Marketing automation the modern gold rush

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Managed Marketing Series Marketing Automation – The Modern Day Gold Rush?

Transcript of Marketing automation the modern gold rush

Managed MarketingSeries

Marketing Automation – The Modern Day Gold Rush?

IT’S NOT AS SIMPLEAS PRESSING

‘GO’

Let’s Get One Thing Straight – MarketingAutomation Is Awesome Technology.As a tool to support the development and progressionof leads; as an enabler between marketing and salesfunctions; and as a rallying point for results-focusedmarketing activity, MA is where it’s at – and no buts.

But… Let’s not forget that much of the buzz inthe market is generated by the platform vendorsthemselves. Clever, innovative, persuasive softwarespecialists they most certainly are; marketingprofessionals with the job of making it work underthe pressure of today’s KPIs?

Er, no.

So while the vendors are pouring honey in our earsand whispering sweet nothings about SQLs andnurture flows, pause for a second to consider some all important Marketing Automation factors the vendorsrarely discuss.

The ten truths that follow may be mildlyuncomfortable for some, but together they shouldoffer busy marketers a more pragmatic perspective on how to make a success of this powerful platform.

It’s A Platform,Not A Strategy

It’s Software. Pure And Simple.Marketing Automation can help define your approach tomarketing and provide an activity framework of sorts, but it’sno substitute for having a robust plan.

Your marketing can survive without an MA platform.

The platform is next to useless without strategy.

Sorry, ItDoesn’t Generate Leads

Campaigns Generate Leads.Marketing Automation brings methodology and science to a process that still requires full strategic, creative and planning legwork.

The more experience you accumulate running campaigns on your MA platform, the more you can template successful activity which in turn makes the job of lead generation easier.

However there are no shortcuts to effective lead gen, as every good marketer knows!

It Doesn’t ConnectMARKETING

And SalesDEPARTMENTS

MA Is A Great Enabler, Just Don’t Forget The Humans!Whatever your existing relationship with the sales department (uneasytruce, general bewilderment, outright hostility?), rapprochement will notbe accomplished with the acquisition of Marketing Automation software.

It takes actual people, committed to an effective sales and marketingpartnership, to sit down and plan a new, results-driven vision.

Global Is A Big Ask

The Global Automation Option Can Work, But It Takes Time, Patience And(Ideally) Local Support From Agencies That Know Their Stuff.

If you’re reading this sitting in a regional marketing office, with a ‘global instance’ of your shiny new Marketing Automation platform winking menacingly on yourdesktop, and wondering what the hell you are going to do next, you are not alone.

Directives from the CMO’s office to ‘make it happen’ often underestimate the role of data, process, training and regional implementation.

Reporting Must Come First…

…Not Last

…begin your new Automation-enabled strategy by defining exactly whatyou want to be able to report, and work backwards to build your leadnurture programme.

The entire point of MA is to deliver measurable results to both sales and marketing – so it’s vital for the departments to align objectives upfront and work towards common goals.

In Other Words...

Don’t just jump into Marketing Automation and assume ‘good things’ will come out the other end.

If It’s Non – DigitalIt’s a Non - Starter

Convergence, Aggregation, Consolidation...

These favourite terms among Marketing Automation vendors suggest it has thepower to bring together and amplify every element of the marketing process.

But the truth here is that you face much more of a challenge if those elementsare not digital. MA isn’t magic.

The Only Way To Incorporate Touches From Direct Mail, Events Or Telemarketing Is Through A Digital Link Or By Human Input.

Bad Content Can Kill You

We All Know Marketing Automation Is A Content-hungry Beast, But It’s An Animal With A Refined Palette, Not Just A Big Belly.

Too many MA projects crawl along on a diet of mediocre, all-about-me content which might look OK but is deeply unsatisfying to consume, sending your prospects off to find tastier morsels elsewhere.

Do not underestimate the time, budget and expertise needed to deliver a winning content portfolio.

“Best Practice”:

OK, we shouldn’t get too sniffy about best practice guides. (This is one, after all….).

But we do need to be very careful about swallowing the line that Marketing Automation is a straightforward DIY job if you just follow the manual.

An MA-enabled strategy is a multi-faceted projectunique to your business.

You Will Almost Certainly Require Expert Support With Selection, Implementation And Activation.

Approach With Caution

This Is OnlyThe First Step

You Have A Dream, A Pipeline Dream, Where You Wind Up YourAutomation Engine, Let It Go, Sit Back And The Leads Come Flooding In.

Wakey, wakey!The brilliance of the software is the ability it gives you to experiment,adapt, test, push what works and learn what doesn’t. Don’t be reticent, and don’t be frightened of diving in and exploring.

The knowledge your MA platform provides will lead you to the nirvana of predictive forecasting – that’s the real dream, isn’t it?

IT Might Not Even Be The Answer

Do You Really Need That Level Of Sophistication?

The term ‘Marketing Automation’ refers strictly to platforms that support end-to-end lead management, enable nurture flows based on behaviour, and can integrate other digital channels such as social media.

There are plenty of automated email broadcasting tools (often cheekily defining themselves as Marketing Automation) that offer simple lead scoring plus a few other bolt-on goodies.

You may not need to go the whole MA shebang to get the solution that’s right for your business.

Take A Holistic Approach

There It Is – The Unvarnished Truth About Marketing Automation. Not Too Scary, But Hopefully Fairly Useful As You Move Forward Into This Brave New World.

We know the pressure of working with stretched budgets, limited resources and pressure from the C-suite to deliver. We also know your MA platform and lead nurture strategy can be up and running cost-effectively (and hitting your KPIs) if you take a marketing-led, holistic approach.

Yes, an MA project has multiple moving parts (strategic, technical, creative, editorial, analytical), but ultimately it’s a just a big marketing programme with all the usual dependencies and interactions.

Find the right agency to support you (preferably one with an end to end MA capability), and together you can make measurably magnificent marketing. Now that’s the truth.

“Ascesis is a media, design and marketing agency where classical brand-building and marketing campaign design meets cutting-edge digital thinking and perfect execution.

Here at Ascesis, we believe in collaboration, flexibility and reliability, which means for our clients, increased efficiency, reduced costs and ultimately increased profits.”

• Marketing Consultancy• Brand• Digital• Marketing Automation• Lead Generation• Social Media

• Website Design• Mobile App Development• Graphic Design• Print• Content Marketing• Creative Services

That’s Where We Come In!

All About Results

Our Marketing Automation ExpertiseAscesis uses a four-stage methodology. So wherever you are on your journey to Marketing Automation mastery, we can help.

1. Consulting – We help you short-cut to the flavour of Marketing Automation that matches your needs, keeping you focused on objectives

2. Strategy – We define your lead nurture strategy, with scoring policy and nurture flows, creating an optimised model for lead management

3. Activation – We can create and deploy your MA-enabled nurture campaign – messaging, sticky content, digital assets, social media, SEM, the lot!

4. Management – We look after your whole nurture programme, including review, analysis and optimisation of campaign performance to meet your marketing and business objectives.

Ascesis works with platforms such as Eloqua, Pardot, Marketo, Silverpop, Act-On and Aprimo. We take a strategic approach and we don’t play favourites, we recommend on merit and suitability. And because we’re a B2B & B2C marketing agency, working on campaigns week-in and week-out with our clients, we see things from your perspective.

If you wish to know how we can, increase your efficiency, reduce your costs and increase your

profitsGet in touch and lets create your future!

Unit 4, 262 Ringwood Road, Poole, BH14 0RSTelephone - 01202 978 222Email – [email protected]: www.ascesismedia.com