The submissions are in and the judges are rolling up their sleeves. Eloqua Experience is a little over a month away and with it comes the 2012 Markie Awards ceremony honoring excellence in marketing. Over 200 entrants will vie for one of 20 awards in such categories as Best Lead Nurturing Program, Fastest Time to Value, Most Creative Marketing Campaign and Rookie of the Year.
If you have followed the Markie's in the past you will know that despite being extremely competitive, it's no secret how to win. It's all about the results and value you are driving for your company through your marketing efforts. Which got us to thinking, do past award winners consistently perform better than average in some key marketing metrics? Do they have any characteristics in common that set them apart from our broader customer base?
We decided to compare the twenty 2011 Markie winners to the Eloqua Benchmark Index for the last four quarters. Keeping in mind that these results are averaged across all industries and company sizes, we found some interesting things. As you can see on the graph, open and click-through rate were indeed appreciably higher for the award winners, but what really stands out is the extent to which this segment is using automation and Apps at a much higher rate. Almost twice the number of connections to 3rd party Apps and five times as many active, multi-step marketing campaigns.
Obviously winning an award doesn't make you more effective, but what this analysis shows is that those companies with award-winning results are investing more heavily in modern marketing techniques. Are you looking for inspiration on things you can do to kickstart your marketing efforts or want to share your own successes? Join the discussion on Topliners for stories and how-to examples from a community of your peers.
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