9 Little White Lies About Marketing Automation Platforms

ABOUT MARKETING AUTOMATION PLATFORMS

LITTLE WHITE LIES

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Implementing a Marketing Automation Platform is "set it and forget it"

The term marketing automation is a little misleading and while it is true that you set up a campaign and it “runs” automatically, it isn’t that simple. Any marketing technology you implement requires dedicated human interaction to be successful. Once sales identifies a new bottleneck, who is going to generate the new content to drive leads to complete the opt-in form? Be wary if your MAP Vendor alludes to a “set it and forget it” approach, as it isn’t true.

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9 Little White Lies about Marketing Automation Platforms


https://toprightpartners.com/9-little-white-lies-marketing-automation-platforms/

Marketing Automation will save you boatloads of time

Prior to launching your first campaign, your team will put dozens of hours into buyer personas, data analysis, campaign design, copywriting (landing page, email, social media, paid ads), email sequences, and data configuration to personalize and segment messages. Don’t forget the alignment of your sales/marketing systems and processes – a difficult piece of the puzzle for many organizations.

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All it takes is a team of one

Getting C-suite buy-in for new software is hard and MAP Vendors use statements like, “We make our software so easy a 12-year old can setup a campaign” or “It only takes 5 hours a week to manage” to help expedite the sales process. Unfortunately, what often happens is the company doesn’t have the proper resources in place to correctly execute the setup, management, analytics, and A/B testing necessary to make marketing automation pay off in the long run. Marketing automation should touch every part of your organization – it isn’t something that can be added to your VP Marketing’s to-do list.

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You need to hire a MAP rockstar with tons of experience to ensure success

You need to find someone who understands your brand voice, buyer personas, and culture; who has experience launching and managing the technical and creative aspects of personalized marketing and/or email automation campaigns; who knows the channels in which to reach your target market. In today’s Marketing Automation world, you need someone who knows conversion and understands the value of a real lead.

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Marketing Automation doesn’t require any technical skills

You are seriously limiting the potential of your platform’s ROI by overlooking the technical skills necessary to successfully execute a lead generation program. Beyond the technical skills, an understanding and experience in email deliverability, email list best practices, and reengaging old leads are valuable assets to keep your emails out of the spam folder.

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The more I pay for a platform, the more likely my emails are to reach the inbox

When was the last time you asked a MAP Vendor for their email deliverability rate and statistics while researching platforms? Did you, like most marketers, assume that was just “part of the package”? After all, the hefty price tag should guarantee email deliverability, right? Wrong. One of the most overlooked considerations for a MAP Vendor is email deliverability rate and email list policies.

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Don’t confuse an email service provider (ESP) with a marketing automation platform (MAP). While ESPs have entered the automation field with some fancy features, they are lacking important functions of a robust Marketing Automation Platform. For example, MAP Vendors offer a unified customer view, multi-channel functionality, buyer persona mapping, landing pages and forms, lead scoring, sales/marketing integration, and can even go beyond the digital realm to trigger direct mail pieces based on actions performed by users.

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7 It’s just an email marketing platform with some fancy features





The vendor with the best publicity is clearly the top choice

MAP Vendors are not one-size fits all, and it is not a decision to be made lightly. It’s important to understand fully what you are purchasing and ensure that it is the right platform for your specific business needs. Your systems and technology must align with your brand story and overall sales and marketing strategy. Most importantly, you should secure the necessary resources prior to adopting and launching a new MAP Vendor. As you navigate through the thousands of articles comparing vendors, remember, you are reading marketing by other marketers.

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Implementing a Marketing Automation Platform will automatically generatetons of qualified leads

Implementing a MAP will generate leads, but if your content isn’t aligned with your buyer personas/target market segments/target accounts – or if these are completely inaccurate – the leads aren’t going to be qualified. You first have to understand your audience and speak to them in a way that compels them to want to engage with your brand, and to want to learn more.

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For anyone who has ever gone through a Marketing Automation project, you know that it can be a journey with many ups and downs. In fact, success in Marketing Automation goes way beyond just choosing the right vendor. You need to have the Five Conditions for Marketing Automation Success to maximize your ROI. Click here to take the online assessment now and evaluate your current situation, so you can take appropriate action to have all the conditions in place for a successful Marketing Automation implementation.

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https://toprightpartners.com/5-marketing-automation-conditions-for-success/

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