Consumer expectations are changing, thanks in large part to work done by influential brands like Amazon, Netflix, and Apple. These companies, and organizations like them, have created new consumer experiences that re-frame entire industries.
Today it’s normal to order groceries online, forego cable, and work remotely with just a smartphone. Only a few years ago it would have been far less mainstream to do any of these things. While engineering and technological advancement are responsible for providing the infrastructure required to create new experiences, marketers are the ones who have altered consumer experience in notable ways.
Whether you’re a marketer at a tech company or an entrepreneur interested in learning how to make money fast, this article will review some of the digital marketing strategies employed by the world’s best brands. These strategies have helped organizations to change expectations and to create new marketers where ones did not previously exist.
The same strategies can help readers to build more successful marketing strategies in 2018.
Progressive profiling and lead scoring
Business to business companies have recently adopted progressive profiling and lead scoring in order to ensure that only the most qualified and interested customers are introduced to members of the sales team.
In the old days, digital marketers would focus on providing a certain number of leads to the sales team. The marketing team was focused on lead generation, and the sales team would need to sift through leads to find the ones worth speaking today.
Today, sophisticated marketing teams use lead scoring algorithms to determine what leads are most ready to buy. Then only qualified leads are sent to sales, while the others remain in automated nurturing cadences. For reference, the average conversion rate from a lead to a customer is a bit over 9 percent according to Capterra.
In order to ensure that leads are properly qualified, marketers have started to employ progressive profiling. Each time a prospect submits a new form to get in touch with sales, or to access gated content, they are asked different questions that further illuminate who they are.
The deeper a prospect advances along the customer journey, the more specific questions become to buyer intent.
Brands are also using data enrichment to learn more about leads from the get-go. Tools like Clearbit and Datanyze can use information like an email address or an IP address to enrich leads with additional data related to firmographics or demographics.
Customer journeys instead of marketing funnels
According to a study conducted by Forrester, nearly 75 percent of business buyers do extensive online research on their own before reaching out to a brand. As a result of this new reality, powered by vast amounts of free online information, the best brands have stopped thinking about marketing funnels and instead focus on customer journeys.
The marketing funnel assumes that a customer enters an organization’s database at the start of their search, and moves through the funnel at the behest of the brand.
In reality, customers often enter the marketing funnel in the middle or end of their journey. That’s why marketers are now thinking about guiding customers through a series of experiences that can begin when a customer chooses.
Of course, brands are always interested in connecting with potential customers as early as possible, but great marketers realize that they must create journeys that accommodate the needs and wants of the prospect. One way the world’s best brands are able to create effective customer journeys is through analytics and content personalization.
Analytics help marketers to understand what customer journeys work best. Marketing attribution, for example, helps brands to determine what series of actions should be credited for closing a customer. From there, marketers can begin devising campaigns that lead prospects through a series of experiences that are known work well in converting leads to customers.
Content personalization allows brands to surface appropriate content at an appropriate time. That means that two prospects who are at different stages in their buyer’s journey could see completely different content when navigating through the same website.
Conclusion
Marketers of all sorts can learn from the world’s best brands. Successful organizations have been able to change consumer expectations through a variety of strategies outlined in this article.
Readers who are interested in creating a more innovative digital marketing strategy in 2018, should consider implementing marketing campaigns designed to nurture customers along efficient buyer journeys.
Using progressive profiling, lead scoring, and content personalization, readers can ensure that prospects have a rewarding experience when interacting with your brand.
Which digital marketing strategies are working for your business? Share your insights in the comments.
