The Annuitas Group Blog

SIRIUS DECISIONS SUMMIT 2009

Two posts ago I spoke about the Silverpop 2009 conference (See Silverpop Client Summit – 2009 – May 17).  In that post I also mentioned the 2009 Sirius Decisions Summit I attended.  Having finally dug out of being away from the office for two weeks, and being able to sift through the content and notes I had taken, I am now taking the time to briefly comment on it.

As is commonly known in the industry, Sirius Decisions provides some of the richest content available regarding sales and marketing alignment. At this summit they definitely delivered yet again.  From the Sirius personnel sessions to the corporate case studies provided, each presentation was an education on how to improve on marketing and making your marketing dollar count.

During these sessions though there was one theme that came up repeatedly:  the need for process. While there was talk of marketing automation, CRM, and other technology, by and large the prevailing theme was that process is key to success.  I couldn’t agree more!

Silverpop Client Summit – 2009

In the last two weeks I have been to two conferences. The first was the Seventh Annual Silverpop Client Summit in Atlanta (I’ll tell you more about the second one in another post).  If I may, I’d like to divert from the usual “marketing thoughts” we blog about, and instead, give you our impressions from the Silverpop Customer Summit:

Here’s an overview and some highlights from the conference:

• The new Engage B2B GUI!  Silverpop introduced the new Campaign Manger GUI, which uses a drag-n-drop interface for the building of multi-touch campaigns.  This new interface will allow marketers to build their campaigns in the same “visual” way that they are diagrammed (think “Visio”).  This new feature certainly enhances the experience for marketers and makes it easier for Silverpop Engage B2B customers to launch and manage their marketing campaigns.
• The focus on Process.  Speaker after speaker highlighted the importance and the need for a systematic, documented process to get the most from your marketing automation platform.  Without process, automation is limited.
• More attention on B2B. It was very exciting to see and hear that Silverpop is dramatically paying more attention to the B2B world, and its Engage B2B platform.  In breakout sessions, and keynote addresses, Silverpop has made the commitment to build around this market leading solution set.
• Noted Speakers. We had the privilege of attending sessions and networking with speakers such as Forresters’ Laura Ramos and Sirius Decisions’ John Neeson
• Co-Presenting.  We also had the privilege of co-presenting a case study with one of our clients, USA Financial.  We explained how they established a lead management process, and as a result, have aligned sales and marketing, and improved their marketing ROI.

Overall it was a great conference and we came away with even more enthusiasm regarding the partnership between The Annuitas Group and Silverpop, and the tremendous value that partnership is delivering to the marketplace.