Getting Vertical: Marketing Automation for Specific Markets

CRM and marketing automation are not solutions that exist in a vacuum. A company’s choice of a solution should be made with the specific needs of the company in mind. Naturally, companies in an industry may zero in on similar solutions, and solution providers, looking through the other end of this telescope, may zero in on a specific vertical market.

Concep is taking this approach in its SaaS marketing automation solution Campaigner for couple of target industries, focusing its attention on financial services and professional services, says Anthony Greene, president of Concep New York. Concep offers a SaaS marketing automation solution that’s especially useful in reaching leads for organizations that offer services; these organizations must build and maintain relationships over time, so closed-loop marketing and drip marketing is crucial.

“These are very considered purchases,” says Greene, “so you must build rapport over time, and collect valuable information over time, while positioning your company as a thought leader.”

For example, an upcoming change in the law would represent a good opportunity for a law firm to send an email to clients informing them of the change, it implications for them, and how a review could help them deal with new regulation. “The more compelling the content is, the more effective your efforts are.” Says Greene.

Although the goal is to cultivate long term-relationships, the pace of marketing for these organizations is not slow – far from it. How contacts respond to ongoing messages is constantly examined, reviewed and fed back into the organization’s CRM system. “All reports go to and are fed back from the CRM system in real time,” says Greene. “Our customers have access to all critical data immediately.”

With professional services and finance industry customers, Greene says the company is dealing with organizations that are already awash in information pertaining to their industries and markets, and who do not have the luxury of spending time inventing marketing strategies from the ground up. Concep provides help with creative and design at first to help get their clients up and running, and can provide support as needed. “We have no customer service representatives – we have account managers,” Greene emphasizes. “If it’s an accounting firm, we have people who understand accounting, for example.”

The human element of marketing will never be supplanted by technology, but many companies face situations where, thanks to budget cuts and headcount losses, they lack a coherent marketing strategy and are falling behind competitors because they have yet to fully seize on technology. Service providers like Concep can help in these situations but providing some humanity to go with the technology.