4 Strategies for Agencies to Successfully Sell Marketing Technology

If you sell marketing technology to clients as part of your service offering, you may run into some resistance. Clients aren’t always eager to try something new. You’re focused on giving them the best possible solution for their marketing goals, but they’re busy worrying about the cost in time, money, and effort.

Clients know that adopting a new marketing technology can be time and budget-intensive. If a client can’t envision the return for all that, they’re not going to make the investment. To overcome this objection, you’ll need to show the client how this technology supports your services to offer them a best fit solution. 

Once a client sees what the technology can do for them, they’ll be all in. Your job is to paint the picture and invite them to step into it.

To Sell Marketing Technology, Be Human

When talking about technology, the conversation can quickly become, well, technical. Before you know it, clients have tuned out. Most people can get through about three bullet points worth of tech specs before their eyes glaze over. Tell them all about the multi-sandbox options, REST API and ease of vCard export, and they’re likely to leave the conversation thinking “so what?” 

The best way to sell marketing technology is to be human. That means focusing on what your clients need and want. Ultimately, it comes down to feelings first. People want to feel capable and confident. Your clients are no exception. 

Marketing technology can help foster those feelings by helping clients to do their work faster, better, or with less discomfort. Lean into these big-picture benefits. At LaunchLabs, we love to talk about how Ignite simplifies lead capture so you can get more from your site.

Focus on What Users Can Do With Marketing Technology 

Everyone loves a shiny new feature. We all want to know “what does that button do?” But clients know better than to jump on every flashy new technology. They need to know what this technology can do for them. 

The common advice is to “focus on benefits, not features.” That’s a good start, but it’s not enough. You really influence people when you show them the concrete outcomes they can expect.

For example, at LaunchLabs we don’t get lost in the mechanics of how Ignite identifies, loads,  information, and engages leads with personalized messaging. Users don’t really care. What they want to know is that this technology can help them engage website users and influence buying decisions. It’s all about the end goal.

Speak The Client’s Language

Vague marketing speak can be tempting. You might hear yourself using words like cutting-edge or hyperautomation in an attempt to hype things up. Such language can spice up your proposal, but it doesn't actually tell the client anything. Too many vague buzzwords, and clients may even end up feeling like you’re trying to put one over on them. 

Use clear, direct language to answer your clients’ most burning questions: 

• What return on investment (ROI) can we expect?
• How does this tool fit into our technology stack?
• Will it be difficult for our teams to learn? 
• Can we get the reporting and metrics that we need? 

In our 90 days with Ignite blog post, we walk clients through their first 90 days with the software and show them exactly what they can expect. We give them specific targets for conversion rates, engagement rates, and more. 

We’re speaking their language. More importantly, we’re talking focusing on the processes and results they care about most. 

Tell a Story About Your Client

Most marketers appreciate a good case study. They offer two things that help drive sales, data and stories. Case studies bring the technology out of the theoretical space and into the real world, where clients actually operate. 

Clients get a look at how businesses like theirs have used the tool to achieve their goals. Suddenly, it becomes a lot easier to picture their business doing the same thing.  

For example, take a look at our Mattress Retailer Case Study. It lays out a common problem -- a retailer is dissatisfied with their existing retargeting strategy. Then it shows how Ignite intervened to help the retailer meet their goals. If they could achieve 10x return on investment and 40% lead conversion, maybe your client can too. 

Those numbers wouldn’t feel as attainable if without the real story from a real business to support them.

Let Clients Test Drive The Technology

Telling a story while being human, focusing on outcomes, and speaking the client’s language is a strong start. But there’s one more thing you can do to close the sale: let them try the technology for themselves. 

There’s a reason car dealerships offer test drives. It’s a lot easier to invest in a new car when you’re already sitting inside it. Take a page from their playbook and schedule a demo today.