What Is Smarketing? Meaning, Challenges, and 5 Steps to Nail It

Liucija Adomaite
LAST UPDATED
May 3, 2024
READING TIME
7 min.

Sales and marketing teams are your company's two critical functions for growing revenue. But there's a limit to how much they can achieve by working alone. 

Joining together and aligning their workforce for common goals is called smarketing.

In smarketing, marketing and sales teams become a unified force. It allows both teams to unlock their full potential and boost revenue.

In this article, you learn what is smarketing, its benefits and main challenges, as well as 5 crucial steps to implement it. Let's get to it.

What is smarketing?

Smarketing is the alignment of sales and marketing teams to work together for a smoother customer journey and more sales.

The term "Smarketing" is made from a combination of "sales" and "marketing." It's used to refer to a business strategy in which the sales and marketing teams are closely aligned to create an integrated approach. 

The goal of smarketing is to build a strong relationship between sales and marketing teams based on shared goals and a unified strategy to reach them.

Is smarketing effective?

Smarketing is a very effective strategy to business and revenue growth. 

According to sales and marketing stats, when sales and marketing teams work closely together, businesses see a 27% faster profit growth.

Moreover, 2020 research shows that, according to 22.1% of salespeople, aligning sales and marketing teams to work together helps to close more deals.

Why is smarketing important?

Smarketing is important because it breaks down silos between sales and marketing, leading to a more unified approach that boosts sales, improve customer experience, and help businesses grow.

Imagine sales and marketing as two sides of a coin - they both work towards the same goal (revenue) but from different angles. Smarketing gets them working together seamlessly. 

Smarketing allows sales and marketing teams to: 

  • Define measurable goals where everyone is accountable. For example, both teams collaborate on establishing a leads service level agreement (SLA) for marketing. It includes the contingency that sales must follow up with a certain number of the leads they receive. This mutual agreement guide both teams to work as a unified force.
  • Work in sync to improve customer experience.
  • Re-evaluate the goals of both teams to identify opportunities and things to improve on both teams.
  • Shift all focus on every customer. 
  • Communicate goals and challenges openly within both teams.
  • Streamline sales cycle 

A smarketing strategy requires sales and marketing teams to work in sync to tackle various dynamic targets: 

  • Qualifying Leads
  • Shared Goals and Key Performance Indicators
  • Target Buyer Personas and Related Messaging
  • Process for Transferring Leads from Marketing to Sales
  • Centralization and Visibility of Data

Key benefits of smarketing

When executed well, smarketing brings a bunch of advantages for businesses.

The main smarketing benefits include:

  • Improved customer experience. With marketing and sales on the same page, customers get a consistent and relevant experience throughout their buying journey. No more mixed messages or confusing handoffs.
  • Higher sales win rates. Smarketing ensures that marketing generates qualified leads that are a good fit for the product or service. This makes it easier for sales teams to close deals.
  • Shorter sales cycles. By working together, sales and marketing can identify and address customer needs more quickly, leading to faster conversions.
  • Increased customer retention. Smarketing fosters a more holistic view of the customer, allowing businesses to develop targeted campaigns that keep customers engaged and coming back for more.
  • Better resource allocation. When sales and marketing collaborate, they can avoid duplicating efforts and allocate resources more efficiently.
  • Faster revenue growth. By combining the strengths of both sales and marketing, smarketing can significantly accelerate a company's revenue growth.

Smarketing: main challenges and how to tackle them

When your marketing and sales teams are misaligned, the sales operations will suffer. The misalignment can cause internal friction and create a bad customer experience. 

There are numerous signs of poor or failed smarketing implementation. If your sales and marketing teams are misaligned, you can see bumpy lead handoffs between marketing and sales. Inconsistent or incomplete data that makes it difficult to track ROI on marketing and sales efforts is another warning that both teams are not in sync. The main sign of poor sales and marketing team alignment is low conversion rates and/or poor customer retention rates.

The most common smarketing challenges are:

1. Siloed Teams.

Sales and marketing teams often have different goals, priorities, and even cultures. Breaking down these silos and fostering collaboration can be a hurdle.

Solution: 

  • Set shared goals and vision. Clearly define common goals for both sales and marketing teams, aligning them with the overall business objectives. This creates a sense of shared purpose and motivates collaboration.
  • Organize joint activities like workshops, brainstorming sessions, and even social events to encourage interaction and understanding between teams.
  • Establish Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that outline how sales and marketing will collaborate on lead qualification, handoff procedures, and communication protocols.

2. Communication breakdowns. 

Without clear and regular communication, smarketing efforts can easily fall apart. Misunderstandings about target audiences, messaging, and lead qualification can lead to wasted resources and frustrated teams.

Solution:

  • Host regular meetings (weekly or bi-weekly) for sales and marketing to discuss campaigns, customer feedback, and lead qualification criteria.
  • Share communication channels like project management tools (CRMs) or communication apps (like Slack) to ensure everyone is on the same page and information flows freely.
  • Encourage to share content between both teams with each other, such as sales insights feeding into marketing content creation.

3. Metrics and measurement. 

It can be tricky to agree on how to measure the success of smarketing initiatives. Sales might focus on closed deals, while marketing might prioritize brand awareness. Defining common metrics and KPIs is crucial.

Solution:

  • Define common KPIs that track the success of smarketing initiatives. This could include metrics for lead generation, conversion rates, and customer lifetime value.
  • Map out the customer journey and identify touchpoints where both sales and marketing contribute. This helps track the impact of each team's efforts on the overall customer experience.
  • Implement data analytics toolsto measure the effectiveness of campaigns and identify areas for improvement.

4. Technological hurdles. 

Having the right technology infrastructure in place is essential for smooth smarketing operations. This could involve implementing a CRM system that integrates with marketing automation tools.

Solution:

  • Invest in integration and try marketing automation tools and CRMs that integrate seamlessly to share data and track progress across departments.
  • Provide training for both sales and marketing teams on how to use the new technology and optimize its capabilities for smarketing success.

5. Lack of leadership support. 

Smarketing requires buy-in from senior management. If leadership doesn't see the value of collaboration, it can be difficult to get sales and marketing teams on board.

Solution:

  • Showcase data and case studies that demonstrate the benefits of smarketing for revenue growth and customer satisfaction.
  • Start with pilot smarketing projects to demonstrate the value proposition to leadership. Early wins can go a long way in securing buy-in.
  • Identify an executive champion who understands the importance of smarketing and can advocate for collaboration across teams.

There's no solution that fits all when it comes to beating smarketing challenges. Your task is to tailor you solution specifically to the problem your sales and marketing teams are facing. The sooner you address and tackle these smarketing challenges, the more positive impact and faster growth you will see in your company.

How to implement smarketing in your business?

Here's a 5-step framework to nail it:

1.  Lay the groundwork to determine how aligned your teams currently are

  • Assessment and Goal Setting: Start by evaluating your current sales and marketing practices. Set clear goals for your smarketing initiatives, ensuring they align with your overall business objectives.
  • Team Alignment: Get buy-in from both sales and marketing leadership. Foster a culture of collaboration by breaking down silos and encouraging communication between teams.

2.  Build a strong foundation for your smarketing strategy 

  • Define Buyer Personas: Develop detailed buyer personas that represent your ideal customer. You can speed up the process of defining your business’ ideal customer profile with lemlist free ICP generator. This ensures both sales and marketing target the right audience with the right message.
  • Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Establish clear SLAs that outline lead qualification criteria, handoff procedures, and communication protocols between sales and marketing. SLA refers to a document that outlines a commitment between a service provider and a client, including details of the service, the standards the provider must adhere to, and the metrics to measure the performance.

3. Leverage technology and implement tools to boost smarketing strategy

Implement a CRM system (like HubSpot CRM) and marketing automation tools (like lemlist) that integrate seamlessly to share data and track progress across departments. Train teams on how to use these tools effectively.

For example, lemlist is a very helpful tool for implementing a successful smarketing strategy because it gives you the following:

  • Improved Personalization and Lead Nurturing: lemlist allows you to create personalized outreach campaigns with features like video inserts, dynamic images, and custom landing pages. This resonates better with leads, increases engagement, and fosters relationships – a key aspect of smarketing.
  • Streamlined Collaboration: lemlist offers features for team collaboration, allowing sales and marketing teams to work together on crafting email sequences and sharing templates. This fosters communication and ensures messaging aligns with both teams' goals.
  • Automated Workflows: lemlist automates tasks like sending follow-up emails and scheduling outreach. This frees up time for both sales and marketing teams, allowing them to focus on more strategic initiatives and personalized interactions.
  • Data and Analytics: lemlist provides insights into campaign performance, such as open rates, click-through rates, and replies. This data can be shared between sales and marketing, helping them measure success, identify areas for improvement, and optimize their smarketing efforts.
  • Multi-Channel Prospecting: lemlist goes beyond email outreach, allowing you to integrate social media and other channels into your campaigns. This aligns with the smarketing approach of reaching leads across various touchpoints.

4. Develop and execute your smarketing strategy through collaboration and planning

  • Content Collaboration: Work together to create targeted content that attracts leads, nurtures them through the sales funnel, and positions your brand as a trusted resource.
  • Campaign Planning: Plan and execute joint marketing campaigns that leverage the strengths of both sales and marketing. This could involve co-hosted webinars, targeted email campaigns, or social media initiatives.
  • Measurement and Optimization: Track the results of your smarketing initiatives using common KPIs. Analyze data to identify areas for improvement and continuously optimize your strategy for better results.

5.  Focus on continuous improvement by reviewing, celebrating, and evolving

  • Regular Reviews: Schedule regular meetings to discuss campaign performance, customer feedback, and areas for improvement.
  • Celebrate Successes: Recognize and celebrate wins achieved through smarketing collaboration to keep teams motivated and engaged.
  • Adapt and Evolve: The marketing landscape is constantly changing. Be prepared to adapt your smarketing strategy to evolving customer needs, market trends, and new technologies.

Key Takeaways

Smarketing aligns sales and marketing teams to work together, enhancing the customer journey and increasing sales. It is shown to significantly increase profit growth and deal closure rates when sales and marketing collaborate.

Smarketing improves customer experiences, increases sales win rates, shortens sales cycles, boosts customer retention, and facilitates better resource allocation.

As a business strategy, smarketing is based on collaboration, transparency, and full integration of all processes for both teams. This allows sales and marketing teams to unlock their full potential and boost all the sales funnel stages. 

The major challenges include siloed teams, communication breakdowns, measurement difficulties, technological hurdles, and lack of leadership support. Solutions involve setting shared goals, enhancing communication, defining common metrics, leveraging technology, and securing executive buy-in.

Ultimately, smarketing is a special power to grow your business and revenue. 

Liucija Adomaite
Liucija Adomaite is a viral content writer and organic traffic expert on a mission to help turn ambitious businesses into big names.
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$2,999/mo
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AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs
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Sales operations and finance teams
Powerful configurability
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Mid-market and enterprise businesses
Comprehensive incentive management
Potentially high cost and steep learning curve
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$15/user/mo
$40/user/mo
Enterprise: custom price
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Steep learning curve
4.6
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Not publicly available
Collaborative teams
Connected planning
Complexity and steep learning curve
4.6
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Not publicly available
Companies with complex sales structures
Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy
Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs
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Not publicly available
Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts
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$30/user/mo
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Custom: upon request
Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software
Ease of use and adoption
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4.8
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Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights
A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility
Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow
4.9
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star
star
star
star
$30/user/mo
$50/user/mo
Smaller sales teams
Powerful automation
Lesser user base and average user interface
4.7
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Not publicly available
Companies with scalable needs
Automated Commission Calculations
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ERP vs. CRM
ERP
CRM
Summary
Backbone of a business's internal operations.
Backbone of customer-centric interactions and operations.
Goal
To centralize and streamline core business processes in a company.
To increase customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty, and boost sales.
Focus
Internal operations and processes across departments (finance, accounting, inventory, supply chain, HR, and sales).
All interactions with leads and customers.
Manages
Internal business data like financial data, inventory levels, production details, supply chain, HR info.
All customer data like contact info, purchase history, communication history, customer preferences and more.
Users
Finance, accounting, operations, supply chain, and HR departments.
Customer-facing teams like sales, marketing, and customer service.
Benefits
Streamlines operations, improves data accuracy, enhances decision-making, boosts collaboration, increases productivity.
Improves customer relationships, increases sales, strengthens customer service, personalizes marketing campaigns, provides insights.
Price
$150 per user per year on average.
$10 to $30 per user per month on average.
PRM Tool
Rating
Feature
Pro
Con
Mobile App
Integrations
Free Plan
Pricing
4.65
star
star
star
star
star-half
Org-wide alignment
User-friendly layout and database
Suboptimal as a personal CRM
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-check
Team: $20/month
Business: $45/month
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Social Media Integration
Easy contact data collection
No marketing/sales features
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-xmark
7-day trial
$12/month
4.75
star
star
star
star
star-half
Block Functions
High customization capability
Not a dedicated CRM
square-check
Limited
square-check
Plus: €7.50/month
Business: €14/month
N/A
Open-source
Open-source flexibility
Requires extensive manual input
square-xmark
Limited
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Self-hosted
$9/month or
$90/year
3.1
star
star
star
Simple iOS app
Ideal for non-tech-savvy users
iPhone only
square-check
iOS only
Limited
square-xmark
1-month trial
$1.49/month or
$14.99/month
3.6
star
star
star
star-half
Smart Contact Management
Feature-rich and flexible
Reported bugs
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
7-day trial
Premium: $13.99/month
Teams: $17.99/month
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Customizable Interface
Customizable for teamwork
Pricey for personal use
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
Standard: $24/member
Premium: $39/member
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Integrated Calling
Integrated Calling
Too sales-oriented & pricey
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
Startup: $59/user/month
Professional: $329/user/month
4.8
star
star
star
star
star
Business Card Scanning
Business Card Scanning
Mobile only
square-check
Limited
square-check
$9.99/month
4.45
star
star
star
star
star-half
160+ app integrations
Comprehensive integrations
No free app version
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
$29.90/month or
$24.90/month (billed annually)
Capterra Rating
Free Trial
Free Plan
Starting Price (excluding the free plan)
Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan)
Best for
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-check
€15/month/seat billed annually
€792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat
Versatility and free plan
4.2
star
star
star
star
square-check
30-day
square-xmark
But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations
€25/user/month
€500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI)
Best overall operational CRM
4.3
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-xmark
square-check
Limited to 3 users
Comprehensive incentive management
€52/user/month billed annually
Small-medium businesses and automation
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-xmark
€14/seat/month billed annually
€99/seat/month billed annually
Sales teams and ease of use
4.1
star
star
star
star
square-xmark
square-check
Limited 10 users
$9.99/user/month billed annually
$64.99/user/month billed annually
Free plan for very small teams up to 10
CRM goal
Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months.
SMART Breakdown
1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation).
2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking.
3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements.
4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives.
5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date.
Actions
Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation.
Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior.
Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads.
Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up.
Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization.
Outcomes
Increased sales and revenue
Improved marketing automation ROI
Marketing and sales alignment
Data-driven marketing optimization
Table
CDP Software
CRM Software
Approach
Data-centric
Customer-centric
Focus
Interactions across various channels and touchpoints, both online and offline.
Sales, marketing, and customer service interactions.
Functionality
Automatically collects, organizes, tags, and makes data available in real-time.
Helps businesses track customer interactions, sales pipelines, prospects, and service requests.
Goals
Personalized customer experiences across all channels.
Better customer relationships, streamlined processes, and improved profitability.
Benefits
Data integration, management, and accessibility, allowing for detailed analysis and segmentation.
Better communication within teams and with customers by organizing information about customer interactions and history.
Data Handling
Handles both identified and anonymous data, stitches together various data points.
Deals primarily with identified customer data.
Use Cases
Personalized marketing campaigns, targeted advertising, content customization across multiple channels.
Managing campaigns and leads, enhancing customer service, providing better customer support, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Examples
Insider, Bloomreach, Salesforce Marketing Cloud CDP
HubSpot, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM
CRM
Free plan
Best feature
Best for
Con
1. HubSpot CRM
square-check
Sales automation
Sales teams
Up to 1,000 contacts
2. Insightly
square-check
Custom fields
Basic needs
Not enough info about the free plan
3. Agile CRM
square-check
Deal and sales pipeline tracking
Small teams
Up to 10 users
4. Zoho CRM
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Lead and contact management
Businesses of all sizes
Limited to 3 users
5. ClickUp
square-check
Unlimited tasks and unlimited members
Personal use
Up to 100MB storage
6. EngageBay
square-check
Live chat
Small and midsize enterprises
Up to 1,000 branded emails per month
7. Bitrix24
square-check
Unlimited users and 5 scrum teams
Big teams
Up to 5GB of cloud storage
8. FreshSales
square-check
Easy to use and simple setup
Beginners
Up to 3 users
9. Mailchimp
square-check
Very beginner friendly
Marketing teams
Send up to 500 branded emails per month
Type of Affiliate Marketing
Unattached
Related
Involved
Format
Paid advertising
Social media or YouTube channels
Dedicated website or blog
Focus
Quick income
Your niche
Your audience
Engagement with your audience
square-xmark
square-check
square-check
square-check
square-check
Very close connection with your audience
Pro
Little effort
Higher credibility thanks to your niche
Long-lasting and scalable
Con
Paid ads cost a lot
Potential for bias since you don’t use the thing you promote
Require time, effort, and dedication

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