Marketing Software

What is Marketing Software?

Marketing software helps companies and organizations market their goods and services to potential customers. Core functions of marketing software include:

• Deliver promotional and marketing materials using emails, social media, SMS messages, direct mail, and more.

• Convert potential customers into customers using different marketing tactics.

• Automate as many marketing tasks as possible (such as scheduling emails and social media posts.)

• Gather information about customers and potential customers, allowing for even better marketing to future potential users.

Technology marketing is becoming a much larger and more complex industry. The majority of potential buyers are going online to search for information, user reviews, and to look for the right software for their needs. Since these B2B decision-makers are online, B2B marketers need to meet these potential buyers where they are. In the past few years, brand new innovative marketing software categories and features have emerged.

Marketing software products are typically one of two different types. There are marketing software products designed for a singular task, such as email marketing, and there are also integrated marketing hubs that perform a whole array of different marketing functions like email marketing, social media marketing, SMS marketing, lead management, and much more as part of an all-in-one suite. 

Integrated marketing suites almost always cost more than individual marketing products. Sometimes, an integrated marketing suite is the right choice, if your company is looking to combine a whole host of marketing functions into a single platform. Sometimes, however, individual marketing software products can be more effective when they specialize on just one specific channel. The choice should be made based on the size of your marketing team, and which marketing functions you’re interested in performing.

Essential Marketing Software Features

Here are the main functions, capabilities, and features that are found both in individual marketing software products, as well as integrated marketing suites:

• Marketing Automation: Uses are in creating and executing of your marketing campaigns. It will also make logs of all the activity, tracking behaviors, and qualifying leads.

• Mobile/Smartphone Marketing: This will manage the SMS messages. It does all the routing and sending out of the SMS messages.

• Marketing Resource Management (MRM): This manages the marketing systems. And the digital assets. And the budget and approval processes throughout the departments, agencies, and teams. It also manages the workflow.

• Lead Capture/Generation: This automatically assigns and performs the capturing and segmentation of potential leads. This function makes the sales cycle shorter and causes the communications that targeted marketing requires to get improved.

• Analyze Social Media: It will measure the performance and impact of the company's campaigns. It will also track social media and see how effective the company's social media efforts are.

• Monitoring of Social Media: This will pinpoint which words are getting associated with the company's brand. And the location where these words are getting used.

• Marketing Analytics: This will measure the activity of the company's marketing. Across many channels, both online and offline. This function allows the company to see the return on investments.

• Content Marketing: This will aid in the distribution of content to web pages. It will create, manage, store, and deploy content to the Web.

• Search Engine Optimization/Marketing: This gives advice and information to help the business enhance the amount of traffic to the company's website. It can also help the company get better optimization in search engines.

• Event Marketing: Event marketing focuses on the marketing of in-person or virtual events. Event marketing software covers all aspects of promoting the event, making people aware of it, and signing attendees up for the event.

• Integrations: A marketing software should be able to integrate with the company's other marketing software. If the business already has a certain type of marketing software, they need to make sure that when buying another, that they will work together cohesively. Having software that works alongside each other can give any business pronounced benefits and ease of use.

• Lead Management: Marketing software should help a company get buyers attracted. And to give these buyers customized marketing campaigns. It can also automate giving potential buyers a sale to entice them to buy.

• Sales Analytics: This software will help the sales team to focus on the right things at the right times. And find potential leads and engage with them sooner to get a sale into the books. This software allows the team members to improve the conversion rates and to keep the customers satisfied.

• Social Media Marketing: This gives the company information on how to improve the marketing done on social media. A company could use social media to create brand advocates by giving them a referral program, sweepstakes, and polls. And to offer videos and that people could share with friends. And the software should create analytics on where sales involving products happen and on where the sales happen.

• Email Marketing: This allows the company to create detailed profiles of targeted customers. Thus, giving the business a way to send them emails that relate to their preferences, behaviors, and demographics. This software also administers smart A/B testing (all automated) to help improve marketing campaigns. It will also create reports and analytics of emails sent.

Different Types of Marketing Methods

Before buying a marketing software product or integrated marketing suite, the marketing team should figure out what types of marketing it wants to do. Then, they can find marketing software that will help them with their needs.

An important thing to remember when buying marketing software is that some marketing functions can get mixed in with suites that are not found in the marketing software industry. For example, leading event software will generally include an element of marketing. These functions are great for making customized web pages. And marketing through emails and messaging campaigns.

KPI Focused Marketing

Companies that want to see the results of marketing projects should find marketing software that analyzes and makes analytics. They generally include this function in suites, a best-of-breed could give you a more detailed analysis. A business should also find marketing software that specializes in resource management software.

Outbound Marketing

This type of marketing is for marketers who want to have contact with potential buyers. This contact could be by advertising on search engines, ads on websites, and by sending emails. Companies that want to focus on reaching customers by these means, should locate marketing software that offers email and mobile marketing functions. They should also look for lead generation and management.

Inbound Marketing

This is best for when wanting to get people to find your products. Getting people to find a certain business is accomplished by putting engaging information on blogs, websites, and social media. Companies that want to use this style of marketing should find software that improves web searches and manages leads.

Social Media Marketing

If a company wants to use social media channels to interact with buyers, you should find software that helps with that. It should keep track of the conversations that happen on social media and figure out the results of your efforts. Social media marketing software will sometimes be included in a suite, but it might need to get bought as a best-of-breed.

What Else to Know About Marketing Software

To narrow down the options, there are two major factors to remember when evaluating marketing software.

Prioritize the Processes You Most Often Need and Use

When purchasing marketing software, the company needs to pay attention to what they are actually buying. That way they will not be buying something that mostly contains bells and whistles. A company should only pay for marketing software that is useful to the business.

Another thing to keep in mind, though, is what the business may need in the coming future. Maybe it does not need a certain feature now, but what about later, when the company is bigger or it decides to try a new marketing tactic.

Make Sure the Marketing Software Is Extensible (Integrates with other software you already use)

When looking at the differences between multiple options, make sure the software will work in harmony with other software. If the company is needing a system that can get accessed on a phone, then they will want to make sure the system has a mobile app. And, if they are creating their very own suite, then make sure that the software will nicely integrate with one another.