Author: Franz Malten Buemann

At Salesforce, we love supporting organizations that share our passion for bringing companies and customers together. Today we’re excited to share Salesforce Ventures’ investment in Sercante, a leading group of Salesforce consultants who are passionate about marketing automation and Pardot.
Investing in the next generation of enterprise tech
Salesforce Ventures, our investment arm, is focused on creating the world’s largest ecosystem of enterprise cloud companies. Since 2009, they’ve helped accelerate the growth of over 400 technology startups. This investment strengthens the relationship between Sercante and Pardot. Here are just a few reasons why we’re excited to work more closely with the Sercante team: 

Sercante works with B2B marketers to stand up new systems, build workflows, migrate legacy data, and ensure they get the maximum value out of Pardot and other marketing technology. 
The company is committed to the Salesforce ecosystem and has a unique vision for how Salesforce companies can succeed with B2B marketing. 
Their team has a knack for simplifying tough marketing automation and sales process challenges, and it holds an incredibly high bar for quality customer service. 
Sercante’s top priority is customer success. Their consultants have been in our customers’ shoes, so they understand the challenges marketers face today. 

Better together
Salesforce and Sercante team members connecting over a video call
Salesforce and Sercante already have a strong track record of partnership and collaboration. Most recently, Salesforce was a title sponsor of ParDreamin’ 2020, Sercante’s four-day virtual conference dedicated to all things Pardot. Throughout the conference, Sercante showcased compelling speakers and sessions to help Trailblazers grow their marketing automation and Pardot skills. 
With Salesforce Ventures’ investment in Sercante, they can help even more Trailblazers draw value from Pardot and other Salesforce solutions. I’ll be supporting Sercante’s board as an observer to help reflect on Sercante’s strategy and support the team in delivering the best implementation services possible. Additionally, Sercante will receive access to a wider scope of resources for supporting their clients. 
More Pardot success stories is a triple win for Sercante, Salesforce, and the entire Trailblazer community.
“It’s been great to be a part of the Pardot ecosystem. It’s hard to believe it’s only been three years!” said Andrea Tarrell, CEO and founder of Sercante. “Our team is super passionate about Pardot and unlocking value for B2B marketers who want to work across the Salesforce platform.” 
She added, “This additional funding comes at a pivotal time to fuel our accelerated growth plans, deepen our product development efforts with Sercante Labs, and support our clients as they navigate digital transformation, Pardot, and Salesforce.”
Learn more about Sercante’s capabilities by visiting their website.

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This is a guest post from Megan Wright of ChamberOfCommerce.com
Millennials, individuals born between the years 1980 and 2000, make up the largest proportion of the workforce in the U.S. and Canada. It is estimated that by 2025, millennials will make up over 75% of the global workforce.
This generation also has enormous spending power that will continue to grow as the generation matures. For instance, in the U.S. alone, millennial shoppers spend over $600 billion a year. Clearly, this is a prime demographic to target if you want your ecommerce business to succeed, especially given this generation’s digital aptitude and comfort with online shopping.
But the question most new and growing ecommerce retailers have is, “How can I sell to the millennial powerhouse shopper?” Well, there’s no magic trick, but the following tips will help you form an effective email strategy.
Focus on nurturing a robust brand
With the advancement of technology and social media growth, the gap between brands and consumers is quickly narrowing. Now, people want to buy from brands, not corporations. 
Millennial buyers, in particular, are interested in brands. In fact, most millennials consider themselves to be as loyal to brands as their parents are.  This means if you can create a brand millennials can relate to, they will likely become a long-time customer. This brand loyalty can be further solidified by aligning your brand with the social issues they care about most. 
A great example of this is eyeglass brand Warby Parker. This brand has developed its brand based on sustainable manufacturing and their dedication to the “buy-one-give-one” model. They donate one pair of glasses to those in need for every pair purchased. They communicate these programs brilliantly through email, social media and their blog to continually align themselves with their millennial customers.  

Please keep in mind that millennial shoppers will conduct their own research before they buy from you. So, take care to keep your online reputation clean and keep up your end of the deal. If you aren’t actually doing the good your brand is founded on, then you could quickly end up being outed online and lose all credibility.  
Consider a coupon and loyalty strategy
Millennials desire an open give-and-take with their retailers. They appreciate brands that give something in return for the relationship. This is why coupons drive 69% of sales to millennials.
Remember, millennials don’t have as much wealth as their predecessors. They are price conscious and want the best deal before they commit their hard-earned income. The following statistics will help you understand just how much millennials love coupons:

23% of millennials need coupons with at least a 50% discount, although 17% will appreciate a discount of any amount.
63% are more likely to check in to different businesses if they will get a coupon in return.
A 20% discount can prompt almost 50% of respondents to visit a retail location.

Millennial shoppers also love loyalty programs. Seventy-three percent (73%) of smartphone users would like to use their devices to interact with a brand’s loyalty program. A majority (75%) are ready to switch to a brand that offers real-time discounts while shopping, and 84% of consumers prefer to visit websites of retailers who offer loyalty programs.
You can integrate loyalty reward tools, like Yotpo, into your current ecommerce and marketing messages. As customers meet predetermined purchase thresholds or frequency you can dynamically message them through email or SMS about rewards they’ve earned from your brand. 

Seize your chance by incorporating online coupons and a loyalty program in your ecommerce site, and you will begin to attract millennial shoppers.
Optimize your shopping experience 
Millennials are early digital adopters across devices, social platforms and even new forms of payment like Bitcoin. These consumers are on the cutting edge, which is where your shopping experience and marketing needs to exist.
Multi-channel 
When creating your brand’s marketing strategy, consider all possible millennial consumer touchpoints before they actually make a purchase. Do you have the business intelligence to know when a specific customer starts the browsing process in one channel before making the purchase in another? Brands that can react in real-time with omnichannel marketing will win in today’s marketplace. 
For example, consider Tina, a 30-year-old professional who launches a smartphone app from her favorite skincare brand while waiting on her friend. The app automatically directs her to products she has purchased in the past while showcasing complimentary products she may be interested in. 
She doesn’t make the purchase within 24 hours which kicks off a personalized email based on her status as a VIP customer. She is notified about a 20% off coupon to be used toward her next purchase. She clicks through to complete the transaction. Mission accomplished!

Mobile-first
Sixty-three percent (63%) of millennials use their smartphones to research, browse and shop. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that 72% of people prefer mobile-friendly websites. This means that if you want to tap into this market, you have to ensure that your ecommerce site is optimized for mobile.
Payment forms
Millennials expect brands to offer a wide range of payment options – specifically the option they prefer. Venmo, Apple Pay, Paypal, credit card, in-app purchases and cryptocurrency, just to name a few. Since they grew up in the digital age, millennials are used to adopting the transaction method that makes their life easier or provides rewards for their loyalty.
The biggest trend in the Fintech space is the desire of millennials to use cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to make purchases. Brands like Overstock, Expedia, CheapAir, and Newegg joined the growing list of companies who offer cryptocurrency payments along with other forms of digital payment.
For online retailers considering Bitcoin payment options, make sure you connect the payment gateway to a cryptocurrency exchange wallet like OKEx, Coinbase or Paxful to immediately convert Bitcoin to fiat. This will avoid any sudden swing in the digital currency’s price that could lead to lost revenue. 
Create a social media marketing strategy
A few years ago, star-studded ads and celebrity endorsements were the way to go if you wanted to capture the market’s attention. But with millennials, this tactic is less effective. According to recent research, 78% of millennials are unmoved by celebrity endorsements. What should you do? Go social.
Millennials are big fans of social media platforms. Before purchasing anything, they will ask their friends for advice, mostly using social media such as Twitter and Facebook. They are more likely to buy something after their friends or family recommend it, and they trust these recommendations more than what the brand itself says.
Create a content marketing strategy aimed at millennials
One of the primary ways millennials learn about a company and its products is through content consumption. Millennials will research before they make a purchase, and most of this research will happen on a company’s website. This tells you that if a millennial is interested in your product, they will search for the content you produce.
Therefore, you should aim to create content around your products, deals, coupons, sales, and product releases because this content is just as crucial to your site visitors as your social media marketing content.
To better appeal to millennials, ensure your content is visually appealing across all devices. Be sure to use images and videos too. That being said, although they value content, millennials prefer to be in control of how they engage with you. So make sure they can easily opt-in and out of your subscriptions, email list, etc.
Wrap up
Marketing to millennials can seem like a hectic task, but it’s not. If you are quick to adapt to new trends and you implement the tips we’ve talked about, you will begin to attract the right shopper: the millennial shopper.
Be careful not to alienate other customer segments as you target the millennial shopper. Your campaigns should include a variety of elements to appeal to other demographic targets.
The post How Ecommerce Retailers Can Use Email to Engage With Millennials appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

When I was hired for my first marketing role, I got really excited to pitch new, exciting ideas to my team.
And I thought — as long as I had data to support the potential success of a project — that my team would be thrilled to hear these ideas.
Which they were. But they were also cautious, and one of their biggest concerns was, “Okay, this sounds great … but how much is it going to cost?”
Ultimately, being a successful marketer isn’t just about thinking strategically. It’s also about adhering to a strict budget, and achieving new levels of growth while simultaneously choosing the most cost-effective option for your business.
Here, we’ll explore typical marketing budgets, as well as marketing budgets by industry, so you can determine how your budget matches up against competitors.
Plus, we’ll explore how much of your yearly revenue you should re-invest in marketing materials to see stronger long-term growth.

What’s a typical marketing budget percentage?
As of February 2021, Deloitte’s annual CMO Survey reports that marketing budgets are now roughly 11.7% of total company-wide budget — a slight decrease from the 12.6% marketers saw in June 2020, but still a record high that most marketers haven’t seen over the last four years.
(It’s important to note, we saw record-high marketing budgets over the course of the pandemic as companies relocated some budget towards digital marketing strategies, rather than more offline tactics.)
Gartner’s 2020 CMO survey confirms most marketing budgets rest around 11% of total company budget.
While your own marketing department’s budget depends on a variety of factors — including industry, company revenue performance, and business needs — this should help you ballpark a reasonable percentage of your total company-wide budget that you should allocate for your marketing teams.
Of course, what strategies/channels marketing teams choose to invest in varies depending on individual company goals. For instance, while 73% of companies invested in website optimization in 2020, only 20% invested in machine learning and automation.
Web optimization, digital media and search, and digital marketing were the top three priorities for companies when determining budget allocation in 2020 — with roughly 73%, 65%, and 57% of companies (respectively) investing in each.
These trends are predicted to continue into 2021 and beyond.
However, the data we’ve reported so far pertains to marketing budget percentage of overall company budget — but what about marketing budget as it pertains to overall company revenue? Let’s dive into that, next.
Marketing Budget Percentage of Revenue
The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends small businesses (businesses with revenue less than 5 million) allocate between 7% and 8% of total revenue to marketing — assuming your business has margins in the range of 10-12 percent.
The amount of revenue businesses allocate to marketing has increased steadily over the past 10 years, with average marketing percentage of revenue landing around 13% in 2021, compared to just 8% back in 2011.
B2B Product industries allocate, on average, roughly 10% of revenue to marketing, which is similar to B2C Services (10.1%). B2B Services and B2C Product allocate higher numbers of 15% and 18%, respectively, of total revenue.
Of course, decisions related to marketing budget allocation remain largely industry-specific. To determine more accurate, industry-specific insights, let’s explore marketing budgets by industry, next.
Marketing Budget Percentage by Industry [2021 Data]
Deloitte’s 2020 CMO Survey found B2B (product-focused) companies attribute roughly 9.4% of overall budget to marketing efforts, while B2B (services-focused) companies attribute 11.4%.
Alternatively, if you work for a B2C (product-focused) company, Deloitte reports 15.9% of overall budget is the average given to marketing teams — for B2C (service-focused) companies, this is closer to 12%.
Of course, the type of business you work at (B2B or B2C) is only one factor when determining marketing budget percentage. Industry is a major factor, as well.
For instance, marketing expenses are highest in the Education sector at 19.4% of total budget — and they’re lowest in the Energy industry, at roughly 4%.
If you work in the healthcare industry, you might expect to see a marketing budget around 7% of total budget.
Alternatively, consulting services typically attribute 13%. Lastly, technlogy/software platforms attribute 12% of total company budget to marketing.
If you’re unsure how to manage your marketing budget, you’re in luck. We’ve covered marketing budgets extensively in How to Manage Your Entire Marketing Budget [Free Budget Planner Templates]. Take a look at that post to create a marketing budget that works for you — and use templates and samples to get you started.

 

 

74% of CMOs believe data ethics will get even more important for their business in the next five years, while only 48% of advertisers admit having data ethics policy. With the advent of more and more data privacy regulations, various companies and organizations are under tremendous pressure to ensure that their customers are protected and that their data is stored responsibly.

 

Keep your data ethical while managing customer preferences

 

Today, groundbreaking technologies such as AI and machine learning are helping businesses by creating opportunities to deliver better services. However, to fully use these fantastic mar-tech tools, there is a high need for possessing a huge database of client information. In times of data misuse, companies really have to focus on an ethical collection of data.

 

This is the last chance to actually act by data security standards to build high-end consumer relationships based on trust and to create the best Customer Experience by using improved preference management. 

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Transparency becomes a new must-have for companies

 

74% of CMOs believe data ethics will get even more important for their business in the next five years. That means that companies and what’s more, marketers are becoming more and more aware of the way they use and collect the data.

 

In the modern business model, it is impossible to work without data collected directly from customers or other sources. Since information is at a premium in the industry today, data ethics is becoming an increasingly pressing issue. This trend is only going to increase, which is why companies need to focus on ethical data management at all levels, from acquisition to use. As consumers become more aware of the privacy of their data, putting an emphasis on transparency for companies, these companies must do everything they can to keep customers informed of actions taken with their information. 

 

A survey of 147 marketing executives found that 82% of them would consider leaving their employer if they felt the data approach was not ethical. That’s exactly why data ethics is crucial to building a universal framework to guide what to do and what not to do with the data they collect. This will ensure that customers can trust the company they are giving their information to. 

 

Consumer concerns about data are rising rapidly, especially now, so it’s essential that those who share their data should have full, open and transparent insight into how it is used.

 

Importance of maintaining data ethics while ensuring Customer Experience

 

Preference management is a way of communicating with customers through their preferred channels and at their preferred times. In short, it is the recipient who decides what and when they receive from the company and not the other way around. Preference management seems to be a great improvement in communication, this way you can make sure that the information you send is always welcome if of course done in a legal way. Keep in mind that consumer preferences are changing, hence you must provide the update option. 

 

In the past years, we observed a huge conversion in the area of enterprise data cloud, and how it could simplify the management of data and AI. In 2020, we experienced COVID-19 outbreak, masses of data being used for the fight with the pandemic, personal cyber profiles that raise the discussion about privacy and the problem of data ownership in smart devices. We see a burning need to anonymize data for the benefit of society and to ensure strong data governance that monitors how it is used.

 

Benefits of data ethics

 

Only 48% of advertisers admit to having a data ethics policy, but do you know how it can affect your marketing? 

 

Given the fact that we have more and more privacy regulations like GDPR, CCPA and most recent one – CDPA, implementing ethical data management ensures yourself trust of your consumers which is crucial to maintaining long-term relationships. Moreover, it prevents any unintentional biases that can always happen and create a negative image of your brand, driven by poor business decisions.

 

The vicious cycle of data ethics and preferences

 

The Cisco Privacy Benchmark Study shows that concerns about data privacy have increased over the past year. 31% of respondents are concerned that their data will be used for non-corporate purposes, 25% believe that data will be shared with third parties, and 24% are afraid that data will not be deleted after COVID-19. 

 

Many consumers have taken action on their own and simply stopped sharing data with companies that don’t follow privacy policies. This unfortunately closely impacts preference management – without data, there are no preferences, but without content that customers prefer, there is no more data to exchange. So how do we impact this vicious cycle?

 

Ways of ethical data collection

 

With the holy trinity of Data Protection laws, withdrawal of third party cookies and Coronavirus, companies have to figure out a way of ethical data obtaining.

 

First, focus on giving your customers, unique or even exclusive content. They would feel obliged to give back and leave their information willingly. This way, at the same time, you will increase trust, and build a healthy database consisting of first-party data.  

 

Second, stop spamming ads – make your ad space useful, give customers the opportunity to gain or learn something from it. This will make them more willing to provide you with the data you need. 

 

Third, be honest with your customers – never ever, store or share customer data without their explicit permission. Remember that data always belongs to the user. 

 

Be prepared for the future

 

Maintaining data ethics is key today, and will be even more so in the future. The focus on owning ethical, actionable data across all channels, with clear and strong customer consent to its use, is proving to be a core issue in the coming years. 

 

Preference management focuses on allowing users to voluntarily provide information about their intentions, motivations, and interests, so you need to capture this data in the most legitimate way possible with the highest data ethics, so you don’t disappoint your customer. That’s why maintaining transparency about what a client’s data is actually used for will not only ensure a better reputation but also trust, retention and loyalty from both old and new customers.

marketing automation marketing automation

Choosing between GetResponse and Constant Contact for your email marketing needs? This detailed comparison of each tool’s features and pricing can help you decide.