Smarketing: how to successfully integrate business marketing

19 September 2023Strategies

Integrating sales and marketing for business success

In the competitive business world, both marketing and sales play a crucial role in the success of a company. However, there has often been a perceived gap between these two teams, which can hinder growth and hinder the overall service level of the organization.

To overcome this challenge, a third element comes into play, called "smarketing", which seeks close integration and collaboration between sales and marketing. In this article, we will explain in detail the concept of smarketing, its benefits and how to implement it in a company.

What is Smarketing?

The term "smarketing" is derived from the combination of the words "sales" and "marketing". It refers to the practice of aligning and collaborating closely between the sales and marketing departments to achieve a common goal: company growth.

Rather than operating as separate entities, sales and marketing teams work together, sharing information, goals and strategies to maximize the impact of their efforts.

Smarketing is based on the premise that the lines between sales and marketing activities have become increasingly blurred in today's business environment. Potential customers and consumers interact with multiple channels and platforms before making a decision to purchase a product or service, which means that marketing and sales must collaborate to provide a consistent and seamless experience throughout the process.

Benefits of Smarketing

1. Improve communication: Smarketing encourages open and constant communication between sales and marketing teams. By sharing information, data and experiences, both teams can better understand customer needs and expectations, enabling them to create more effective and personalized strategies.
2. Greater alignment of objectives: By establishing shared objectives, sales and marketing teams can work together towards common goals. This helps to avoid internal competition and foster collaboration, which in turn improves the effectiveness of both departments.
3. Improve lead generation: Smarketing enables more effective and qualified lead generation. By collaborating early in the lead generation process, the marketing team can provide valuable information about the profile of the ideal customer or buyer persona and the ideal inputs to meet customer needs. In turn, the sales team can provide insight into the interactions and challenges faced in the sales closing process. This collaboration helps generate more qualified leads and optimize conversions.
4. Increase customer retention: By working together, the two teams can develop more effective customer retention strategies. Marketing can provide relevant, personalized content to keep customers engaged, while the sales team can provide insights into customer needs and wants that can help create more effective marketing strategies.
5. Improved analysis and measurement: The integration of marketing techniques (inbound marketing, Email marketing, SEM, SEO...), and sales facilitates data collection and analysis. By sharing metrics and results, the effectiveness of campaigns and strategies can be more accurately assessed, allowing for continuous adjustments and improvements.

Implementing Smarketing in a Company

Below are some key steps to successfully implement smarketing in a company:

1. Encourage communication and collaboration: Establish open communication channels between sales and marketing teams, such as weekly meetings, sharing documents and using collaborative tools. Encourage the exchange of ideas and experiences to strengthen collaboration.
2. Define shared objectives: Establish clear and shared goals between sales and marketing teams. This may include goals for lead generation, conversion rates, revenue generated, customer retention, among others. Aligning goals will help avoid conflict and keep the focus on business results.
3. Data sharing and analysis: Facilitate the exchange of relevant data and analysis between the two teams. This includes information on ideal customer profiles, effectiveness of marketing campaigns, sales performance, pain points in the sales process, among others. Access to this data will help both teams make better decisions.
4. Create a common language: Establish a shared glossary of terms between sales and marketing teams to ensure that everyone understands key metrics and concepts. This will help avoid misunderstandings and improve alignment in discussions and evaluations.
5. Use appropriate technology: Implement tools and systems that enable more effective collaboration, such as a shared CRM (Customer Relationship Management), marketing automation, lead tracking, social media, among others. The right technology can facilitate communication and information sharing between teams.

Conclusion

Smarketing has become a key strategy for companies that want to stay competitive and maximise growth. By integrating sales and marketing teams, a powerful synergy is created that enables more effective lead generation, stronger customer retention and faster, more effective business analysis and results.

By embracing the smarketing strategy and fostering a collaborative culture, companies have the opportunity to achieve unprecedented levels of success and establish a more effective position in today's demanding marketplace.