Marketing automation has been called the most transformative advancement in sales and marketing since the advent of CRM. Never before have sales and marketing professionals had so much insight into prospects' interests, behaviors, and buying intentions. Many people think of email marketing, and the inbox, as an effective part of online lead generation and nurturing, and it is. But marketing automation provides a complete solution, with the inbox as just one piece of the toolkit. Learn about marketing automation and how it can benefit your business today.
Think Outside the Inbox: The B2B Marketing Automation Guide
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About the Author
David and Adam are the co-founders of Pardot, a marketing automation software company. Pardot was recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as the fastest growing technology company in 2010 and the third fastest growing company in all of Atlanta that same year.
David has started two software companies - Hannon Hill and Pardot. Hannon Hill was the 247th fastest growing company on the Inc. 500 in 2007. David serves on the board of the Atlanta chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. A native of Tallahassee, Florida, David earned a bachelor of science degree in economics from Duke University and studied at the London School of Economics. David blogs at davidcummings.org
Adam is a blackbelt in judo and spent four years in Japan, where he co-founded one of the country's first social networks. Adam is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio and holds a bachelor's degree in Public Policy Studies from Duke University. Adam blogs at b2bmarketingroi.com
David has started two software companies - Hannon Hill and Pardot. Hannon Hill was the 247th fastest growing company on the Inc. 500 in 2007. David serves on the board of the Atlanta chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. A native of Tallahassee, Florida, David earned a bachelor of science degree in economics from Duke University and studied at the London School of Economics. David blogs at davidcummings.org
Adam is a blackbelt in judo and spent four years in Japan, where he co-founded one of the country's first social networks. Adam is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio and holds a bachelor's degree in Public Policy Studies from Duke University. Adam blogs at b2bmarketingroi.com
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a small business owner with a very specialized consulting service, I am the sales and marketing team. Any help I can get to automate marketing to bring in leads, qualify those leads, follow-up, and close deals pays off huge. This "Marketing Automation Guide" does a great job of introducing basic concepts, relating them to real-world scenarios, and providing tons of actual concrete examples.
I loved the "[...]" analogy -- David and Adam go into great detail describing exactly how to profile, grade, and score leads with an actual points example, that surely comes from their real-world experience and knowledge in this industry. They even snuck in some actual case studies to prove they know their stuff!
I would recommend this book to any business owner looking to improve their sales pipeline.
I loved the "[...]" analogy -- David and Adam go into great detail describing exactly how to profile, grade, and score leads with an actual points example, that surely comes from their real-world experience and knowledge in this industry. They even snuck in some actual case studies to prove they know their stuff!
I would recommend this book to any business owner looking to improve their sales pipeline.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Think Outside the Inbox should be required reading for any business looking to jumpstart online sales. Generic email blasts are ineffective, assuming they even make it past spam filters. Co-authors David Cummings and Adam Blitzer explain marketing automation, which enables companies to track a customer from prospect to purchase. More importantly, it integrates with existing systems like your CRM tool, so you can track your sales prospects and marketing campaigns through a single interface. In the online world, nearly everything can be measured, which means that you know which marketing dollars are working. Marketing automation tools also help you to score prospects, which makes your sales team more efficient.
As the President and CEO of an interactive agency, I recognize the importance of an integrated marketing strategy. While my company's focus is on driving traffic to a client's website, that is only one piece of the sales process. Acquiring a B2B customer is a challenging process that can have a long sales cycle, but it can be made easier by using a marketing automation tool. Admittedly, I was unfamiliar with the term until recently, but understanding it is crucial to growing your business. Marketing automation brings together disparate tools like CRM, Google AdWords, email marketing, and web analytics into a single interface. While it's great to know in aggregate how many unique visitors you had, it's even better to know how one prospect interacted with your website. Did they request more information? What is their title? How frequently do they come back? In turn, knowledgeable sales reps can approach prospects with targeted information that is more likely to lead to a sale.
The authors have done B2B marketers a tremendous service by sharing their knowledge and experience. Reading the book is the first step, but you need to implement the advice given in the book to see results. The technology can be intimidating until you understand it, but marketing automation will make your business smarter, more efficient, and more profitable.
As the President and CEO of an interactive agency, I recognize the importance of an integrated marketing strategy. While my company's focus is on driving traffic to a client's website, that is only one piece of the sales process. Acquiring a B2B customer is a challenging process that can have a long sales cycle, but it can be made easier by using a marketing automation tool. Admittedly, I was unfamiliar with the term until recently, but understanding it is crucial to growing your business. Marketing automation brings together disparate tools like CRM, Google AdWords, email marketing, and web analytics into a single interface. While it's great to know in aggregate how many unique visitors you had, it's even better to know how one prospect interacted with your website. Did they request more information? What is their title? How frequently do they come back? In turn, knowledgeable sales reps can approach prospects with targeted information that is more likely to lead to a sale.
The authors have done B2B marketers a tremendous service by sharing their knowledge and experience. Reading the book is the first step, but you need to implement the advice given in the book to see results. The technology can be intimidating until you understand it, but marketing automation will make your business smarter, more efficient, and more profitable.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Jaded
Format:Paperback
"Think Outside the Inbox" is a great guide for "marketing 2.0," where marketing is not only responsible for campaigns but revenue and proving program ROI. This book provides readers with a solid foundation for understanding the key pieces of the b2b marketing tool kit: customer relationship management, search engine optimization, social media, macro and micro web analytics and marketing automation. Novice and exoerienced marketers will find tips and helpful research on why organizations large and small need to move beyond email for targeted, timely and personal interactions with their existing customers and prospects.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too basic
It is very basic content. It's ok if you are completely new to the topic but if you have been working around b2b sales and marketing through Internet is not worth it for more than... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Arturo Diaz
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent overview for quick start
Book does a nice job a establishing a framework of what marketing automation systems do and how they can be effectively used. Read more
Published on September 27, 2010 by Karl K
5.0 out of 5 stars
A necessity for any small or mid-sized business sales or marketing...
THINK OUTSIDE THE INBOX is a succinct, dynamic, and useful guide to B2B marketing automation. In a relatively quick, easy-to-read text, David Cummings and Adam Blitzer provide a... Read more
Published on August 2, 2010 by DaveM
5.0 out of 5 stars
Invaluable to the beginner. Worthwhile for the expert.
Well-written, concise and powerful; this book provides a great deal of information in a relatively small number of pages. Read more
Published on July 13, 2010 by Doug Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Intro to Marketing Automation
As a marketing automation consultant, I had the pleasure of meeting David and Adam on several occasions, so I already knew that they're very knowledgeable about marketing... Read more
Published on June 30, 2010 by Jep Castelein
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Indoctrination into Automated Marketing Success
Think Outside the Inbox does an excellent job of highlighting the evolution in the sales effort and how technology tools are advancing toward the goal of automating larger pieces... Read more
Published on June 24, 2010 by Kyle Porter
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Timely Book That Demystifies Marketing Automation
The authors have written a book that is timely, concise and right on the mark. Everything from "why do relationship marketing" to "how to measure ROI" is covered. Read more
Published on June 23, 2010 by Daniel J. Mcdade
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Quick and Must Read for Lead Generation
Think Outside the Inbox is a comprehensive and compact overview of the Marketing Automation process and its components -- email marketing, web marketing, and SEO (search engine... Read more
Published on June 22, 2010 by SDG
5.0 out of 5 stars
Timley and Practical
As a serial executive in B2B businesses, I've been participating in the rapid change in tools and best practices to effectively promote products and services online. Read more
Published on June 22, 2010 by SerialEntrprnr
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great overview of what you should be doing with email marketing
This book is a quick read and logically organized. I read it in 1.5 days. It includes a nice overview of email marketing fundamentals but then quickly goes into how you can... Read more
Published on June 21, 2010 by Allison Hartsoe
