Marketo Agency Program Helps Agencies to Meet Surging Demand for Outsourced Digital Marketing Services

SAN MATEO, Calif., May 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Marketo, the provider of a leading cloud-based marketing software platform, today announced the availability of its new managed service program for marketing agencies. The "Marketo Agency Program," already 50 partners strong and growing, was developed to help agencies take advantage of new opportunities in digital marketing.

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Rapid technology innovation, changing buyer habits and an increasing trend toward outsourcing digital marketing services have all led to an opportunity for agencies to expand their businesses. Marketo Agency Partners benefit from new revenue streams and differentiated services that are stickier with clients. Agency clients experience the benefits of marketing automation software delivered as a service, amplified by the agency's best practices and industry expertise.

“Businesses engaged in digital marketing will seek a new generation of service provider — one that combines technology competence with marketing strategy and digital creativity,” wrote Peter O’Neill, VP, principal analyst at Forrester Research in the January 2012 report, The Emergence Of The Digital Marketing Service Provider. “Forrester’s data shows that digital marketing is a fast-growing market and represents a huge opportunity for those players that adapt to seize it, including service providers.

Powering the Agency of the Future

Because many agencies today use multiple tools to deliver marketing services, campaigns are often focused on a specific communication channel, which creates a disjointed experience for customers that move freely across channels in their daily habits. Additionally, without knowledge of where the target is in their purchase consideration, delivering relevant messages and content is a matter of luck. This can result in programs that lose effectiveness over time and lead to client churn.

In contrast, Marketo's new program provides agencies with a unified marketing automation platform that supports the effective conduct, management and analytical measurement of relationship marketing activities. With it, agency partners can provide services in new areas such as:

• Improving Existing Digital Marketing Services: Move beyond the 'email blast' to relationship marketing programs; make social a part of every campaign and deliver the content buyers want when they want it.
• Maximizing Website Launch Results: Take a website launch effort all the way – manage and track each lead's interaction and use the information for behavioral targeting to deliver relevant messages. 
• Optimizing Outsourced Sales Programs: Increase sales team effectiveness by focusing their time on sales-ready leads nurtured with relevant content and prioritized with custom lead scoring, which takes into account demographic and behavioral information.

"Our expertise with Marketo's platform enables our lead nurturing team and methodology to truly reach our clients' potential for creating sales-ready leads," said Vaughn Aust, vice president of digital solutions at MarketStar, an Omnicom agency. "For example, MarketStar was able to nurture and expand leads from 400 to 45,000 for one client and qualify more than $3 million in incremental opportunities within six months."

Flexible Program Powered by the Marketing Nation^TM Community

Advantages of the Marketo Agency Program include:

• Agency-Owned Relationship: Agencies can structure and manage customer interactions to ensure that relationships are maintained to increase the value of services delivered.
• Capacity-Based Pricing: The pricing model is designed help agencies accelerate revenue growth and to benefit from economies of scale to sustain increased growth.
• Flexible Business Model: The licensing model enables agencies to transfer licenses from one client to another as projects begin or end.
• Training & Certification: Training and certification program to develop agency team members as Marketo Certified Experts.
• Guidance & Collateral: Benefit from the collective experience of working with agencies of all shapes and sizes; white-labeled marketing automation collateral powers the promotion of new services quickly.

In addition, the Marketo Agency Program provides agencies with access to the Marketing Nation^TM community.

"The Marketing Nation is a network of marketers, resources, and expertise that can help our customers and partners get successful faster," said Sanjay Dhlolakia, CMO at Marketo. "By combining our marketing platform with the power of Marketing Nation, we can help agencies deliver more value for their clients."

To apply for the Marketo Agency Program, please visit: http://www.marketo.com/partners/marketo-for-agencies.php. For more on MarketStar's use of Marketo, please visit: http://blog.marketo.com/blog/2013/05/agencies-anonymous-6-step-program-to-overcoming-lead-nurturing-failures.html.

Register for Marketo's May 14 webinar with Peter O'Neill of Forrester to learn more about how your agency can create new opportunities – or download the white paper, Technology and the Evolution of the Marketing Agency.  

About Marketo: Marketing Software. Easy, Powerful, Complete.
Marketo uniquely provides an easy-to-use, powerful and complete marketing software platform that propels fast-growing small companies and global enterprises alike. Marketo® marketing automation and sales effectiveness software streamlines marketing processes, delivers more campaigns, generates more win-ready leads, and improves sales performance. With proven technology, comprehensive services and expert guidance, Marketo helps thousands of companies around the world turn marketing from a cost center into a revenue driver.

Known for providing breakthrough innovation and fueling growth, in both 2011 and 2012 Marketo received the CRM Market Leaders Awards Winner for Marketing Solutions by CRM Magazine. Salesforce.com customers also honored the company with the AppExchange Customer Choice Awards for 2012 in the marketing category.

Marketo, the Marketo logo and Marketing Nation are trademarks of Marketo, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Marketo