‘Data is the new oil’
Isabel Menasch (GGKM) on Marketing Automation Software as a tool for
staying close to the customer – especially at a time when personal contact is
limited.
Anyone who has ever
bought online is familiar with the experience: vendors record buyers’ purchase
history, analyze what they are interested in and tailor how they advertise
their offerings accordingly. “We have been implementing Marketing Automation
Software (MAS) for about a year with a view to appealing to customers and
collecting data on their purchasing behavior,” project lead Isabel Menasch
explains. “This is fairly new in our industry – and fits in perfectly with our
corporate strategy’s digital cornerstone.” MAS is helping with propagating
Customer Thought Leadership ideas digitally and entering into a dialogue with
customers. At precisely the right time, as our customers are also searching
increasingly for product information online.
Every interaction is recorded in MAS
This approach involves
teamwork by various departments: Marketing, the relevant sales units from the
SBUs and IGCs, IT and the Sales Performance Team (CRM), as well as colleagues
in Data Protection. At the start of the year, target groups and regions are
narrowed down using the SBUs’ focus areas. The marketing campaigns are aimed at
greater awareness of hybrid propulsion, for example. “And the appropriate
channels, such as LinkedIn, YouTube or Google Ads, are selected on that basis
with a view to appealing to existing or potential customers. Webinars are also
very popular just now owing to Covid-19.”
Marketing Automation Software is helping with propagating Customer Thought Leadership ideas digitally and entering into a dialogue with customers.
And this is where MAS
comes in: every interaction – clicking on the LinkedIn ad or taking part in the
webinar – is recorded on the European SAP server by the software and awarded a
score. “Above a certain total score, it makes sense to contact someone, as it
looks like there is considerable interest in the MAN ES product and solution
portfolio,” says Menasch.
The person’s contact
information is transferred to CRM and assigned to the responsible sales contact
in the region, who then gets in touch in person. Menasch is in no doubt: “That
makes MAS a perfect example of ‘data is the new oil’: the more customer data is
available, the better we can target the use of that information and appeal to
prospects.”