with management and other departments.
Traditionally, each of these activities has required employees to toggle between different marketing tools: one for customer relationship management, one for website content management and one for email management. Aside from the time lost in navigation — businesses report spending an average of one hour every day moving from platform to platform — the use of multiple marketing platforms also makes it difficult to not only locate data but make relevant, useful connections between the data in alternate systems.
While this scratches the surface of the appeal of all-in-one inbound marketing platforms like HubSpot, it’s only the start of the conversation. When you invest in an all-in-one marketing platform, you will reap these five benefits.
Every second of downtime matters to business operations, whether it’s time lost as employees move between marketing platforms or the increased demand on IT teams to handle integrations and maintenance for individual platforms. After all, these manual efforts tack on additional costs and take employees away from other important tasks.
An all-in-one inbound marketing platform alleviates these concerns. While salespeople and marketers have the means to be more productive with all information included under one umbrella, IT teams are tasked with less technology upkeep. (And when support is needed, IT personnel only need to reach out to one company for help, not multiple businesses.)
Every marketing platform houses valuable data. But when data operate in silos, marketing and sales teams must manually piece together analytics for a holistic view of the customer journey. For instance, an email marketing platform may tell you that a prospective customer opened and clicked the CTA on your latest email. But when did that prospect first visit your website? What, if any, communications have they had with the sales team up to this point?
When you invest in an all-in-one marketing platform, these answers are available in one space. With data already connected to account for every stage of the customer journey, marketers and salespeople can avoid the gaps that come with manual comparisons and use these insights to drive lead nurturing tactics and other inbound-minded marketing solutions that are more likely to inspire action.
Marketing and sales teams operate under busy schedules, so there’s not always time to have conversations around individual contacts. Yet, it’s critical that both parties remain on the same page as to the dynamics and activities of prospects, so meaningful conversations can be had.
Consider this in the context of the first call sales has with an interested prospect. When the salesperson can see the webpages a prospect has viewed, as well as content pieces they’ve downloaded, they can better understand the products/services they might be interested in and build a talk track around that.
Because all-in-one marketing platforms are powered by a single database, marketing and sales have access to the same information. With everyone working from the same record, the two departments naturally become more aligned in their efforts, which creates more opportunities. In fact, when sales and marketing functions are tightly aligned, research shows businesses enjoy a 38% higher win rate for sales and 24% of businesses reported a higher customer retention rate.
Wherever marketing data lives, it must remain secure. The use of multiple platforms inevitably makes it more difficult to protect customer data. These vulnerabilities can be attributed in part to the increased number of access points, and the greater likelihood businesses will lose track of where data is stored.
Eliminating data silos with an all-in-one marketing platform creates a more secure environment. From one comprehensive tool, marketers and sales teams can maintain a clear overview of the customer data they’ve collected and currently store. All the while, you only have to adhere to a single tool’s security standards, versus that of several tools, which makes it easier to maintain the integrity of the platform as time goes on.
Personalization is more than a beneficial option for businesses; it’s a necessity in digital marketing and sales efforts and is crucial to any successful inbound marketing or sales strategy. Considering the number of business emails and calls individuals receive every day, it’s critical to find ways to stand out from the crowd and capture the interest of recipients. The best way to achieve this is with a clear understanding of their customer journey.
An all-in-one marketing platform provides comprehensive data that takes the guesswork out of the equation. This results in a frictionless user experience where prospects and customers feel understood and ultimately develop a sense of trust with the business. And as trust builds, so do the opportunities for sales.
With a CRM at its core and a full stack platform for marketing, sales and customer service, HubSpot is an all-in-one marketing suite that helps businesses of all shapes and sizes grow and grow better. From a reduction in process inefficiencies to increased alignment between departments, HubSpot positions businesses to create a more delightful experience for customers and move them through the buyer journey faster.
Considering HubSpot as your all-in-one marketing platform? We want you to get the most out of your investment. From technical setup to strategic direction, we’ll guide you through HubSpot onboarding so you can take full advantage of the platform’s capabilities and maximize your ROI.