So, you want more leads, more growth? But how do you do it? 85% of B2B companies list lead generation as their most important marketing objective. Yet… as many as 62% struggle with it. We know that trying to generate leads may be intimidating — after all, attracting customers is the lifeblood of any business. […]
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Welcome back to the third chapter of our blog series “Marketers ask AI”. In our previous articles, we’ve explored the fascinating world of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on marketing operations and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Today we’ll delve into the realms of CRM (customer relationship management) and MA (marketing automation) to discover how […]
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Welcome to the second blog in our series where we ask AI (artificial intelligence) about essential B2B marketing topics, diving deep into its answers with expert input. As we continue to explore the world of AI-assisted marketing, we come across one of its most crucial aspects, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). SEO is undoubtedly one of […]
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Welcome to our exciting new blog series – Marketers Ask AI – where we’ll be teaming up with some of the most advanced AI (artificial intelligence) tools available to explore the world of B2B marketing. Content creation is vital for marketing success — and staying ahead means embracing AI. Fun fact: 81% of marketers see […]
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The thing that strikes me the most about corporate sustainability is that, in one way or another, it has become a bit of a ‘buzzword’. Everyone’s talking about the best way to be sustainable and to live by sustainable values, but I believe it’s much simpler than that. The first kind of sustainability I believe […]
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Our M&A (mergers and acquisitions) journey started in 2010. Basically, what happened is that we had the opportunity to buy back the company we’d sold five years earlier, and that’s what we did. We got to know the company in 1999 and bought it in 2002, restructured it, and sold it again in 2005, when […]
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Back when I started in the tech industry 23 years ago, 100% of the people I worked with were men. Perhaps most of us didn’t notice the disparity back then, because that was the norm, but comparing how it was to how it is nowadays, our working environment was far from the reality of the […]
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Throughout my career as a founder of efficy, I’ve been asked –more than once—why we chose to be a SaaS (Software as a Service) business (which wasn’t an obvious choice in 2005, when the majority of apps were still Windows Client Server based). The answer is simple: because it’s easier. In the long run, it’s […]
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A while ago, during a talk with a co-worker, I remembered our first milestone as a company. It was the first deal we signed for more than 100,000 euro, and it was something special for us. I signed it in person, and it meant a lot — it was a huge achievement, both for me […]
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One of the most important steps in every entrepreneur’s journey is deciding on your line of business to, subsequently, build it from the ground up. A lot of entrepreneurs go into their fields already knowing what they want their business to be about, but several others struggle to find their niche. We belong to the […]
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Introduction 2022 was a special year on many aspects. There is one field, however, that never disappoints. This is, of course, the GDPR field where in 2022, 830€ million fines were distributed. This is less however than in 2021 which was a record year for GDPR fines totaling over a billion euros (Data compatibilized by […]
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You’ve probably heard of OpenAI, ChatGPT, and other AI-powered language tools now available for the public in many countries worldwide. After all, ChatGPT alone has reached 100 million active users each month. Maybe you’ve already taken it for a spin and asked silly questions like “Who rules the world?” or “How big is space?”. But […]
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I believe one of the privileges of having been in this business for so long is that time gives you perspective. Now, looking back, it’s much easier to realize which decisions were right, and which weren’t the best. Today, I’d like to reflect on some of my past mistakes, and the lessons I learned from […]
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Couple the recent dip in startup funding with the stronger competition for market share, and it’s not hard to see why there’s no shortage of failed startups. The lack of funds limits marketing budgets globally. And so, marketers are forced to be extra-creative in how they acquire leads. It’s common practice for marketing teams to […]
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Customer retention is heavily influenced by the after-sales care customers receive. In certain brand interactions, customers feel tricked into thinking a company offers great customer service, only to be left without help after closing the deal. It’s the opposite of a retention strategy. In fact, very often, these customers swiftly move to a competitor when […]
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Sometime ago I was doing an interview, and one of the questions I got asked was, “what challenges did you have to overcome at the beginning of your journey?” It made me think back and reminisce about Efficy’s beginnings – the founding idea, the planning, the struggles, the victories. There’s one thing I can say […]
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Imagine having to sort through a clutter of low-quality leads, spending billable hours and resources that could’ve gone to high-quality leads that are more likely to convert on a Monday morning. It’s a sales rep’s nightmare — even the best closers would agree. At its core, a business development manager’s job description is to avert […]
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A core part of marketing success involves reaching more audiences. Year after year, to generate demand, companies must increase the number of people interested in and actively engaged with their brand. Whether it’s focusing on audience preferences or engaging more powerfully with them on social, B2B companies must explore ways to switch up their marketing […]
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Every now and then, I get asked why I decided to become an entrepreneur– a path that we all know is anything but easy. When we look at most big-shot entrepreneurs’ stories, we only see the bright side and the ‘happy ending’ to their endeavours. However, most people forget that behind a successful business story, […]
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Hello, everyone! Please, allow me to welcome you to my blog, The Entrepreneur’s Journey. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Cédric Pierrard; I’m a Belgian entrepreneur and businessman, and founder of Efficy, one of Europe’s leading CRM companies. I became a CEO in 2005, when we created our company, and […]
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