Should IT companies invest in Marketing or simply hire a new salesperson?
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 8:16 am
Many CEOs, especially those of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), have difficulty justifying why they should invest in Marketing, whether in a Marketing department in their IT company or by hiring the services of a Marketing agency. For them, Marketing is a cost that is difficult to explain and whose return is relatively abstract, since it is, in their view, almost immeasurable.
For these CEOs, hiring a Marketing agency is a bit like going to a psychologist: they say it's necessary when something isn't right, but no one realizes its advantages.
When faced with marketing budgets, it is not uncommon to find those who think that, with the same amount of money, they could put two or three more salespeople “knocking on doors”.
Getting customers isn’t what it used to be: welcome to the age of attraction
The truth is that we live in an era in which customers, whether companies or end consumers, are no longer easily influenced and have greater knowledge of the market, supply, competition and even prices. It is the era of information and attraction, in which the traditional salesman's "gift of the gab" has given way to relevant content and in which influence has been replaced by authority.
The Marketing department of an IT company or its Marketing agency has the tools and know-how needed to attract potential customers to the various contact channels available. More than ineffective, cold calls (telephone contacts with potential customers) are now considered intrusive and invasive and can even have the opposite effect to what your sales department intends.
Much more than just “entering” a client’s home or office, sales today are made based on the power of attraction that your IT company may or may not exert on the target audience . When a client – end consumer or company – needs a product or service, they will look for it where it is most convenient for them, namely on digital channels: on Google, on social networks or in the newsletters they receive via email.
Persistence and a “handful of face” are no longer enough to close a sale in IT
In B2B companies with products or services that involve many resources, or people, where the decision-making process does not depend solely on one individual and does not imply delivery to each customer, what we call complex sales occurs, as is the case with Information Technologies. This scenario is familiar to you, right?
Here we have an Inbound Marketing eBook for saudi arabia companies email list complex sales where we show how opportunities appear when we apply the Inbound Marketing methodology – an authentic Results Marketing.
Trying to “push” products or services is an outdated technique that can have adverse effects. No one schedules a meeting based on a salesperson’s pretty face anymore. The potential client needs to recognize two advantages in the product or service you want to sell: added value and credibility. For many, price is also an important variable. And all of this only becomes possible if you start investing in Marketing.
Your IT company will only be able to become an authority in the market in which it operates and demonstrate its added value through marketing actions. And these marketing actions are more effective when created by those who know what they are doing. And it is this logic that has led many IT companies to hire the services of marketing agencies specialized in their business, as they have the necessary know-how to develop content aimed at their target audience.
Ensuring alignment between Marketing and Sales teams is an essential balance
At this point, another important question arises, whether investing in Marketing internally or hiring a Marketing agency, a change is urgently needed on the part of companies: the Sales and Marketing relationship.
For a long time, the Marketing and Sales Departments were viewed in completely different ways within companies – another very familiar scenario, right? Before we answer the question in the title, we must point out that this scenario needs to change.
For these CEOs, hiring a Marketing agency is a bit like going to a psychologist: they say it's necessary when something isn't right, but no one realizes its advantages.
When faced with marketing budgets, it is not uncommon to find those who think that, with the same amount of money, they could put two or three more salespeople “knocking on doors”.
Getting customers isn’t what it used to be: welcome to the age of attraction
The truth is that we live in an era in which customers, whether companies or end consumers, are no longer easily influenced and have greater knowledge of the market, supply, competition and even prices. It is the era of information and attraction, in which the traditional salesman's "gift of the gab" has given way to relevant content and in which influence has been replaced by authority.
The Marketing department of an IT company or its Marketing agency has the tools and know-how needed to attract potential customers to the various contact channels available. More than ineffective, cold calls (telephone contacts with potential customers) are now considered intrusive and invasive and can even have the opposite effect to what your sales department intends.
Much more than just “entering” a client’s home or office, sales today are made based on the power of attraction that your IT company may or may not exert on the target audience . When a client – end consumer or company – needs a product or service, they will look for it where it is most convenient for them, namely on digital channels: on Google, on social networks or in the newsletters they receive via email.
Persistence and a “handful of face” are no longer enough to close a sale in IT
In B2B companies with products or services that involve many resources, or people, where the decision-making process does not depend solely on one individual and does not imply delivery to each customer, what we call complex sales occurs, as is the case with Information Technologies. This scenario is familiar to you, right?
Here we have an Inbound Marketing eBook for saudi arabia companies email list complex sales where we show how opportunities appear when we apply the Inbound Marketing methodology – an authentic Results Marketing.
Trying to “push” products or services is an outdated technique that can have adverse effects. No one schedules a meeting based on a salesperson’s pretty face anymore. The potential client needs to recognize two advantages in the product or service you want to sell: added value and credibility. For many, price is also an important variable. And all of this only becomes possible if you start investing in Marketing.
Your IT company will only be able to become an authority in the market in which it operates and demonstrate its added value through marketing actions. And these marketing actions are more effective when created by those who know what they are doing. And it is this logic that has led many IT companies to hire the services of marketing agencies specialized in their business, as they have the necessary know-how to develop content aimed at their target audience.
Ensuring alignment between Marketing and Sales teams is an essential balance
At this point, another important question arises, whether investing in Marketing internally or hiring a Marketing agency, a change is urgently needed on the part of companies: the Sales and Marketing relationship.
For a long time, the Marketing and Sales Departments were viewed in completely different ways within companies – another very familiar scenario, right? Before we answer the question in the title, we must point out that this scenario needs to change.