12/15/2017 – Update: My schedule is currently FULL and as such I’m not accepting new marketing automation clients at this time. Sorry!
Marketing Automation Consulting Services in Charlotte, NC
Hi, my name is Jon and I’m a senior-level marketing automation consultant. I have 12+ years of experience in digital marketing and am very much both a “marketing guy” and a “technical guy”. If you are looking for a marketing automation consultant, a Hubspot consultant or an Infusionsoft consultant in Charlotte, NC (or just anywhere in the U.S. in general) then I’m your man!
How I Came to Appreciate Content Marketing & “Soft Leads”
From 2003 through 2013 I started and grew and internet marketing agency that primarily focused on SEO and PPC services for our clients. We focused on generating “hard leads” – that is to say, inbound prospects who were ready to buy right now. Or at least ready to talk to a sales guy right now. That’s the beauty of search marketing – it can attract prospects who are actively looking for solutions right at that moment.
But by doing only this, we neglected a huge opportunity. In fact, a much larger opportunity. Namely, all prospects in the universe who fit your target market but aren’t necessarily actively looking for a solution right now today. Maybe they just purchased a new product or service and they are still trying it out. Maybe they are a couple of months out from an active search due to their business seasonality or budgeting. Or maybe they just aren’t yet convinced that they need a product or service like yours. Whatever the case, there are more people in your market who aren’t actively buying or getting quotes today than are.
Enter content marketing. With content marketing you can get in front of these prospects with valuable, relevant tips, news or other information. You can make them familiar with your brand, deliver some value to them, and then capture their contact information so you can market to them over time.
Content Marketing + Marketing Automation = Lots of New Leads
Now that brings us to marketing automation. With marketing automation, you use content marketing to generate new leads – generally “soft leads” rather than “hard leads”. These are people who will eventually buy from you, or your competitors, but they aren’t actively shopping today. When done right, content marketing is about creating high-quality content that makes a positive impression and is given to a prospect in exchange for their contact information. The means you are building a marketing list – be it an email list, phone list, traditional (direct) mail list, etc. You need quality content, and you also need to actively promote it via blogs, social media, paid advertising, etc. A top-notch content marketing campaign should bring in thousands of new inbound leads.
The only problem with thousands of leads? How do you follow up and stay on top of them all?
The popular marketing automation software tools are all attempting to provide an answer to that above question. A marketing automation tool will enable you to build a structure and pre-designed method for managing these leads, staying in contact with them, and even customizing content they receive based on what you know about them or how they’ve interacted with your website or email messages up to that point. Many of these tools even enable you to use lead scoring systems where you can write a formula to award points based on different actions and engagements the lead shows, and thus a scoreboard will show you which of your leads are most engaged and the ones you should actively reach out to as they are likely ready to buy. The goal of a marketing automation program is to turn the soft leads into hard leads. Or turn the lukewarm leads into hot leads. Whichever is your preference.
Marketing Automation Software Tools
The most popular marketing automation tools include Hubspot, Eloqua, Ontraport, Infusionsoft, Marketo, Silverpop and a few others. Each has it’s own strengths and weaknesses.
As a consultant, my job is to help you choose the right tool, design a campaign customized for your needs and market, and then actually implement the whole thing – from content creation and promotion through to the marketing automation follow-up campaigns as well. And when we’re done? Well, we’re never done. A good campaign is always evolving – testing new content, new promotional strategies, new funnel optimization techniques, new offers, etc. The goal is ever-increasing ROI. More leads and more sales with less cost and less time.
Need Some Help? I’m Here for You!
Ready to get started with marketing automation? If so, give me a call or send me an email and we can discuss your needs.
A word on geography…
I’m a marketing automation consultant in Charlotte, NC but I can work with clients anywhere in the U.S. If your project is a large one, then I’m happy to fly out and handle the initial setup in person if that is warranted. If you are more budget-conscious, then we can handle the whole thing remotely with conference calls and screen-shares.