Marketing and sales technologies are emerging and evolving at a faster rate than ever before. Marketers have access to innumerable tools and deciding which ones to use is an important decision to make. Getting the most out of the data you have depends on the technology that you are using and your ability to utilize it cross-functionally. Therefore, strategically selecting and evaluating the effectiveness of tools is an essential process to go through. 

In the 2021 Demand Gen Summit presented by ChatFunnels, Eric Stockton, VP of demand gen at SharpSpring, discussed several aspects of marketing technology and tools with Todd Lebo, head of research at Ascend2. During the late summer to early fall of this year, research was done to better understand marketers. This research included what challenges they were facing at the time and how they were tackling those issues. Stockton and Lebo dove into their observations of the research data and discussed possible solutions to the current challenges marketers are facing. 

Satisfaction Rate with Tools and Technology

One of the first observations discussed was the satisfaction rates of marketers pertaining to certain parts of their marketing technology stack. Inadequate tools and technologies were causing problems and decreasing satisfaction rates. You inherit so many legacy tools when coming into a new company. However, marketers are using tools and technology that are not meeting business needs. As a result, sales and marketing are not coming away satisfied. 

Strategy and technology come together to generate more leads. With ever changing and evolving tools, it is important to stay ahead of the curve so that your technologies don’t become obsolete. Maintaining relevant technologies and strategies will not only allow your company to compete and survive, but it will also allow for greater internal alignment. Doing so will also increase the satisfaction of your marketing and sales teams and stimulate success in your company. 

Marketing and Sales Alignment 

Another topic discussed was improvement areas for marketing tools found within the study. Sales and marketing alignment fell within the top four areas that needed the most focus for improvement. Misalignment was pointed out as a stress point in B2B marketing and was costing revenue opportunities. It is essential that marketing and sales speak the same language. No longer can we work in isolation and pass off to one another. Real success comes as we work together to figure out KPI’s and go through the process as one team. One strategy is for marketing and sales teams to hold regular meetings to discuss shared goals. That allows teams to maintain frequent communication to stay in sync. 

Improving marketing and sales alignment would drastically increase organizational success and boost employee morale. However, this alignment will be best effectively executed and achieved with the right technologies. Marketing and sales need the tool integration to be able to do that. Success is dependent on getting the technology right. 

Conclusion

Todd Lebo was right when he said, “Data is the foundation for all we do as marketers.” It is crucial that marketing and sales are unified in the tactics and data they are using. Presenting data in the most strategic way possible will allow for that alignment between marketing and sales. As a result, strategic implementation of tools and technology will not only drive success, but will increase satisfaction as well.