Q&A: CRM, Search and Content Concerns for Marketing Automation Implementation

In this Q&A excerpt from the recent Webinar "Six Truths About Marketing Automation," Manticore Technology VP of Marketing Christopher Doran and Bulldog Solutions Director of Field Marketing Amy Bills answer some audience questions about how to put marketing processes in place to ensure success in marketing automation implementation.
 See more Q&A on platform implementation and making the case for taking the plunge.
View the entire Webinar.

Question: Should inside sales (lead qualifiers) be working more with the marketing automation application or a CRM (i.e., recording phone contacts and the like)?
Answer (Amy Bills): There's no question Inside Sales spends a lot of time in the CRM system. That's their recordbook of profile information and relevant reporting. However, when a marketing automation platform talks to your CRM system, then you're really cooking. The marketing automation can feed information into the CRM that helps Sales do their jobs evern better, from specific activity to lead scoring. So while they may be logging in daily to the CRM, they are definitely benefitting from the  MA platform. 
 
Question: Once we capture a prospect in the "system," it becomes clearer how they can be tracked and treated. Where does Manticore play in the SEO/SEM piece of the puzzle in order to take great content and ensure it makes the first page of the search?
Answer (Christopher Doran): While Manticore Technology does not handle the SEO/SEM piece, we do track organic and PPC search terms for individual leads, passing this invaluable information on to sales to make them more targeted in their efforts.  If you're doing SEO/SEM, marketing automation software is a critical next step to get the most of your efforts through lead nurturing and lead generation. See more on paid search for BtoB: View the on-demand Webinar "Paid Search and the Complex Buying Cycle: They're Not Oil and Water."
 
Question: What are the sources of successful content strategies? Is there a separate market type type (of supply companies) that only focus upon content?
Answer (Amy Bills): We have a white paper on the very topic of content strategies to leverage marketing automation. It's called "Six Building Blocks for a Content Strategy to Feed Marketing Automation-Driven Demand Generation." It gives a lot of information about how to determine what kind of content you need, and how to get it, to leverage marketing automation.