Driving Revenue in a Volatile Economy

Driving Revenue In A Volatile
Economy (DRIVE)

Lori Wizdo, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research
Atri Chatterjee, CMO, Act-On Software

www.act-on.com | @ActOnSoftware | #ActOnSW

Welcome! Thanks for joining us today.

Lori Wizdo Atri Chatterjee
Principal Analyst, Forrester Research CMO, Act-On Software


Q&A

• Submit questions for
the Q&A session


Agenda

• About this study

• Key Findings

• Recommendations


Basics of the Study
WHAT 1,000 to
2,499

• Study of small and mid-sized businesses
employees
22%
50 to 249
conducted by Forrester for Act-On employees
48%
• Survey completed in August and September 2012
500 to 999
employees

WHO 14%

• 208 companies in North America 250 to 499
employees
• B-to-B and B-to-B-to-C 16%

Executive
WHY 1% Head of
Marketing
17%
• Understand the effects of the economic Manager
of
slowdown on SMB marketing Marketing
45%
• Understand how SMBs are marketing and
compare them to larger companies
Executive
• Determine any differences between top Individual
in
Marketing
performers & the rest contributor 37%
0%


Industries & Performers

• Participation from various types of industries from manufacturing to
service
• Respondents across all major verticals
Computers, aerospace
, automotive, etc.
Transportation,
banking, insurance,
etc. Other
30% Manufacturing
40%

Business
Consulting, accounting, Services
construction,
professional services, etc. 30%


SMB Marketers Fielding a Mighty
Marketing Mix

Over 50% are using 13 or
more marketing
techniques (traditional
and digital)

Base: 208 Marketing Decision-makers
Source: "SME Marketing Tactics and Metrics Survey", a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Act-On Software, Inc., August, 2012


SMBs Gravitate to Traditional Techniques

Top 5 tactics are
traditional and hard to
scale



SMBs Lag Behind in Digital Techniques

SMB use of webinars is 58%;
in enterprises it is 93%



SMBs are Taking a “Leap of Faith” on Social

Tell us about your use of the following social vehicles
Facebook Page 11% 3%4% 32% 28% 21%

Twitter Posts 14% 8% 4% 27% 26% 21% Although 69% are
Video marketing
marketing on social
23% 10% 1% 15% 33% 18%
(YouTube, etc.) networks, more than 1 in
LinkedIn Page 13% 8% 3% 26% 32% 17% 3 do not know how to
measure if it is working
Twitter Content Offers/Invites 45% 9% 5% 13% 15% 13%

Community Engagement
31% 17% 1% 10% 28% 13%
(Discussion Forums and …

Blogging 26% 19% 1% 12% 31% 10%

Q&A sites 53% 13% 1% 11% 16% 5%

Pinterest 58% 12% 4% 11% 11% 3%
Not using; not planning to start Not using; but planning to start in the next 12 months
Not working; will be decreasing We're using, but don't know if it's working
Working; will continue at present levels Working; will increase usage in the next 12 months

Base: 144 IT Decision-makers


SMBs are not as Automated as “Enterprises”
What are your firm’s plans to adopt the following software technologies to automate
some of your marketing processes? – Overall
Customer
Relationship
Management (CRM) 19% 13% 12% 16% 24% 16% CRM:
(e.g. Microsoft 56% v. 75%
Dynamics, Salesfor…

Marketing and lead
management
41% 28% 12% 5% 9% 5%
automation (e.g. Act-
On, Marketo, Pardot)

Email marketing Marketing
platform (e.g.
ExactTarget, Respon
35% 17% 13% 8% 20% 6% Automation:
sys) 19% v. 45%
Not currently interested
Interested, but no plans
Actively evaluating and planning to implement within the next year
Implemented, re-evaluating, have not met goals/are not happy
Implemented, we have met our goals/ are happy
Expanding / upgrading implementation



SMB Marketing IS Driving Pipeline



The Tough Economy Has Impacted All
SMBs, but Some Have Done Better

Everyone has been impacted
• Establishment deaths > births by 37%
• 70% of respondents have cancelled or
delayed any business expansion
• 71% of respondents have either reduced or
kept marketing expenses stagnant
Performance to Plan
• Still 56% of respondents have exceeded
their plan.
Below or Above
at Plan, Plan,
The Great Recession Revealed 44% 56%

a New SMB Success Profile

Top Performers Invest in Marketing

44%

56%

27%



Top Performers Focus on New Customer
Acquisition



Online Marketing is a “Game Changer”
for Top Performers
“Which of the following statements most reflects your perception of online marketing?”

Online marketing is
an important part of 51%
our marketing
mix, but no more 68%
important than…

Online marketing is
a game- 32%
changer, allowing Top Performers (n=117)
us to complete 20%
more broadly Laggards (n=41)

We don't use online 15%
marketing tactics 12%

Online marketing is important to the majority
2% of SME marketers. But 32% of top
Other
0% performers say it’s a game-changer.



Top Performers strategically use technology
What are your firm’s plans to adopt the following software technologies to automate
some of your marketing processes? – Overall
Customer
Relationship
Management (CRM) 19% 13% 12% 16% 24% 16% CRM:
(e.g. Microsoft Top Performers: 61%
Dynamics, Salesfor… Bottom Performers 46%

Marketing and lead
management
41% 28% 12% 5% 9% 5%
automation (e.g. Act-
On, Marketo, Pardot)

Email marketing
Marketing Automation:
platform (e.g.
35% 17% 13% 8% 20% 6% Top Performers: 28%
ExactTarget, Respon Bottom Performers: 5%
sys)

Not currently interested
Interested, but no plans
Actively evaluating and planning to implement within the next year
Implemented, re-evaluating, have not met goals/are not happy
Implemented, we have met our goals/ are happy
Expanding / upgrading implementation



Use of Marketing Automation Correlates with
Strong Business Performance

71% of those
who are using
marketing
automation are
above plan,
versus only 53%
of those who are
not



SME Marketers are serious about
lead nurturing.
You said you were using lead nurturing as a tactic, tell us a little bit about your lead nurturing tactics

We use a dedicated team (e.g.
inside sales, business 71%
development reps) to nurture likely 73%
prospects

We use email and phone calls to 66%
engage leads during the nurturing
phase 69%

11% Total (n=143)
We only use email to engage leads
during the nurturing phase 12%
Have Marketing
Automation (n=35)

We do not use any of the above 3%
tactics 0%



SME Marketers are Serious about Lead Nurturing

You said you were using lead nurturing as a tactic, tell us a little bit about your lead nurturing processes

46%
On average, we have more than 5
touches (email or phone call)
before a lead passes to sales
44%

54%
On average, we have fewer than 5
touches (email or phone call)
before a lead passes to sales
56%

Total (n=143) Have Marketing Automation (n=35)



SMEs with Marketing Automation
Nurture Leads a Little Longer
You said you were using lead nurturing as a tactic, tell us a little bit about your lead nurturing timeframes

17% Total (n=143)
On average, we nurture a lead for
more than 3 months before we
Have Marketing
pass the lead to sales 11% Automation (n=35)

On average, we nurture a lead for 47%
1-3 months before we pass the
lead to sales 49%

On average we nurture a lead for 36%
less than a month before we pass
the lead to sales 40%



SMBs Who are Automated Measure More
Which of the following do you measure?
Customer satisfaction 48%
48%
40%
Brand awareness 45%
34%
Competitiveness/win ratio 43%

Marketing’s contribution to revenue 33%
28%
31%
Campaign payback 48%

Customer acquisition costs 28%
28%
27%
Lead-related metrics 40%

Market engagement via social channels, networks 25%
35%

Lead Funnel conversion ratios 24%
48%
21%
Customer lifetime value 23%
21%
Salesperson satisfaction with marketing 23%
Significant differences in
16%
Channel productivity 23% what companies with
10%
Net promoter (ratio of promoters to detractors) 20% marketing automation
Other, please specify
0%
2%
can and do measure

Total (n=206) Currently implemented (n=40)
Source: "SME Marketing Tactics and Metrics Survey", a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Act-On Software,
Inc., August, 2012


Top Performers are Getting Results!



7 Habits of Top Performers

1. Emphasize online versus offline strategies
• Top Performers see online marketing as a game changer
• Almost 3 out of 4 marketing automation users are top performers
2. Focus on new business leads and
customer lifetime value over
reducing costs
• Top Performers are spending more
to get new customers while Bottom
Performers are trying to eke out more
from existing customers and their budgets
3. Use digital to its fullest
• Go multi-channel
• Combine email, webinars, content and social



4. Use advanced techniques like
lead nurturing
• More than 50% of Top Performers
nurture leads for between 1 and 3
months
5. Measure the things that count
• Top Performers analyze everything
while 44% of Bottom Performers are
not measuring anything!
6. Increase collaboration between
sales and marketing
• Plan objectives together and measure
results together



7. Maintain marketing budgets even
during a tough economy
• Almost 2 out of 3 Top Performers maintained
or increased marketing budgets during the
great recession

“Be fearful when others are greedy.
Be greedy when others are fearful.”
–Warren Buffet


For More Information….

For more information on the Forrester Study
and the eBook on 7 Marketing Habits of Highly Effective SMBs,
go to:

www.act-on.com/DRIVE

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