Welcome to FY 2023-2024!

As budgets, goals and strategies reset, how do you plan to propel your business towards success over the next 12 months?

To thrive in today’s fast-paced and highly competitive market, I know first-hand that the right sales and marketing tools can elevate customer engagement, drive more conversions and achieve productive results.

Let me set the scene here first. 

Whether you achieved, surpassed or fell a touch short of your marketing targets last financial year, now is the perfect opportunity to solidify your sales and marketing strategies for the next 12 months.

How? By adopting the use of the latest tools, techniques and tech.

By harnessing the power of tools and tech, and combining them with your existing marketing and sales tactics, you’ll be able to both streamline business processes and enhance overall customer experience while fostering sustainable growth.

And I’m not saying this just for the sake of it!

At Ask Marketing, we always practise what we preach.

So, today, I’ll provide a quick rundown of the sales and marketing tools we use ourselves at all stages of the customer journey – including the ways they can help your business connect with customers this new financial year.

Let’s get into it.‍

The top sales and marketing tools that make a superpowered business machine

At Ask Marketing, we use a list of digital tools every single day.

I personally find these sales and marketing tools helpful in keeping up with customers’ expectations, improving efficiency and accomplishing objectives. 

So, here is the list that I would recommend for any business that's serious about succeeding over the next 12 months and beyond, to reach as many prospects as possible, increase sales numbers and most importantly, add value across multiple touchpoints.

1. Top of the Funnel (TOF) Sales and Marketing tools

The top of the funnel represents the initial stage of the customer journey, where prospects become aware of your brand and engage with it for the first time.

At Ask Marketing, we leverage these TOF sales and marketing sales tools to grab attention, generate interest and lead people to learn about what we offer as a brand.

This is how you can take advantage of them, too.

• LinkedIn – LinkedIn serves as an avenue to expand professional networks, allowing you to showcase your experience, expertise and brand story. Use this every day!
  
  
• Dripify – As the most advanced LinkedIn automation and lead generation tool on the market, Dripify can help you boost your organic LinkedIn connection activity, allowing more qualified prospects to see your thought leadership content and reach out to you, ultimately leading to you closing more deals with less time and effort.
  
  
• BOA – Being a social media platform exclusively for Australian business owners, BOA enables you to seek opportunities and connect within Australia’s entrepreneurial community.
  
  
• Events and Guest Podcasts – By organising industry-specific events and participating in popular podcasts, you can gain more exposure, establish credibility and make a remarkable first impression. 

2. Middle of the Funnel (MOF) Sales and Marketing tools

The middle of the funnel, on the other hand, is where customers are looking at all the potential solutions to their needs. As they move closer to conversion, they’re after more valuable information about  your brand.

So, at this stage, we use MOF sales and marketing tools to earn the trust of prospects and keep them engaged.

The following tools have worked for us – I’m positive they’ll work for your business as well!

• ActiveCampaign – this platform automates marketing, sales and support processes to help you focus on building relationships with clients.
   
• Qwilr – With Qwilr, you can create personalised proposal content, track engagement and speed up sales cycles. This tool has increased our own conversion rates by over 70%!

• Vouch – By using Vouch, you can collect client video testimonials, share your customer stories and encourage more people to trust your brand. You can check out some of our own Vouch testimonials on our site here.
  
  
• Voice Memos – Whether through WhatsApp or iMessage, you can send personalised voice notes to follow up with your leads and communicate with them at their own convenience. Try it today! You (and your audience) will be pleasantly surprised at how drastically your response rates will increase!
  

3. Bottom of the Funnel (BOF) Sales and Marketing tools:

Lastly, the bottom of the funnel is the stage where leads are actively considering your brand against other competitors in the market.

What do you do to make them choose you?

At Ask Marketing, we optimise these BOF sales and marketing tools to address any remaining concerns or objections people have at this stage.

Here’s how you can also leverage them to increase conversions for your business:

• Typeform – You can use Typeform to create branded forms for feedback, signups and recommendations, allowing you to have a more data-driven approach in dealing with customers’ hesitations towards your product or service.
  
  
• Incentives and Referral Programs – Aside from the benefits your solutions offer, you can also entice leads through additional incentives like referral discounts, loyalty points, exclusive access and other rewards. The rule of thumb here is to personalise this referral incentive. Think about something really personal to your client, as opposed to a generic gift hamper.
  
  
• Personal Catch-ups – By engaging in more personalised interactions, such as over coffee or dinner, you can forge meaningful relationships, enhance the customer journey and foster long-term loyalty. Being top of mind will always work in your favour. 

As I’ve mentioned earlier, achieving your goals in this financial year requires a perfect blend of digital marketing tools, proactive techniques and traditional business development and sales touch points.

It's worth investing to get this balance right – I know this from first-hand experience.

After all, your customers are humans and they’re looking for a more personalised experience that will cater to their pain points and unique preferences.

So, generate a strong momentum today with these sales and marketing tools today

Remember: the financial year passes quickly. You don’t want to be left behind by failing to create your superpower business machine to accomplish your KPIs over the next 12 months.

Take action now and set yourself up for success in this fast-paced and evolving business world. Oh, and remember that I'm always here to help you.

Do you need help with your business’ marketing?

As we always say, all you have to do is ASK!

At Ask Digital Marketing, my team and I combine decisive digital strategy and managed marketing execution to help B2B service-based businesses build demand, establish thought leadership and own their industry through digital business marketing.

Stop waiting. Start building. Experience success.

Just get in touch with us and we can discuss your business and the ways we can help you navigate the digital marketing landscape.

Together, solidify your marketing plan and achieve your business goals!

For more great marketing content, connect with our company leaders, Alexandra King and Stephanie King, or follow our Ask Marketing LinkedIn page.

Let’s harness the power of digital marketing today!