We all agree that 2020 was a year of major changes. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have witnessed throughout this year—and continue to witness—one of the greatest (if not the greatest) macroeconomic shocks that companies have ever faced in their history.
And while some business models have managed to reinvent themselves and even grow amid such adversity, many others are still just trying to survive.
What seems to have been the common thread is that all of them were forced to accelerate their digital transformation processes. Many businesses shifted their entire operations, customer experience, and go-to-market strategy to digital—some of them for the first time.
Therefore, it seems indisputable that, even if the health crisis improves in the coming months—thanks to the start of the vaccination campaign—there are trends that are here to stay. And the digitization of marketing, sales, and customer service activities is one of them!
Digital transformation is no longer just a “buzzword,” and the adoption of new strategies and the technologies that support them will enable organizations to continue adapting, competing, and growing in 2021.
Let’s discuss these two points: digital strategy and the importance of integrated marketing and sales technology.
We believe that the inbound marketing methodology is the best way to align all marketing tactics and channels with the growth of your business. Inbound marketing enables your organization to grow by using tactics that optimize the entire “revenue” funnel and by building lasting relationships with your customers.
This digital marketing methodology is based on (non-intrusive) engagement with and tracking of the consumer throughout their entire buying journey—from the moment they are simply interested in learning about your product or service to the moment they become an actual customer and even an advocate for your business.
This purchasing journey begins by being influenced and nurtured by marketing, but eventually also involves the sales and customer service departments.
That is why technological support is so important: by having an integrated digital platform at your disposal that allows you to manage the entire customer journey—from marketing campaigns through sales processes to support and service interactions—you streamline and improve your relationship with the customer, while making all these efforts more efficient. That’s what we’ll look at next.
In fact, to support the digital transformation of marketing, sales, and customer service operations, it’s essential to use integrated platforms (such as HubSpot, for example).
Consider this: if it was already extremely important to have all customer information stored in a single software platform (marketing emails sent, interaction history with your website or other channels, sales communications, proposals submitted, support requests, etc.), now imagine that your teams may not be physically together and may have a harder time accessing this data if it isn’t easily accessible to everyone.
This crucial alignment between marketing and sales necessarily requires the effective use of technology. If both teams base their activities on an integrated digital platform that provides visibility into these same tasks, this will not only increase their efficiency and productivity but also, ultimately, help them maintain a more valuable relationship with customers.
In short, and although we are living in uncertain times, inbound marketing and technology are our sure bets for contributing to your company’s growth in 2021.
If you’d like to learn more about each of these—and how we think they can boost your specific business—we’d be happy to help!
Content originally published in December 2020.