​Customer data continues to become a highly valued asset for companies across industries.

​Getting website visitors to convert requires brands to create marketing collateral that spans the entire sales funnel. If there is a hole in the nurturing process, companies will lose leads and leave money on the table. To some extent, the proliferation of digital marketing and maturation of big data has reinforced the importance of tying sales and marketing tightly together.

Marketers feel increased amounts of pressure to produce web content that reflects their brands’ core principles and consistently generates new business opportunities. Automated solutions can assist creative teams in engaging prospects at the right time. In fact, companies are discovering just how crucial certain tactics are to fulfilling customer demands. Last year, Wakefly reported a 233 year-over-year increase in marketing spend on automation programs, largely fueled by big data and social listening. BtoB Magazine further emphasized marketers’ interest in using data to connect with prospects, noting that reaching buyers at the right time ranked as the No. 2 challenge among B2B marketers in February 2013.

Reaching buyers at the right time ranked as the No. 2 challenge among B2B marketers in February 2013.

Marketing automation allows companies to communicate with prospects across channels. However, even when organizations leverage data to learn more about how prospects interact with marketing materials, brands must have high-quality user experiences behind their online content efforts. Without a well-designed website and organic articles, potential customers may not receive the last-interaction nurturing they crave before conversion. For example, Brafton reported that mobile users are compelled to buy through multimedia. Brands that feature a variety of video content and visual graphics on their websites are more likely generate sales.

Building smarter marketing strategies can keep products and services in customers’ minds. Content marketing fuels success, but businesses must take the extra step to regularly consult data for insights into what works and what doesn’t. Otherwise, content production won’t be as strong as it could or should be in today’s digital age.

Ted Karczewski is an Executive Communications Associate at Brafton. He works to develop his own voice and apply his passions to the evolving world of SEO and content marketing, but he doesn't shy away from writing for fun. After graduating from Suffolk University, Ted used his Communications degree to test out Sports Journalism before Marketing at Brafton.