Should you outsource your business’ marketing or keep it in-house?  You may assume that we would answer this question with a solid ‘outsource your marketing to marketing experts’. But here’s where we might surprise you.  Marketing encompasses everything a organisation does to push sales and promote its brand; from advertising to direct marketing to digital marketing, market research, PR, product development - even distribution methods.

Marketing and sales alignment is all about creating a flawless customer journey that guides prospects through each stage of the marketing and sales funnel. It may sound simple enough, but this can be incredibly hard to pull off.  Getting it right requires a well planned approach for the top, middle and bottom of your funnel. As well as knowing how you’re going to transfer prospects from one stage to the next. Probably the most challenging of all, it requires sales and marketing to work closely together and be completely aligned.

Growing a business is demanding, no matter what sector you operate in. Having a powerful marketing strategy in place and the right team to deliver it is fundamental to success. Naturally, your marketing demands will change as your business faces different challenges. The need for different skills, levels of external support and budget requirements will all change over time. But it’s not always clear what your priorities should be, and how these might change with time. 

There is no one size fits all when it comes to cost-effective lead generation strategies. The methods you choose to will depend on a number of factors, including your overall marketing strategy, available resources, business objectives, and the type of industry you work in.  However, if you think about inbound lead generation as a way to bring people into your sales funnel, as well as engaging and building trust with potential customers, there are five cost-effective strategies which could fit the bill.

  The Marketing Centre South Africa will be hosting two one day Strategic Marketing Workshops on 31 January 2020, ensure that you don't miss out on this opportunity to set a solid strategy for 2020.    Smart businesses know that they can’t separate their approach to lead generation from their approach to brand building. You can’t hope to generate leads and drive conversions indefinitely if you aren’t also continuously planting seeds of awareness and building the credibility of your brand.