Smarketing is a core part of the Inbound Marketing methodology. Usually implemented in the ‘Closing‘ phase, the marketing team transfers qualified sales opportunities to the sales team, who then closes the sale.
Through Smarketing, businesses get the best from both their sales and marketing teams by coordinating their functions and having them work towards the same goals. Here’s an in depth look into this concept and why every business and even startup could benefit from it.
Defining Smarketing
Simply put, it’s Sales + Marketing. It’s the process of aligning the sales and marketing teams around common goals within a business or organization to improve revenue. And with the tension that commonly arises between sales and marketing teams, it was important to shift the dynamics from “competing departments” to “two halves of the same team”.
How to Integrate it?
- Speaking the same language, and dividing the sales and marketing funnel into three parts: top funnel where lies the responsibilities of the marketers, the middle funnel where tasks are shared between both teams, and transitioning to the bottom of the funnel where the sales team takes over.
- Implementing a service level agreement, ana SLA that defines what each team commits to accomplishing in order to support the other in reaching the shared revenue goal(s).
- Setting up closed-loop reporting, where questions are answered to complete the feedback loop between Marketing and Sales.
- Relying on data by creating and sharing a common dashboard with the reports aligned with the teams’goals. Check it daily will encourage team members to spot and fix problems, and assess what’s working and what’s not.
- Maintaining open communication is key by organizing a weekly smarketing meeting, a monthly management meeting, and constant campaign and product communication.
Benefits of Integrating Smarketing Into a Business
- Increase ROI of both departments
- Achieve business goals faster
- Improve team cohesion and the company environment
Salespeople used to have full control over what information customers get; however, but with the ever-changing nature of the customers’ behavior especially on digital platforms, the product information and reviews are no longer just at the disposal of the sales department. Consumers are doing their own research, and relying on online channels to make up their mind, which is where the role of the marketing team comes in to attract the right people to a landing page and boost the chances of converting them from visitors to promoters by the end of their journey.
This is why a background knowledge and know-how in digital marketing has become necessary to understand the online behavior of customers, and curate strategies accordingly. The strategies will serve the customers needs while allowing “sales” to lead marketing.
Through an MBA, managers will be able to adapt to a constantly evolving professional environment and ecosystems thanks to the following skills: proficiency in digital communication tools and social media; creation of digital advertising campaigns; management and coordination of online communities; management of web development projects; strong command of digital tools for better management of customer relations (e-CRM); and knowing how to analyse market data for better management of customer relations; all learning outcomes that benefit sales and marketing managers in achieving their revenue goals, as well as young entrepreneurs who want to start their projects on the right track.
Learn more about the MBA at EMLV, business school in Paris.