Check the boxes around people and process, not just technology
Forrester’s first marketing automation forecast predicted that spend on marketing automation will grow from $11.4 billion to $25.1 billion by 2023, saying “B2B marketers are still in the early innings of adopting marketing automation technology tools and this trend will continue to drive growth over the next five years.
But this is old news now.
So you hopped on the trend and bought the marketing automation software. That’s a great start. But now nothing is working. In conversations with hundreds of business owner each year, here are the top 3 reasons we hear from people about why their purchase was a big disappointment for their business and how they can fix it:
Strategy
Did you just dump a database into the system or did you actually map out a game plan?
Implementing a software tool without taking into consideration people and process and an identified strategy for the team to follow, is the kiss of death. Your content marketing strategy which includes: value proposition, buyer personas, buyer map, and keyword strategy should determine where your leads are and what they are looking for within each channel. You should also understand where your leads are sourcing information and the kind of information they are looking for at different stages of the buying process. Building this plan first will help you understand your goals and how to effectively use the software.
If you implemented the software without a strategy, it may be worth checking out 3 Important considerations before you buy marketing automation software.
Evolving your Strategy
Marketing automation is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. It needs to be evolved consistently with your goals. The scope of marketing automation is evolving far beyond just lead generation, lead nurturing, conversion and measuring. Measuring, for example, has widened its scope to full-feature analytics, predictive analytics, and even AI. It’s crucial to constantly be evolving your marketing automation strategy with the evolution of the software itself. The structure of marketing automation is also evolving meaning it can be integrated into more and more data management systems such as CRM.
People
Have you trained your teams and are sales and marketing on the same page?
Although marketing automation makes marketing and sales more efficient, the introduction of new software requires an investment in training. It’s crucial that your team understands how the software fits into what they’re doing and everyone is on the same page with the results they expect. The software can help marketing teams with repetitive tasks, email automation, social media campaigns and so much more but it’s important that they understand how it can help them and why they need to use it.
Marketing automation can also provide valuable information about your web presence that informs your sales team about a prospect’s interest. Making sure your sales team can use marketing automation effectively can help them be more efficient and focus on the closing that deal! For more information on how your sales team can use marketing automation, click here.
Process
Are you aligning marketing with customer needs?
The greatest power of marketing automation is the ability to create efficiency so you can focus on what truly matters – your client or customer. You must remember to always stay customer obsessed when creating a marketing campaign or strategy. Effective communication is very important when it comes to nurturing leads or a potential client relationship. You are able to personalize emails at all the right moments to keep them engaged. You can also set up chatbots for immediate support, offers through text messages and even phone reminders… your customers will always receive the support they need throughout their journey.
44% of marketing leaders believe marketing automation will become more important as a skill in 2020, and to make the most out of your investment, you should stay on top of these 3 things to ensure success!
