As readers may recall from our recent Q&A with Autumn Coleman of Manhattan Associates, one of the most anticipated aspects of Eloqua’s annual user conference is the opportunity to network with other Eloqua users and share tips and best practices.
This opportunity becomes more valuable as marketing teams increasingly rely on reports and analytics to understand customers and accomplish their mission. In today’s technology-saturated environment, customers are further along the purchase process than they’ve ever been—without ever having been in contact with a vendor. Marketers can no longer rely on age-old methods for success and must, instead, embrace new technologies and tactics to reach potential leads.
We recently had the opportunity to speak with Dave Liloia, Associate Director of Global Marketing Operations at PerkinElmer, a global technology leader, focused on human and environmental health. During our conversation, Dave shared with us how his company is engaging Eloqua to support sales and marketing efforts and how he handles the role of being the “marketing geek.”
Can you provide us with some background on PerkinElmer and your role within the organization?
PerkinElmer is a global technology leader in the scientific manufacturing space. Over the past 75 years that the company has been in business, we have expanded into four core areas of science: software informatics, genetic diagnostics, analytical sciences, and life science and technologies. From critical therapeutic and disease research and prenatal screening, to environmental testing and industrial monitoring, PerkinElmer is actively engaged in improving health and advancing quality and longevity of life all around the world.
Within the company, I am the Associate Director of Global Operations. As part of the CMO staff, I provide a bevy of services to the sales and marketing departments. My areas of responsibility range from improving and maintaining data hygiene, to coordinating and operationalizing trade shows and field events, to analyzing and improving process development. I also own the Eloqua platform and handle all analytics and reporting, SEO, web content, campaigns, and automated programs that look at progressive profiling, lead scoring, and lead nurturing. I look at and analyze the digital body language of current and potential customers.
How do you use Eloqua to support your organization’s sales efforts?
At PerkinElmer, we view Marketing Operations as a centralized, shared resource with very streamlined programs and processes that can be deployed to any of our business units. Our team works as a single unit, but we’ve found success by assigning individual roles. For example, we have a single process for all activities within Eloqua but assign specific resources to support the sales and marketing teams for a particular facet of our business. This ensures success whenever we receive a qualified lead, based on the information we’ve gathered from Eloqua, and that all of our constituents get the highest quality service and support. We’re always careful to take into consideration the nuances present in each line of business and look out for their best interest by not applying the same template to everyone, but instead customizing defined processes to meet their individual goals.
What are you looking forward to most at this year’s Eloqua Experience conference?
The most valuable aspect of attending an event like Experience is the networking opportunities. Through the conference, Eloqua is able to bring together the best marketers from around the world who employ the most cutting-edge, innovative and intelligent approaches in marketing and marketing automation.
During EE, attendees don’t see themselves in competition with each other and aren’t looking to hold back proprietary processes or restrict information. They are all very open and honest about challenges and solutions. It’s a great time to share (and steal) some great ideas! This is the same reason why I’m an avid member of Topliners and participate daily.
I’m also looking forward to engaging with other industry professionals who share my role and responsibilities and discussing how they handle strategic and cultural challenges within their own organizations. We’re the technical arm of marketing and as we develop additional expertise our roles are changing. We are shifting from being a tactical support team to becoming a strategic partner at the table.
If you had any advice for Eloqua to make Topliners better, what would it be?
The gamification of being a member of the Eloqua community has made Topliners a truly addictive place to spend my time. But is that sufficient to maintain a community for an extended period? I don’t think so. To take the next steps forward, Eloqua needs to continue to develop functionality that allows users to define their own communities within the larger population as well as to continue to build on the successes they have achieved so far.
