Despite its ubiquity in the B2B vernacular, “Marketing Automation” hasn't been adopted by as many companies as you’d think. According to our recent survey, about 50% of companies still haven’t tested the waters—probably because there are so many questions surrounding this technology. Whether vague or specific, you surely have questions, too. Jennifer Stoll, Senior Strategic Planner at Pepper and Holger Schulze, Online Community Manager, dissect the survey findings and provide actionable advice on your toughest challenges in marketing automation readiness and maturity.

1. Marketing Automation:
Conquering the Questions in 2014

2. A COUPLE OF HOUSEKEEPING RULES
1
We will send out the slides and a recording of the
webinar within 48 hours
2
If you have questions, add them into the chat
window. We’ll address as many as possible at the
end during the Q&A.
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 2

3. Holger Schulze
Online Community Manager
Holger Schulze is a B2B technology marketing executive and online community
builder, managing online communities with over 300,000 members, including
the B2B Technology Marketing Community and the Information Security
Community on LinkedIn.
Jennifer Stoll
Senior Strategic Planner
With more than 14 years of client-side and marketing experience, Jennifer has
developed contact strategies in industries including technology, education and
CPG. An expert in building multi-channel demand generation programs for both
B2B and B2C, Jennifer merges theoretical planning with hands-on experience
as a marketing automation expert focusing on lead scoring, closed loop
reporting and advanced segmentation.
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 3

4. © Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 4
EXPLORING
THE DATA
Security Level: Confidential

5. 50,000
B2B marketers invited
700
respondents
Benchmark
reports developed

6. WHAT IS YOUR COMPANY’S OVERALL LEVEL OF
MARKETING AUTOMATION?
60%
53%
Over half of the respondents
are using marketing automation
Another 17% are currently evaluating or
considering marketing automation
30%
17%
13%
7%
6%
2%
1%
1%
Not sure
Abandoned
marketing
automation
Other (please
specify)
0%
Currently using or
applying marketing
automation
© Pepper GmbH, 2/5/2014, Slide 6
Evaluating or
considering
marketing
automation
Aware of the
application and
benefits of
marketing
automation, but
not using it yet
Not actively
looking to
implement
marketing
automation
Not aware of the
applications and
benefits of
marketing
automation

7. BENEFITS
Generating more and better leads
Improved marketing productivity
Improved conversion rates
Improved response and engagement rates
Improved segment targeting
Shortened sales cycles
0
50
100
150
Of the people who currently use marketing automation, the benefits align
to strengthening their demand generation efforts
© Pepper GmbH, 2/5/2014, Slide 7
200
250

8. SPENDING
The momentum is not slowing down. Of those who currently use
marketing automation, 96% plan to spend as much or more this year
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 8

9. BUDGET
63% of companies dedicate 10-29% of their
marketing budget to marketing automation
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 9

10. TIME
75% of organizations reported
they implemented their
marketing automation systems in
less than 6 months
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 10

11. SYSTEM IMPLEMENTED
Eloqua
(Oracle)
Marketo over indexes in usage
with small to mid-size
companies, while Eloqua is the
more prominent system with
large enterprises
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 11
Hubspot is the
leading platform in
usage for very small
companies

12. OBSTACLES
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 12
Budget constraints
Lack of skilled employees
Poor contact database quality
Lack of content
Complexity of automation software
Lack of feedback from sales on leads
Poor integration with sales and marketing
Poor infrastructure to collect/analyze data
Compatibility and interoperability issues
Lack of performance standards

13. SIZE MATTERS
For smaller companies, budget and cost of
ownership had the most impact on evaluating
platforms and vendors. Budget constraints top
the list of obstacles to more effective use in
smaller organizations
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 13
Mid-size to large companies focused on
product integration and analytics/reporting
functionality when making a decision. These
organizations struggle more with lack of skilled
employees and poor contact database quality.

14. MATURITY & METRICS
Length of time using
marketing automation
Response
metrics
Activity
metrics
(e.g. number of emails
sent)
(e.g. open rate, click
through rate)
Efficiency
metrics
(e.g. cost per lead,
close rates)
Value
metrics
(e.g. revenue /pipeline
value generated, etc.)
Less than 1 year
13%
39%
24%
24%
1 - 2 years
13%
30%
27%
31%
3 - 5 years
13%
30%
27%
30%
More than 5 years
13%
28%
27%
32%
Almost 40% of companies who have been using marketing automation for
less than a year rank response metrics as a top way they measure ROI.
This figure declines while the more advanced and complicated metrics of
“Value” increase in importance
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 14

15. This data is great – but
what does it mean to me?
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 15

16. ANSWERING
THE QUESTIONS
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 16
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17. FROM QUESTIONS TO INSIGHTS
why
when
does this matter to you?
is the right time to implement?
who
is responsible and who needs to be involved?
what
do you need to know to get started and mature?
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 17

18. WHY: BUYERS ARE MORE IN CONTROL THAN EVER
PAST
Buyer interacts with vendor
Buyer interacts with vendor
TODAY
58-70% of the buying process is
completed before talking to a vendor
*SAVO GROUP RESEARCH STUDY, 2012
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 18

19. WHY: NURTURING ALONG THE LIFECYCLE
Leads
Interest
Prospects
Research
Leads
LEAD
GENERATION
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 19
Evaluation
Interested Leads
Customers
Selection
Decision
Experience
Engagement
Up/cross sell
Qualified Leads
Customers
Customer
satisfaction
Customer loyalty
Long-time
preference
LEAD
NURTURING
LEAD
CONVERSION
MAXIMIZING
CUSTOMER VALUE

20. If 53% of companies are using the
technology to better understand
and optimize buyer behavior
and 17% are looking into it,
there’s a good chance
your competitors are
part of that
majority.
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 20

21. HOW: STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION
PEOPLE
PROCESS
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 21

22. HOW: IDENTIFYING REQUIREMENTS
Who’s going
to manage it?
What platform
is best for us?
We need
marketing
automation
How does it
integrate with
existing
systems?
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 22
Where is the
budget
coming from?

23. HOW: ALIGNING INTERNALLY
SALES
TECHNOLOGY
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 23
MARKETING

24. WHO: POSSIBLE JOB ROLES
The architect
Integrates all
data/systems,
expert in CRM
Implementation
specialist
Provides all
technology support,
expert/implements
Process specialist
Works on SLAs,
sales enablement,
process setup;
works with sales to
define needs
Demand
generation expert
Analyzes market
and creates strategy
behind what’s
implemented
Estimates suggest 50% of new marketing hires will have
technical backgrounds
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 24

25. WHO: ALIGNING WITH SALES
© Pepper GmbH, 2/5/2014, Slide 25

26. WHO: ALIGNING WITH SALES
Responders |
Suspect to
Prospect
Prospect
Nurturing
MQLs |
Prospect to
MQL
SQLs |
MQL to
SQL
Lead
Nurturing
SRLs |
SQL TO
SRL
Opportunity Management
Wins |
SRL to
Close
Purchase
Lead Scoring
1. Define and publish a common “language” for lead management (sales and marketing)
2. Train the heck out of everyone. Repeatedly.
3. Decide on a logical sales U-Turn process.
4. Partner w/ sales to enforce lead management and CRM behaviors
5. Create a shared lead scoring model

27. WHO: CIO  CMO
The CIO will
become more
actively involved
with the CMO in all
marketing
automation
decisions that have
cross-functional
implications
CMO
© Pepper GmbH, 2/5/2014, Slide 27
CIO

28. WHAT: QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN EVALUATING
Pricing:
• Does the vendor offer scalable pricing to match company growth?
• What is the total cost of ownership?
Multichannel capabilities:
• Can you track and engage through social media?
• Is it possible to link activity to the web?
Integration of tools and databases:
• Can it integrate tools such as Salesforce or Oracle CRM?
• Are there additional efforts for programming?
© Pepper GmbH, 2/5/2014, Slide 28

29. WHAT: QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN EVALUATING
Workflow management:
• How much IT involvement do you need to launch?
• How easy is it to personalize or develop assets?
Reporting:
• Is it easy to set up automated reports?
Scoring:
• Can you integrate a custom scoring model?
• Is scoring available
• based on title, role or areas of interest?
Data management:
• Can you easily define and select target groups?
• Is the tool compliant with your IT and data security policies?
© Pepper GmbH, 2/5/2014, Slide 29

30. Your system is
implemented.
Now what?
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 30

31. GROW.
EVOLVE.
MATURE.
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 31

32. BATCH AND BLAST TARGETED COMMUNICATION
Past
Customer •Inconsistent and infrequent communications
experience •No triggers based on customer interaction
Segments
Content
Time
© Pepper GmbH, 2/5/2014, Slide 32
•Fragmented data & sporadic customer intelligence
•Dispersed approach and limited support
•Limited content repository for global/local content
•Product / solution specific content versus customer thought leadership needs
•Inconsistent touch strategies across segments and regions
•No regularly scheduled touchpoints

33. BATCH AND BLAST TARGETED COMMUNICATION
1
2
3
What’s your
game plan?
Develop baseline
activities
Define personas, pain
points and journey
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 33

34. WHAT: DO YOU HAVE A GAME PLAN?
1
Campaigns to generate leads
2
Lifecycle communication in newsletters for
loyalty & awareness
3
One-touch trigger and/or promotional
communication to create action
4
Nurturing programs
Multi-touch nurturing programs to develop leads
© Pepper GmbH, 2/5/2014, Slide 34

35. WHAT: DEVELOPING A BASELINE
Subscription and preference center
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 35
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36. WHAT: WELCOME CAMPAIGNS
Where are they
coming from?
Entry via subscription center
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 36
Entry via asset download

37. WHAT: BUILDING A CONTENT STRATEGY
SUBJECT
MATTER
AUDIENCE
DEVELOPMENT
TEAM
GOAL
CREATION &
REPURPOSING
This is all easier said than done—but the first step is
auditing what you have and what you can reuse
© Pepper GmbH, 2/5/2014, Slide 37

38. WHAT: SPLIT CONTENT TO DEVELOP DERIVATIONS
Infographics
Video infographics
Executive Summary
Starting point:
white papers per
persona
Social Media

39. WHAT : DISTRIBUTE THROUGH AUTOMATION
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 39

40. WHAT: CONTENT STEPS TO SUCCESS
1. Do a content audit of everything. Can you update/repurpose
older pieces? Can you break up larger pieces? Can you use something
you thought wasn’t content (i.e., your own social media policy; old
photos from your company’s beginnings)
2. Make it flexible year after year
3. Leverage content across audiences as much as possible
4. Develop a Content Matrix Asset Inventory
5. Have a clear purpose in what you’re communicating
© Pepper GmbH, 2/5/2014, Slide 40

41. HOW: MEASURING IMPACT OF YOUR EFFORTS
75%
ROI primary measure by 2015
50%
feel sufficiently prepared
IBM GLOBAL CMO STUDY
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 41

42. HOW: FOCUS ON EVOLVING YOUR MEASUREMENT
Measurement then
•
Email response metrics, like
open rate, click through rate,
etc.
•
Measurement now
Volume based metrics are
relevant, but don’t show the
whole picture
Revenue performance
management (RPM) shows
what had the greatest influence
on the purchase decision by
evaluating entire buyers
journey
•
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 42
•
Helps make intelligent decisions
about where to spend money,
and helps align marketing and
sales even more

43. HOW: LOOK AT CONVERSION AT EVERY STAGE
Optimized %
Inquiries | Suspect to Prospect
Using advance scoring, testing and nurturing
techniques can double response rates
Optimized
contacts
Average %
Average
contacts
4%
20,000
2%
10,000
6%
1,200
4%
400
65%
780
55%
220
55%
429
50%
110
30%
129
25%
28
MQLs | Prospect to MQL
Implementing strong process has shown to
increase rates up to 10% - the 6% here is
conservative but reasonable
SALs | MQL to SAL
When marketing and sales properly align
conversion rates can increase (on average) by at
least 10%
SQLs | SAL TO SQL
Self-qualification and holistic lead nurturing for
“not ready” leads can increase rates by 5-10%
Wins | SQL to close
Sales can focus on better qualified
leads to close
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 43

44. FINAL THOUGHTS
Crawl, walk, run
Marketing automation enables you—it doesn’t solve
TALK IT OUT
Know yourself
You’re not alone—you can find what you need
© Pepper GmbH, 2/5/2014, Slide 44

45. QUESTIONS?
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 45
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46. FIND US
www.pepperglobal.com
slideshare.net/PepperGlobal
linkedin.com/company/PepperGlobal
@PepperNA OR @PepperGlobal
B2B Technology Marketing Group: linkd.in/1fNjDmC
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 46

47. Thank you
The contents of this presentation are confidential and may not be disclosed to third parties. All content, ideas and tools within the offer are the copyrighted
works of Pepper GmbH and subject to standard German copyright law. Any redistribution or reproduction of any materials herein is subject to approval by
Pepper GmbH. Some pictures, illustrations and photos may be subject to copyright and trademark rights of third parties and have strictly been used for
internal purposes only. All registered trademarks are the properties of their individual companies and organisations. All brand names are the intellectual
property of their owners. All registered trademarks are acknowledged, even if they have not been expressly labelled as such.
© Pepper, 2/5/2014, Slide 47
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