Field Marketing Software: The Present and Future of Business Growth

As small businesses fight to stand out in an increasingly competitive consumer landscape, merchandisers need to utilize every weapon in their arsenal to win the marketing battle. That's where field marketing software comes in.

Merchandising technology enhances a brand's ability to work collaboratively with retailers by providing a means of data gathering, communication, and organization for marketing and sales teams that would be otherwise difficult to manage. When used effectively, field marketing software is a critical component of any merchandiser's success, and it can help put a brand on the map.

But before implementing this technology into the workflow, merchandisers need to know exactly how this technology can boost their bottom line.

Is your strategy being executed to perfection?

The most notable benefit marketing software provides merchandisers is the ability to track how well retailers carry out a brand's strategy. Merchandisers must work closely with retailers to ensure their strategies are being effectively implemented in stores, so it is imperative to have a simple way to exchange information between the two parties. Field marketing apps allow merchandisers to communicate with retailers, send up-to-date product information, news on upcoming promotions, changes in a product's display, and other marketing strategies all in one central location.

Brands that leverage field marketing technology can also optimize their sales strategies by analyzing the sales data from individual retailers. Merchandisers can learn what strategies are working and which ones need improvement, and these apps allow for on-the-fly changes that can implement new strategies quickly and easily.

After sufficient analysis has been done, merchandisers can negotiate with retailers to enact the best strategy to sell their product to the public in-store. This is particularly useful to smaller brands that need to carve out a consumer base in a cutthroat marketplace right away. 

Data gathered from field marketing software is also highly beneficial to retail sales representatives. Armed with a wealth of information about the product and its consumers, salespeople can tailor their sales pitches to each customer by utilizing the information collected through this technology, according to The Next Web. These customer-facing employees of the brand can do their job much more effectively when they have access to inventory, accounting, and e-commerce information, along with customer purchase history that sales reps can access in-store or out in the field.

For merchandisers trying out this software for the first time, many brands offer free-trial periods or tiered subscriptions that allow merchandisers to test out multiple technologies and find out which is the best one for their needs, without breaking the bank, IT World reported.

Measure the strength of your marketing strategy

Leveraging field marketing software is a great way to analyze key performance metrics, streamline sales processes, and increase a brand's revenue.There are many ways to measure success, but not all of them are significant. When determining whether a merchandising strategy is achieving its goal, marketers should focus on opportunity win rates, average sale size, and sales-to-revenue ratios.

Opportunity win rates are how often sales pitches turn into actual transactions. This metric is important because it identifies if there is a rift between initial interest and follow through on purchasing. Field marketing apps can organize and measure this data so merchandisers are able to determine whether there is a problem with a particular salesperson or if an overall strategy adjustment is needed.

Secondly, marketers can use technology to pay close attention to the average sales size of their product. This measurement assists them in deciding which leads are worth pursuing and limits the allocation of resources toward unreliable customers. Marketers can also analyze this data to revamp their merchandising strategies if a brand isn't achieving the volume of sales it would like to. Brands can also utilize this technology to keep an eye on the most critical component of success: revenue.

Ultimately if a brand is making money, nothing else matters. Field marketing software gives marketers access to information on every aspect of a business, and it can flag any areas of inefficiency. This is most vital when it comes to a brand's profit margin. Companies can look at compensation for salespeople, business expenditures, and revenue to spot any big picture problems. Having this knowledge enables them to craft a winning strategy for their brand and accelerate the company's growth. But as effective as field marketing software is now, improvements are rapidly being introduced that will continue to change the merchandising industry.

Keep an (automated) eye on the future 

Artificial intelligence is already here, you just might not know it. As field marketing software innovation ramps up, artificial intelligence systems are going to be introduced to work in tandem with existing merchandising software, bringing even more customized data and capability to brands. In fact, there is already an example of AI being used to gather data, streamline customer-facing processes, and increase brand quality.

Minneapolis-based digital marketing and technology firm GoKart Labs hired Lucy - an AI system - to help gather data faster than ever before and find nuanced information that was previously  inaccessible, Twin Cities Business magazine reported. Not only can Lucy find information quickly, it can also present information in easy-to-use ways such as charts and graphs so merchandisers can digest it quickly. AI systems such as Lucy are able to constantly improve and update their algorithms as they receive new queries, making them an inexhaustible source of information, the source reported.

"When I asked a question of Lucy - it was a specific question about a client's competitors - it found that information," Rob Rosen, GoKart's director of digital marketing and analytics, told Twin Cities Business magazine. "Even Google didn't find that information in a clear way."

Artificial intelligence has the capability to go even further than current field marketing software. This means that while merchandisers should put in the effort to reap the benefits of field marketing apps, they should also keep one eye toward the future so they can continue to be on the forefront of the merchandising industry.