The global software spectrum is so diverse and versatile that there is never any dearth of new technology!
From this diversity stems a tough, competitive tech turf. With new players entering the tech turf every day, the stalwarts also account for a small fraction of the market. It also applies to the ERP market, with Microsoft Dynamics leading the pack with a 31.5% market share, Oracle with 5.1%, SAP followed by 11%, and other vendors securing a massive 42% market share. The numbers state a simple fact that businesses can choose from hundreds of ERP solutions.
Hence, if you are an ERP solution provider, to emerge victorious in the rat race, a top-notch ERP marketing strategy that fetches maximum sales outreach is your savior!
The demand for ERP is soaring, with around 50% of enterprises including it in their tech stack. Its market potential corroborates this. The global ERP software market, valued at USD 59.48 million, is poised to grow at a CAGR of 11% to reach USD 123.410 million by 2030. To make the most of this robust market growth, an effective market strategy will let businesses make the hay when the sun shines and hit the jackpot!
In this blog, we have outlined a few winning tactics that will allow you, as a business, to master ERP marketing and overshoot sales.
Besides the tough competition in the software sector, several other factors are making ERP marketing a tough nut to crack. Though ERP solution providers can rely heavily on the immense transformative benefits ERP offers, they cannot undermine the obstacles they face while marketing their offerings. Some of the crucial factors that deter a business from opting for an ERP include a lengthy time of implementation, skepticism surrounding the ROI gain from ERP, high cost of investment required to include ERP in their tech stack, resistance to change, and more.
A few of the bottlenecks preventing ERP businesses from marketing their ERP
Owing to the multiple ERP providers in the market, companies have more options to choose from. However, with apt tactics at their behest, ERP businesses can stand out from the rest, grasp a substantial market share and nudge their profits upwards. Here are a few questions that an impeccable ERP marketing strategy should address.
Assessing your target market is the way forward.
Including tactics that let you as a business assess and understand your target market is crucial for lead wins. As an ERP business, to gain valuable insights about your target audience, you can leverage various contact databases pertaining to the industry, associated professionals, or verticals of your choice.
For instance, if you are a business providing ERP exclusively for the oil and gas industry, you can leverage databases pertaining to the oil and gas industry, get in touch with stakeholders of the industry, including oil and gas companies, professionals associated with the industry to perceive the industry’s pressing needs and the actual audience persona.
To assess your audience, you can begin by creating an ideal customer profile by considering aspects like prospects’ revenue size, technographic data, firmographic data, and more. These aspects allow you to perceive the needs of the prospects and promote the benefits of ERP that address them. ICP also helps you to customize marketing campaigns to reach the businesses that are genuinely in need and interested in your ERP offerings, allowing you to optimize client win rates by 68%.
Furthermore, you can take the initiative to analyze the growth rate and potential revenue generation capabilities of a market so that you can identify the lucrative verticals you can choose to market your ERP. For instance, if the healthcare sector has high revenue potential, you can streamline your marketing endeavors to target prospects from healthcare.
In addition to this, you can undertake a competitor analysis, understand your business rivals’ audience, and explore similar criteria of prospects. You can take inspiration from the strategies that worked in your competitor’s favor or understand the pitfalls they suffered while marketing their ERP and avoid committing the same errors.
Local networking events are the way to go about it.
Businesses must establish their proficiency and subject market expertise in the specific field to gain proper traction. With such proficiency and knowledge, businesses can foster trust and confidence among their audience and quickly persuade them to purchase their product. The best way to showcase your expertise in a domain is via local networking events.
As a businesses, you can choose from an array of events, including workshops, conferences, trade shows, and more, to showcase their products. Additionally, these events give a platform for ERP businesses and product developers to interact with the industry stakeholders, connect with the audience, and understand their needs. They can convey and showcase how their offerings are the ultimate solution that addresses the prospect’s concern and increases awareness about their brand. Despite the rise of online events, 70% of businesses rely heavily on networking events like trade shows to generate new leads and increase awareness about their offerings.
Besides these primary objectives, ERP businesses can latch on to new trends and skills that are gaining ground in the market and implement them in their product development cycle. Also, as 81%networking event attendees comprise key decision makers, it presents ERP businesses an excellent opportunity to establish direct line of communication with prospects having the final say in purchases crucial for accelerating the sales cycle. Networking events allow businesses to foster new connections and also meet potential prospects without investing hefty amounts in advertisements. It is corroborated by the fact that 71% of SMEs have gained new clients, and 44% of businesses have fostered connections with their potential prospects without investing hefty amounts in advertisements just by participating in networking events.
Benefits of networking events for B2B businesses
Making value proposition the cornerstone of your marketing strategy is the way around.
The impact of a clear-cut value proposition cannot be ignored. Enterprises with a good value proposition have witnessed 76% growth. Hence, a marketing strategy that communicates to prospects ‘WHY’ they should invest in your ERP positively impacts an enterprise’s user acquisition capabilities. Emphasizing your ERP solution’s benefits, the uniqueness of your offerings, and key features in promotional endeavors allows you to differentiate your brand from competitors. It also enables you to attract the right customers who are looking for the solutions only your ERP provides.
Taking the digital or online marketing route is the way forward.
Networking events definitely work wonders for ERP businesses striving to boost sales. However, the benefits of online marketing cannot be undermined. Digital or online marketing offers ERP businesses a multitude of benefits that event marketing fails to elicit. ERP businesses can reach out to a broad audience segment regardless of their location by just ensuring their presence on platforms or communication channels that their prospects use.
Additionally, utilizing digital marketing as a tactic lets ERP businesses pitch their offerings quickly to their target audience. For instance, posting high-quality content on their website provides businesses insights about their target audience. Companies can use these insights to lure specific audiences by targeting them with tailored ads. Besides being more cost-effective than outbound marketing endeavors, like cold calling, digital marketing creates avenues for businesses to interact with prospects through various channels, like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and more.
Also, with businesses getting a 200% ROI, i.e., 2 dollars gain on every 1 dollar spent on just Google ads, taking digital marketing routes including email, paid search, organic search, content marketing, and more allows ERP enterprises to secure their financial pursuits and increase business outreach.
The most preferred online marketing channels for B2B tech companies
Appeasing the users with free trials and product demos is the way forward.
An impeccable marketing strategy must not only let you reach your prospects but also do the job of pursuing them to become users. Hence, including product demos and free trials in your marketing approach can work wonders for your ERP business. Owing to the lucrative benefits that free trials offer, about 27% of tech companies use it to obtain up to 25% of clients, and 16% of them leverage it to win new businesses. Free trials or product demos allow you to provide a first-hand experience of your software to prospects and maximize the chances of transforming into loyal customers. Besides increasing the conversion rate, free trials and product demos are the best way for ERP businesses to gain users’ valuable feedback, modulate offerings accordingly, and bolster sales.
Building solid partnerships with complementary businesses is the way forward.
When you offer a complete ERP solution, your users will keep coming back to you!
For instance, your ERP business not only provides ERP software but also facilitates integration with existing systems, provides training and add-ons that enhance ERP performance, and troubleshoots any issues that arise. With all these umbrella benefits you offer, your client might never choose any other ERP vendor other than you. However, as an ERP business, you may fail to deliver all these to your client. However, by partnering or collaborating with a complementary business or a consulting firm, you can easily accomplish this.
Your marketing strategy should emphasize the strong collaborations you have chalked out to mitigate any issues prospects will face while using ERP. It helps you wield a strong influence on the audience, quickly nudge them in the buyer journey, and persuade them to make a purchase.
An appropriate pricing model is the way forward.
The last step to consider in your marketing strategy is a pricing model. Developing a pricing strategy that strikes a balance between affordability and profitability always fetches the best returns for businesses. Promotional endeavors that convey to the prospects the best and most cost-effective pricing models never fail to clinch a deal and transform potential prospects into users. With an appropriate pricing model that trikes a right chord with their prospects, ERP businesses can maximize sales, outsmart their competitors, and fortify their revenue. Leveraging contact databases that provide exclusive information on companies using ERP and assessing prospects’ financial standing by using the data filters available in the databases as a business, you can decide to offer your products on a monthly or a yearly subscription model. Offering the products in cost-effective models allows you to accelerate the sales cycle and gain quick lead wins that are vital for business prosperity.
Popular pricing models used by businesses to clinch deals
Leveraging social proof is the way forward.
When testimonials can boost an enterprise’s sales by 270%, ERP businesses must not shy away from including social proof in their marketing strategy. Testimonials and positive reviews are powerful persuasion tools that can enhance brand’s credibility and create a positive impression in the audience’s mind about a business, nudging them quickly to purchase a product. As 92.4% of B2B users rely heavily on online reviews and testimonials, ERP businesses can make positive online reviews and video testimonials part of their market strategy. By exploring the social proof in marketing strategy, ERP businesses can make use of customers’ psyches to derive desired outcomes from their campaign, i.e., persuading more prospects and onboarding them as users.
Inclusion of IoT, cloud deployment, and other advanced features has made ERP evolve as a software. ERP vendors must consider some future trends in addition to the above-mentioned time-tested strategies, to gain lead wins while marketing such an unique offering. VR and AR, AI-powered marketing transcending from a buzzword to the latest trend, the dawn of personalization through data analytics, and short form video content are a few of the tactics taking center stage in the marketing spectrum that ERP businesses can explore.
Marketing ERP presents both opportunities and challenges. Understanding the needs of your users and devising marketing campaigns that tell them that your offering is the ultimate solution that they need will let you overcome the challenges. By formulating a strategy that answers the questions mentioned above, as an ERP business, you can generate ample leads and catapult your venture to the top spot.
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