Ask ten SMEs how they organize their marketing flows and you often get two extremes. Either everything is collected in an Excel file and gut feeling prevails. Or SMEs deploy a multitude of marketing tools that work against each other rather than strengthening one another. Our message? Keep it simple: a handful of building blocks is enough to make a lasting difference.
The underlying intention is good: to streamline your company’s marketing as efficiently as possible toward successful sales. But with an ill-conceived approach to your marketing tools, you achieve exactly the opposite:
The good news: you don’t need to roll out a massive cluster of tools to optimally organize your marketing efforts and maximize returns. Keep your martech stack limited. With the following five fundamentals, you have everything you need:
1. A high-performance CRM system
Your CRM platform is more than just a storage space for all your customer and prospect data. It is your navigator throughout your entire marketing and sales process. It allows you to build relationships, closely monitor your sales opportunities, and even personalize your customer communications. It is safe to say that you are flying completely blind without a CRM.
2. Email and marketing automation
Sending out marketing communications haphazardly to your target groups is outdated. With email and marketing automation, you set up a strategically thought-out and automated flow in advance for your newsletters, nurture flows, and campaigns. This includes systematic follow-up, so you can keep (new) contacts warm and adjust immediately if necessary.
3. Content and social media management
Strong content is more vital than ever. But the more channels you have to manage – often with a limited number of hands – the harder it becomes to effectively reach your (potential) customers with your content. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools that help you create and schedule your posts, as well as measure and analyze their impact.
4. Analytics tools for your website
Your website is your central hub. But a successful website is more than the sum of its visitors. Which (job) profiles are taking a look? Perhaps competitors? How often do they return? And which pages or content generate the most conversions, such as contact requests or quote inquiries? Analytics platforms, possibly in combination with dashboards or SEO/GEO tools, offer you all these insights.
5. Reporting tools and dashboards
The place where all your marketing and sales data come together. Dashboards present all relevant data in a clear overview, allowing you to draw the necessary conclusions. Finally, reporting tools help you convey the message clearly to your customers.
In summary: with a strong CRM platform, a simple mailing tool, and a clear overview of your data, you can go a long way. Size doesn’t matter when it comes to marketing tools for your SME. What does make the difference:
Whether your company already works with a set of marketing tools or is still completely at the drawing board: at Expliciet, we have experience with numerous platforms and systems.
We are happy to share our insights to give you the best possible advice. So that we can quickly and easily make the connection with our own marketing tools later! Make an appointment right away and we will be happy to invite you to our office in Diepenbeek.