Marketing Tools to Predict Sales
Edmonton business owners can benefit from new marketing tools to predict sales. Their marketing campaign can really begin to predict their sales forecast once the benchmark metrics have been recorded. This is a good reason why your CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) should always take part in the sales forecast conversation for any business with an online presence.
In the digital era, marketing departments can (and should) take responsibility for at least the early stages of the buyer cycle. They can also forecast future sales results within reasonable accuracy.
Marketing managers would have more insight into future revenue than the sales team based on its collection of data from past campaigns and its plans for the next ones.
There are four steps for using marketing to predict sales:
- Modeling: Model the revenue cycle and map personas. Make sure you plan to gather the best metrics during the buyer journey.
- Collect Inputs: Forecasts and educated guesses will only be as good as the data on which they are built. Do the due diligence necessary to get the most accurate data on how many new leads the marketing team will gather through each upcoming campaign.
- Pattern: Model how current and new leads will flow through the revenue cycle based on data you have gleaned from past campaigns.
- Forecast: Remember that these are estimates, so it's crucial to apply your judgment to the numbers. If your data and metrics are solid, though, you should be able to project a fairly accurate estimate of future revenue.
Projected sales are the numbers that executives want to see, which is why sales usually gets more credibility from the corner offices. But when marketing teams can gather data and map revenue cycles to accurately project sales forecasts, CEOs will start to better understand the marketing department's value.
Marketing Analytics: Grow Your Business and Your Brand
Enterprise marketers often initially see marketing analytics as a complicated endeavor, while SMB marketers tend to consider it unnecessary for their company's small size. But, neither perception is true.
An accurate map of the marketing analytics process reveals a very approachable practice – and one that is essential for growing a business of any size. Enterprise marketers will improve their campaigns and grab the CEO’s attention in a way they never have before. SMB marketers will build their brands and drive sales… and grab the CEO's attention.