Marketers' Tools That Support Sales
Marketing and sales have long gone hand in hand - yet in many companies, smooth cooperation between the two departments is hard to come by. It is worth investing in, though, because skillfully attracting attention and building trust among potential clients can make selling much easier. Specific tools help here - and although marketers use them more often, they can serve salespeople too.
Mailing
Email marketing is one of the oldest but still effective methods of reaching the client and supporting sales. It is often neglected, though. A pity, because well-thought-out mailing campaigns can bring very good results - especially if the messages are personalized and reach the right recipients at the right time. This, in turn, is possible thanks to modern email marketing tools. A great example is OutreachPlus, which allows database segmentation, message personalization, mass sending and subsequent campaign analysis.
When it comes to building the contact base itself, creating valuable, well-optimized content on the company blog combined with a newsletter signup can help - as can using Growbots or RightHello, which make finding potential clients easier.
SMS communication
The times of so-called cold calling are over. Instead, it is worth using SMS communication. It is a simple, fast and relatively cheap way of delivering a specific message that can become an impulse to buy. SMSAPI will help you reach recipients precisely and increase brand recognition among them. At Sellizer, we use SMS messages to inform you about a potential sales opportunity when a client opens your proposal. See how Sellizer can help you close sales effectively.
Internet monitoring
Besides building a contact base and constant communication, monitoring the web for mentions of your company or the specific products and services you offer is also important. It lets you react quickly every time someone "calls you to the blackboard" or shows interest in a similar offer. The most popular tools that make it possible are Brand24 and SentiOne. You will find more about using internet monitoring in the post: Social selling tools that actually help you sell.
Web push notifications
A relatively new channel for promoting content and engaging audiences that can be used to support sales. Web push notifications are short messages displayed as a pop-up. Properly configured (for example with PushPushGo), they allow contact with a potential client even after they have left a given website. This makes it easy to communicate special offers, promotions or other news that will prompt recipients not only to return to the website, but also to close a deal.
Social media
The possibilities of using social media to support sales do not end with social selling and a LinkedIn presence. Social media are practically made for engaging audiences, increasing brand awareness and building relationships. It pays to manage them consciously, though. Kontentino will help you take care of good organization and planning of posts across many social platforms at once (including carousel posts that encourage visits to your website).
And speaking of social media, Messenger and today's popular chatbots can also be used to engage audiences and increase sales. They not only help clear up doubts about a given product or service, but also support customer service and sales departments. Chatfuel makes chatbot configuration easy.
Webinar / Product demo
A webinar is an excellent way of engaging potential clients - in real time, no less. Even before you host it, you have a chance to enrich your contact base with the email addresses of people interested in the topic. During the broadcast itself, you can promote a product or service in an unobtrusive way while delivering valuable content. Dedicated tools such as ClickMeeting will help you prepare webinars.
Tools that support sales
An interesting tool that both marketing and sales can use is Albacross, which collects data about the domains your traffic comes from. And we cannot fail to mention Sellizer, which notifies you when a client opens a proposal and lets you monitor the sales department's effectiveness. Such knowledge can also be worth its weight in gold for the marketing department, which can implement appropriate sales-supporting activities (for example, intensifying content marketing).
Modern tools today influence more than building brand awareness and relationships with potential clients. Although they remain the domain of marketers, they can make salespeople's work much easier. Especially since the competencies of both teams often overlap and their activities serve similar goals. That is why cooperation between marketing and sales is today not so much desirable as necessary.