While the sales, manufacturing, retail and other sectors have directly benefited from incredible developments in software automation, marketing remains one of the last fields to benefit from intelligent automation.
Modern software accomplishes work tasks faster by combining smaller actions to achieve large objectives. Intelligent database management improved sales processes across the enterprise, intelligent computers and robots almost completely build cars on their own, and dressing rooms are equipped with TV screens that inform you about the clothes you are trying.
All of these productivity improvements were achieved through software programs that automate and combine work tasks to create efficiencies.
Marketing can benefit from better software, too. To date, marketing software has been task specific. It has not considered the challenges of integration.
It’s tough prioritizing marketing tasks, managing them in a single dashboard, and effectively responding to opportunities in holistic sense. Each day new opportunities arrive, and that continues to become more complicated with media fracturing into more niche networks and search opportunities.
Often integration issues are blamed on culture and executives. There are those issues. There are also turf wars for budget dollars, and fights for head count. Smaller departments and solo marketers may be trained to think in silos, treating each function independently.
Vocus Marketing Suite combines the power of the cloud, big data and online media to reinvent the way companies execute marketing campaigns, specifically integrating social, publicity, search and email in one business stream. The resulting efficiencies create faster, better and smarter synergies between functions so marketers can attract, engage and retain customers with one software solution.
The positive impact on marketing departments and small businesses cannot be underestimated. Now prior marketing challenges are addressed in one dashboard, tasks like:
- Tieing branding and publicity efforts to lead generation and retention
- Addressing multiple marketing and PR tasks in a singular business stream
- Integrating social into the larger marketing program
- Measuring activities in a singular dashboard
- Testing message effectiveness across platforms
I think in some ways it will cause people to think differently about marketing. Automation, strategic direction to prioritize opportunities, embedded tutorials for best social and email practices; these are benefits that can help marketers. I kind of liken it to spell check for crappy writers like me. LOL!
Whatever the direction, software has always improved lives. It only makes sense that it can improve marketing and make for smarter use of time and resources.
What do you think?