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Most marketers would be in seventh heaven if they were able to automatically
identify exactly who their potential customers were on a first name basis, what
they were looking to buy, and precisely what messages they needed to hear
before buying. This may sound like pure fantasy, however, marketing automation
promises to bring one-to-one predictive marketing a little closer to reality by
personalizing marketing communications based on buyer behavior.
But before we get into this marketing automation promise, there is much
confusion to clear up, a lot of which comes from the name. Marketing
automation doesnt just imply the sole use of automated marketing channels.
Rather, it is about developing content for each stage of the sales funnel, and
using segmentation and scoring to help ensure prospects see the right content at
the right time.
Before we clarify the definition of marketing automation for this Blue Paper

,
lets define what it is not. First, email marketing alone is not marketing
automation. Email does play a critical role, however, marketing automation
software offers much more in terms of segmenting and scoring leads, tracking
behavior and presenting customized experiences. Second, customer relationship
management software is not marketing automation either. Marketing
automation starts much earlier in the lead generation process and plays an
important role in handing over qualified leads
to customer relationship management (CRM)
systems. Finally, marketing automation is not
cold, impersonal or spam. While some argue
automation is a slippery slope toward privacy
infringement and customer detachment, in reality,
it enables greater personalization at the moment
of customer need.
At its core, marketing automation is about customer relationships and the
psychology of human behavior
1
. With the rise of technology and the spread of
customer relationships across multiple marketing channels, the need to provide
a software-based solution that maintains a personalized experience with each
customer becomes paramount. And that, along with some incredible results, is
why it is one of the hottest topics among marketers today.
Lets dig further into marketing automation to help demystify it and sort out the
confusion. Well show in this paper how it differs from other types of marketing,
1 Patel, Neil, and Ritika Puri. The Denitive Guide to Marketing Automation. Web log post.
www.quicksprout.com. Quick Sprout, LLC, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
explore why its the it girl right now, examine how the technology works, help
companies determine if its right for them, and issue a few warnings.
Mar ket i ng aut omat i on expl ai ned
According to a leading marketing automation vendor, Hubspot

, automation
combines software and tactics that allow companies to buy and sell like
Amazon

that is, to nurture prospects with highly personalized, useful content

that helps convert prospects to customers and turn customers into delighted
customers.
2
In a nutshell, marketing automation is class of
software that is:
Customer-focused, rather than company-centric.
Content-driven, not sales-cycle-focused.
Customizable, providing people with helpful
content and support at the right time in the right place.
Marketing automation tracks people as they move through marketing channels
email, social media, and website landing pages, for example. It nurtures these
leads with targeted content until they are ready to talk to the sales team or
purchase. Heres why this is important: Forrester Research

says companies that

excel at lead nurturing generate 50 percent more sales-ready leads at 33 percent
lower cost-per-lead
3
. And Annuitas

says nurtured leads make 47 percent larger

purchases than non-nurtured leads. Plus, a quarter of all companies that adopt
marketing automation experience a revenue increase of between 30 and 49
percent.
4
These are some impressive numbers!
Marketing automation is unique
What really separates marketing automation from a lot of other software is its
use of scoring prospects based on their actions within marketing channels, such
as downloading white papers or signing up for newsletters. This score triggers
actions, such as the delivery of a series of marketing emails or the display of
customized website landing pages.
The sales team at McAfee

, for example, used marketing automations unique

approach to scoring leads to help it create content for people in different stages
2 What Is Marketing Automation? www.hubspot.com. Hub Spot Inc., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.
3 Koetsier, John. Almost One Fifth of Companies Adopting Marketing Automation Boost Revenue 75% or
More. Venturebeat.com/. Http://venturebat.com/, 19 June 2014. Web. 25 Aug. 2014.
4 Koetsier, John. Almost One Fifth of Companies Adopting Marketing Automation Boost Revenue 75% or
More. Venturebeat.com/. Http://venturebat.com//, 19 June 2014. Web. 25 Aug. 2014.
<http://venturebeat.com/2014/06/19/25-of-companies-adopting-marketing-automation-boost-revenue-30-50/>.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
of the buying process. This scoring ensured people got the information they were
looking for when they needed it. The new automated system reduced the number
of leads passed on to sales by 35 percent but improved the lead quality, leading to
a four-fold increase in conversions
5
.
As previously mentioned, marketing automation is much more than a fancy
term for email marketing. Marketing automation systems track all online
interactions between a company and its prospects and can take informed actions
based on those behaviors. Email marketing, on the other hand, focuses on
interactions related to email campaigns. Some advanced email programs do use
basic intelligence gathered by past sends or engagement.
6
However, generally
speaking, marketing automation offers many more features as described in Figure
1 below.
Figure 1: Marketing automations features go a lot deeper than
email marketings.
7
5 Moth, David. Marketing Automation: Six Case Studies and an Infographic on How It Improves Sales and
Revenue. Econsultancy.com. E-consultancy.com Limited, 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 25 Aug. 2014. <https://econsultancy.
com/blog/63748-marketing-automation-six-case-studies-and-an-infographic-on-how-it-improves-sales-and-
revenue#i.1jnwuff1d7td4i>.
6 Engelbrecht, Wikus. Automated or Email Marketing Software: Which Is Best for Your Small Business?
Emailvendorselection.com. Email Vendor Selection, n.d. Web. 9 Sept. 2014. <http://www.emailvendorselection.
com/email-or-automated-software-which-is-best-for-your-small-business/>.
7 Carlson, Lauren. Email Marketing vs. Marketing Automation: Which Is Right For You?
Marketingautomationsoftware.com. Software Advice, Inc, 18 Jan. 2012. Web. 9 Sept. 2014. <http://www.
marketingautomationsoftware.com/blog/email-marketing-vs-marketing-automation-1011812/>.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
There are other tools in the market that automate business functions that may
also leave companies asking, Why do I need both? Take customer relationship
management software (CRM) for example.
Oftentimes, sales professionals are too busy to keep track of each and every
customer interaction. This is where a CRM can be a lifesaver. Professionals can
log client contact details, save notes on conversations, link emails and schedule
meetings. Plus, they can track leads and opportunities, and see how much money
is potentially tied to the deals they are prospecting, qualifying and closing. This
may sound like marketing automation and although some CRM platforms provide
marketing automation workflows, many others do not. Figure 2 shows how dual
CRM and marketing automation platforms interact together.
Figure 2: CRM Vs marketing automation
8
As you can see, marketing automation is mainly focused on feeding qualified
leads to the sales team, which will in many cases look to close these deals through
a companys CRM system. Figure 3 shows how these pieces of the sales puzzle
approach their distinct roles in this model.

8 Justen, Abigail. Whats The Difference Between CRM and Marketing Automation Software? N.p., 2 Sept.
2014. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.
<http://blog.capterra.com/whats-difference-between-crm-and-marketing-automation-software/>.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
Figure 3: CRM and marketing automation have a different focus
9
Why t he buzz?
Before we go deeper into the mechanics of marketing automation, lets examine
why its such a trending topic. Marketing automation began to build steam in the
mid-2000s, powered by three trends
10
:
Changing buyer behaviors;
The 2008-09 recession and its effect on how companies viewed revenue
generation and measurement; and,
The emergence of software as a service (SaaS) as a business model.
Changing buyer behaviors
The emergence of the Web and social media have given much more power to
the buyer and in many ways have turned the sales cycle on its head. Now, rather
than looking to sales reps for advice, buyers are doing initial research on the
Web and are seeking recommendations via social media long before contacting a
company directly. Marketing has responded to this new reality by playing a larger
role in nurturing relationships with early-stage prospects until they are ready to
directly engage with a business. This means that marketers need to know what
information prospects are looking for and they have to manage large numbers
of relevant, personalized conversations at the same timethis has led many
companies to explore marketing automation.
9 Boudreau, Cathy. CRM vs Marketing Automation - Whats the Difference? Harvestsolutions.net/crm-insights-
blog. Harvest Solutions, 3 Apr. 2013. Web. 12 Sept. 2014. <http://www.harvestsolutions.net/crm-insights-blog/
bid/95652/CRM-vs-Marketing-Automation-What-s-the-Difference>.
10 The Denitive Guide to Marketing Automation. Marketo.com. Marketo, Inc., n.d. Web. 22 Aug. 2014.
<http://www.marketo.com/denitive-guides/marketing-automation>.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
To give you an idea of the scale of communications involved in this new
marketing environment, lets look at Algonquin College

in Ottawa
11
, which has
more than 19,000 full-time and 36,000 continuing education students. Before
looking to marketing automation, Algonquin simply sent out batch emails to
potential students, with no idea how these communications were being received.
The college linked marketing automations insights into how potential students
progressed through its website, interacted with landing pages and responded
to marketing campaigns. This helped the college develop an understanding of
what was required to move prospective students from consideration to buying;
it could see what content was working. Using this customer insight, the college
improved lead generation by 28 percent and increased sales by 18 percent, all
while lowering marketing costs.
The emergence of software as a service
The emergence of software as a service (SaaS) as a business model has helped
propel marketing automation to where it is today. SaaS is a method of
delivering on-demand applications over the Internet. Theres no need to install
or maintain anythingrather the provider manages access, security, updates
and performance. Simply access the service online
when and where you need it. The emergence of
this model meant using software was no longer a
big capital-spending project that involved the IT
department. It is now possible for marketers to
use their operating budgets to pay for monthly or
annual subscriptions. Marketers are responsible for
buying and managing their technology and they
are adopting marketing automation.
The 2008-09 recession
The third big driver of marketing automation was the recent recession. As a
result, budgets shrunk and marketers became more conscious of what they were
spending and how well their campaigns were performing, which really shed light
on the value of marketing automation.
The recession also led companies to explore the idea of automating and
streamlining sales and marketing processes. According to Frost & Sullivan

,
12
sales
and marketing are rarely in sync and sales people spend valuable time sorting
through leads provided by marketers to determine which provide the best
11 The Denitive Guide to Marketing Automation. Marketo.com. Marketo, Inc., n.d. Web. 22 Aug. 2014.
<http://www.marketo.com/denitive-guides/marketing-automation>.
12 Sullivan, Frost &. Marketing Automation: The Secret Sauce to Marketing-Driven Sales Growth and
Empowerment. Eloqua.com. Eloqua, n.d. Web. 25 Aug. 2014. <http://www.eloqua.com/content/dam/eloqua/
Downloads/whitepapers/Frost-Sullivan-Marketing-Automation-2013.pdf>.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
opportunities. Marketing automation tries to break down this wall by putting
more effort on scoring and nurturing leads before handing them over to sales.
Thomson Reuters

used marketing automation to overcome this tension between

sales and marketing
13
, which helped them drive up revenue from marketing leads
by 175 percent. There were a lot of leads coming from the companys old email
marketing but they were not always of the highest quality. And the sales team
spent a lot of time sorting through them. Implementing marketing automation
improved how Thomson Reuters segmented and scored leads and
helped with the creation of customer profiles, or marketing personas.
This streamlined process produced good results: Leads went up
23 percent, conversion time dropped 72 percent and as previously
stated, revenue from marketing leads increased 175 percent.
I s i t r i ght f or your company?
Now that we know the value marketing automation can bring, lets
explore if it is right for your company. Is there a need for a full-blown marketing
automation solution? Or would another software solution, such as an email
marketing platform better suit your needs?
Marketo

, another leading marketing automation vendor, has a checklist on its

website that helps companies determine if marketing automation is right for
them. It also has a Marketing Automation ROI Calculator that can help a company
determine the merits of a marketing automation program.
Beyond Marketo, there are a lot of options out there and you may want to
consider marketing automation if your company(s):
14

15
Sends out email blasts rather than having a conversation with prospects.
Wastes time analyzing data manually, building lists and setting calendar
reminders to send out personalized marketing messages to customers.
Works with email marketing lists without an understanding as to what is
going on with prospects on other channels.
Fails to segment and target prospects.
Does not provide prospects with personalized content based on their
actions, such as filling out a form or visiting a Web page.
13 CASE STUDY: Thomson Reuters Aligns Sales and Marketing Teams. B2bmarketing.net. Silver Bullet
Publishing Limited, n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2014. <http://www.b2bmarketing.net/knowledgebank/marketing-
automation/case-studies/case-study-thomson-reuters-aligns-sales-and-marketin>.
14 The Denitive Guide to Marketing Automation. Marketo.com. Marketo, Inc., n.d. Web. 22 Aug. 2014.
<http://www.marketo.com/denitive-guides/marketing-automation>.
15 Hanington, Jenna. 8 Signs You Might Need Marketing Automation. Blogs.salesforce.com/. Salesforce.com
Inc, 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Aug. 2014.
<http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2013/10/8-signs-you-might-need-marketing-automation.html>.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
Has trouble identifying whether email is moving prospects through the sales
pipeline or driving revenue.
Sales team cant distinguish good leads from bad.
Has a long, complicated sales cycle that involves a lot of contact with
prospects, especially as they near a decision.
CRM system doesnt automate some tasks, such as detailed segmentation.
Seeks detailed ROI information, such as details about which campaigns have
the greatest return.
Has a lot of content but no easy way to distribute it.
Audience can be broken into demographics that need to be
targeted differently.
Wants better integration across marketing tools.
Potential customer list is growing so fast it can no longer quickly follow
up with targets.
How to get started
As weve discussed, marketing automation is about the delivery of marketing
material to people based on where they are in a sales funnel. As illustrated in
Figure 4 below, most funnels can be broken into three stages:
16

Seed nurturing or lead generation;
Lead nurturing and buyer engagement; and,
Customer acquisition and expansion (qualification to close).
Lets briefly address each area.
Figure 4: The aim of marketing automation is to convert leads into customers
17
16 Hannington, Jenna. Breaking Down the 3 Stages of the Sales Funnel. Pardot.com. Salesforce.com Inc, 2 Jan.
2014. Web. 28 Aug. 2014. <http://www.pardot.com/lead-nurturing/breaking-3-stages-sales-funnel/>.
17 The ROI of Marketing Automation. Marketo.com. Marketo, Inc., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2014.
<http://www.marketo.com/_assets/uploads/ROI-of-marketing-automation.pdf?20130115204755>.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
Seed nurturing
In this stage, a company needs to focus on making its site easy to find, be
regularly engaging with its audience through social media and be asking people
to provide email details to access content. Content at this stage is typically light,
educational and product-neutral and can include infographics or blog posts.
Lead nurturing
As people start to move through the funnel into the lead nurturing stage, content
can begin to become more specific with product overviews, webinars and case
studies, for example. The focus moves into the advantages of the companys
products.
Qualification to close and beyond
This final stage is when a company can present buyers guides and competitive
comparison charts, as well as special offers, pricing and sales proposals. However,
even after a company closes the deal, its not over. Content that supports product
engagement such as training guides, onboarding, product updates and renewal
notices come into play here which improves the chances of developing loyal
customers and gaining referrals.
Can you imagine the time it would take to deliver all this
content manually to the right audiences at the right time
throughout these four phases? It would be a massive
undertaking. That is why companies are turning to marketing
automation. Acteva

, for example, which provides software

for online registration for events and classes, says it brought
an additional $2 million in gross revenue
18
using marketing
automation software. It used the software to quickly create
personalized marketing messages and in one campaign, it developed landing
pages, emails and lead nurturing campaigns for 65 different audiences resulting
in a 350 percent marketing ROI, and a 100 percent annual growth in areas where
marketing automation was implemented.
Cont ent pl anni ng
At the core of all of this activity, no matter where prospects are within the sales
funnel is content. It is content that will engage prospects, answer their questions
and help move them through the funnel until they become a solid lead ready to
be handed over to the sales team. But how do we know what content to provide
18 Moth, David. Marketing Automation: Six Case Studies and an Infographic on How It Improves Sales
and Revenue. Econsultancy.com. E-consultancy.com Limited, 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 25 Aug. 2014. <https://
econsultancy.com/blog/63748-marketing-automation-six-case-studies-and-an-infographic-on-how-it-improves-
sales-and-revenue#i.1jnwuff1d7td4i>.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
and what content we may need to commission. There are four steps to help get
your content where you need it to be:
Step 1: Segment your leads
Segmentation is really where companies should start.
One of the most difficult tasks marketers face today is
getting a clear picture of who exists in their marketing
and sales databases, how they differ and how they
can be best marketed to. An obvious place to start is
to group contacts by similar characteristicsjob title,
industry, company size, geography, etc. Then develop a
strategy for each group.
Many companies create personas to represent their typical customers. A persona
is simply a semi-fictional representation of the ideal customer founded on market
research and real data about existing customers. Personas are typically built
using customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations and goals. A free
persona-building tool is available at upcloseandpersona.com
Segmenting can also help to:
Define the tone and subjects covered by its emails and content;
Ensure it is targeting the right audiences with its content; and,
Improve its website messaging.
Step 2: Understand the audiences pain points
After defining your segments, or personas, you can start to dig a little deeper into
your audiences to discover:
The problems they face when making decisions about your companys
products and services;
The typical steps prospects take when buying from your company;
What questions they ask at each stage of the buying cycle.
Customer service and sales teams are a great source of customer intelligence and
can provide a lot of details about the questions customers have when asking
about products. One of the most talked about content marketing stories, almost
legend at this point, is Marcus Sheridans turnaround of River Pools, an installer
of in-ground fiberglass pools. With his company heading for bankruptcy, Sheridan
sat down one night and listed off every question he had ever been asked about
fiberglass pools and started writing blog posts to answer those questions. He
not only turned around his company but also became an inspirational speaker
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
known as The Sales Lion.
19
Anyway, the lesson here is that you should never
underestimate the level of in-house knowledge about the problems facing
customers. Talking to customers themselves about the issues they are having will
also provide great information. And using such sites as Quora.com

and Yahoo
Answers

, as well as monitoring social media, can provide great insight into what
questions audiences are asking about products.
Step 3: Conduct a content inventory
Once the kinds of questions that customers are asking has been ascertained, it
is always a good idea to see how many of those questions are already answered
by existing marketing materialsin other words, dont recreate the wheel if you
dont have to. It also aims to organize existing content and to help determine
what gaps exist will need to be filled by new content. Look to company archives
for educational articles, blog posts, eBooks, instructional videos and non-
promotional webinars for content that answers the questions of target audiences
and helps nurture prospects.
Step 4: Start delivering the content
OK, by now, marketers should have defined their audiences, determined the
questions and issues those audiences deal with as they consider purchases, and
produced the content they feel addresses those concerns. Now, marketers are
ready to map out how that content is delivered so potential customers receive the
right content at the right time at each stage in the sales funnel. Think about who
should receive each piece of contenthow will you identify where people are in
the buying cycle? Then what channel will you use to deliver the content search,
email promotion, newsletter, display advertising or social media?
Mar ket i ng aut omat i on wor kf l ows
Youre now ready to build out your workflow. Think of this as a
guide you follow once your customer takes an action. For example,
a marketer decides to set a workflow to keep the conversation
going after a free eBook is downloaded and a series of emails with
links to more content about the subject are scheduled to nurture
the client. Other possible workflows
20
include:
Engaged contacts workflowPeople are added to a list of prospects
engaged with a brand based on such things as the number of website visits,
19 New York Times Praises Marcus Sheridans Content Marketing Approach. Thesaleslion.com. The Sales Lion,
n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.thesaleslion.com/york-times-praises-marcus-sheridans-content-marketing-approach/>.
20 Vaughan, Pamela. 12 Automated Email Workows Youll Kick Yourself For Not Using. Blog.hubspot.
com/. HubSpot, 27 Sept. 2012. Web. 25 Aug. 2014. <http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33635/12-
Automated-Email-Workows-You-ll-Kick-Yourself-For-Not-Using.aspx>.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
clicks on emails or social media posts, or form submissions. These actions
then trigger an email workflow that encourages prospects to share top
content in social media.
Upgrade prospects workflowPeople are added to an email workflow
designed to move prospects that have downloaded top-of-the-funnel offers,
including eBooks and webinars, further down the sales funnel.
Abandoned shopping cart workflowsThis one is probably familiar to
anyone who has added something to an online shopping cart only to leave
the website without completing the purchase. These workflows can be
set up to remind shoppers of their forgotten purchase or offer discount
vouchers as an enticement.
Re-engagement workflowsPeople can be added to a workflow that
triggers after a certain length of time has passed since they last engaged
with you. Exclusive offers could be included here.
Upsell workflowPeople are added to a list of those who have
purchased something specific and may be interested in recommended
products or services.
What mat t er s get s measured
It all sounds great, doesnt it? But, as we know, what matters
gets measured. And all marketing automation packages
come with some form of analytics to help companies
measure their marketing efforts.
21
Here are some metrics
that should be closely tracked to help determine whether
your campaigns are working or not:
22
New names that convert into qualified leads
Number of qualified leads
Win rate on qualified leads
Percentage of pipeline sourced by marketing
Acquisition cost of marketing-sourced customers
Spend time picking your software
You know what to do with marketing automation, now it may be time to begin
looking at software vendors to suit your needs. Marketing Rockstar

Guides
provides a useful starting point by offering a comparison of some of the largest
marketing automation vendors. Here are some common features to consider:
23
21 The Denitive Guide to Marketing Automation. Marketo.com. Marketo, Inc., n.d. Web. 22 Aug. 2014.
<http://www.marketo.com/denitive-guides/marketing-automation>.
22 Ibid
23 Miller, Stephanie. Why Marketing Automation Makes Sense Now. Clickz.com/. Incisive Interactive Marketing
LLC, 12 Aug. 2014. Web. 25 Aug. 2014.
<http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2359799/why-marketing-automation-makes-sense-now>.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
Lead managementgenerate revenue by collecting, qualifying and
interacting with prospects throughout the sales cycle
Lead nurturingbuild relationships and trust with prospects
Lead scoringdetermine the sales readiness of leads using a scoring
methodology
Social marketingmanage listening, engagement, content creation and
community management across social media
Integration with customer relationship management (CRM) systemscreate
seamless connections to ensure prospect data is always up-to-date
Campaign managementcreate, execute and measure marketing programs
aimed at audience segments
Landing pagescustomize calls to action and testing page variations
Messagingcoordinate email, SMS (short message service), social
Multi-channel marketingseamlessly market across email, websites, social
media and other channels
Resource managementschedule the delivery of marketing campaigns
Marketing analyticsmeasure the success of your marketing efforts
There are some free, useful online tools to help marketers further narrow down
their options including Act-Ons

Buyers Checklist for Marketing Automation and

Marketos Marketing Automation Buyers Kit.
24
When mar ket i ng aut omat i on f ai l s
Marketing automation is not a one-and-done venture.
Razor Socials Ian Cleary says Picking the wrong tool,
not assigning the right resources, and not managing the
initial and ongoing implementation can lead to reduced
or even non-existent ROI [from marketing automation].
25
Forbes

recently wrote that companies unrealistic

expectations of what marketing automation can
accomplish may be one of the biggest hurdles.
26
Forbes also notes: Marketing
automation needs constant care and awareness for it to work effectively. Too
24 Koetsier, John. 50% of Companies Use Multiple Marketing Automation Systems: VB Marketing Automation
Index Update. Venturebeat.com/. Venture Beat, 20 Jan. 2014. Web. 25 Aug. 2014. <http://venturebeat.
com/2014/01/20/50-of-companies-use-multiple-marketing-automation-systems-vb-marketing-automation-
index-update/>.
25 Koetsier, John. Almost One Fifth of Companies Adopting Marketing Automation Boost Revenue 75% or
More. Venturebeat.com/. Http://venturebeat.com/, 19 June 2014. Web. 25 Aug. 2014. <http://venturebeat.
com/2014/06/19/25-of-companies-adopting-marketing-automation-boost-revenue-30-50/>.
26 DeMers, Jayson. The Top 7 Content Marketing Trends Dominating 2014. Forbes.com. Forbes, 10 Mar. 2014.
Web. 6 Oct. 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/19/the-top-7-content-marketing-trends-
dominating-2014/>.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
many companies skimp on these details and think they can let their automation
do all the worknot exactly the best way of accomplishing your goals. Marketing
automation works as a supplement to your sales strategy, allowing you to
strategize the path ahead. Its not meant as something you can set and forget.
Here are some common reasons companys marketing automation efforts fail:
Not investing enough in training: There is a lot of functionality in marketing
automation and you will need to invest in training.
Using too much functionality: This may seem counter-intuitive, given that
a company pays for the functionality. It may, however, be that specialized
vendors can provide better solutions in some areas than a marketing
automation package can.
Not making ongoing improvements: Marketing automation is not a set-
it and forget-it program. The chances that a company will set up all its
marketing automation workflows perfectly the first time around are pretty
slim. An investment in continuous improvement is a mustset up your
processes, optimize your workflows, measure results, tweak. Then do it all
over again. The process is never complete.
Not integrating well with existing systems: Marketing automation is about
having a single view of a potential customer. Without it, it is hard to know
what to deliver and when. Poor integration with CRM tools, for example,
can be problematic.
When looking at systems, marketers might want to consider some trends in order
to build in a little future proofing as well:
Marketing automation will expand into other marketing areas, such as
organic inbound marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), display
advertising, list rentals and retargeting.
Social, local and mobile will become increasingly dominant.
Functionality of marketing automation platforms will expand to include
more capabilities around big data and analytics, dynamic personalization
of website content, and marketing resource management (MRM), which
typically refers to technology for the areas of planning, design and
production within marketing.
Vendors will work to make their systems more usable through the
introduction of easier interfaces, wizards and expanded libraries of
pre-built best practices that can be imported into systems.
The number of customer touch points will continue to explode
through wearable hardware and software.
There will be a shift from present to future, with marketers using
predictive analytics.
2014 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved
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Wi t h great mar ket i ng comes great responsi bi l i t y
Marketing today involves a lot more responsibility when it comes to revenue and
strategic support for sales teams. Marketing automation can help by identifying
and targeting potential customers with the right content at the right time
to move them down the sales funnel. Many companies that have successfully
implemented marketing automation have enjoyed revenue growth, with a
quarter reporting a 25 percent boost. However, projects can go wrong if there are
unrealistic expectations or the initiative is inadequately resourced.
To work, marketing automation needs ongoing care and
transparency. And, it should be viewed as a supplement to the
companys sales strategy, not as something that can be simply
set and forgotten. Marketing automation can be profitable, but
marketers will need to invest the time and resources to identify,
implement and improve whatever system they decide to go with.