Demands on the marketing automation tool

The general requirements were that leads generated by marketing should be automatically nurtured and transferred to sales. The software was also expected to help Jauch strengthen cooperation between marketing and sales and overcome existing boundaries between units. Additionally, there was a desire for greater efficiency and simplified daily work through fewer manual tasks. Better methods to measure campaign success using sales KPIs were also required. As the evaluation of the test phase showed, Evalanche’s marketing automation tool best met the defined requirements, leading Jauch to expand the itmX CRM with this software.

The implementation

Gaining the acceptance of all internal stakeholders

As noted earlier, systematic and detailed planning was especially important when introducing marketing automation. “Digitalization is not an end in itself,” says Patricia Schifferdecker. “That’s why it was crucial to first define our requirements precisely, map internal processes including the pilot campaign, test them thoroughly, and only then proceed with digitization using marketing automation.” Gaining acceptance and support from all internal stakeholders was essential during the tool’s implementation. The marketing team organized a workshop to engage sales early and present the pilot campaign and marketing automation project to engineers and technicians. After all, creating well-founded technical content requires support from colleagues with specialist knowledge. Jauch also involved an external service provider to better translate the ideas generated during planning into concrete processes and measures.

Synchronize marketing automation and CRM

During the technical implementation, synchronizing the marketing automation solution with the itmX CRM already in use was especially important. Only when both marketing and sales employees have continuous access to customer-relevant data can the two departments collaborate smoothly and establish a seamless lead management process from initial contact to new customer acquisition. The internal IT department was also responsible for integrating the new marketing automation tool into the existing system landscape—an effort made straightforward by Evalanche’s and itmX’s best-of-breed strategies and an API-based approach.

The benefits

Smooth lead management

Since adding Evalanche’s marketing automation component to the itmX CRM, the company has primarily benefited from improved collaboration between marketing and sales and, as intended, significantly enhanced lead management. “Since introducing the marketing automation solution, the integration between marketing and sales has clearly improved,” emphasizes Patricia Schifferdecker. “Thanks to the interface with our existing CRM, we created an integrated solution that maps the entire customer journey within one system. Leads generated by marketing through campaigns in Evalanche can be easily transferred to sales for further processing.”

Greater transparency and better customer understanding

Another positive outcome is that the marketing team can now plan and execute campaigns and initiatives in a much more structured way, as many framework parameters must be defined in advance for implementation via marketing automation. This also enables a more detailed analysis of the target group’s needs and preferences. With the sales team now involved in planning, both marketing and sales have a deeper understanding of customers and can implement more targeted marketing measures. As intended, Jauch benefits from more efficient processes and fewer manual tasks thanks to marketing automation: once a campaign is set up with its content and parameters, nearly all subsequent tasks run fully automatically. Powerful measurement and analysis functions show the marketing team which adjustments are needed during a campaign to achieve predefined goals. Necessary changes can be made at any time, keeping the campaign flexible.