Get Out of the Danger Zone and Get Better at Marketing Automation

Marketing automation puts much-needed science behind the art of marketing. It enables marketers to leave "spray and pray" online tactics behind and create customized, persona-driven campaigns that take into account the digital body language of their prospects and customers. 

Over the past five years, online marketers have enjoyed an exponential jump in the capabilities of marketing automation, and the resulting sophistication in online marketing has been gratifying to watch. Marketing automation enables lead nurturing, deeper engagements and program integration across a variety of marketing tactics. This fine-tuning results in an accelerated sales pipeline and better ROI. 

Yet the promise of marketing automation often doesn't quite match the reality. Lifting the hood a bit, as I do on a daily basis with our clients, we see there's a pretty large gap between what marketers want to do and what they are able to do. The good news: By recognizing the specific challenges your organization is facing and addressing them, you can leverage the full power of your marketing automation platform. 

Need a little more incentive? One of my favorite examples of the power of marketing automation right now is Intel Health. This organization is using marketing automation to drive their Health Care Goes Mobile community site; global demand programs (with cross-promotion between tactics); virtual trade show participation and channel partner programs. Bulldog Solutions has worked closely with Intel Health to build a best-practice program environment (in this case, using the Eloqua marketing automation platform). They're driving persona-based messaging around all of their tactics, then driving qualified prospects into persona-based auto nurture tracks. 

Was it simple? No. But definitely worth the effort. 

Danger Zone 

In a recent report on utilization of marketing automation, the research firm SiriusDecisions described a scenario that's not unfamiliar to me. First there's the pilot stage, in which a marketing organization begins to experiment with their marketing automation platform and seeks to prove the value, with activity limited to specific projects of program managers. ¹ 

The next stage is where things get tricky. SiriusDecisions calls it "functional deployment:" "A now-proven solution, MAP deployment spreads to the entire field marketing function within a specific marketplace." ² But this is often the most dangerous stage, and the "growing pains" of changing the field marketing structure to leverage marketing automation, integrating with CRM systems and understanding the data generated can derail even those with the best intentions. ³ 

Here are the roadblocks I see most often when working with clients who are struggling to bring the activities enabled by their marketing automation platform to the next level. If any of these describe your organization, well...you're not alone.

• Complexity of the platform—some organizations just lack the internal skill sets and/or bandwidth needed to maximize marketing automation.
• Lack of established and defined business processes
• Lack of sales readiness—no defined and agreed-upon sales follow-up plan.
• Unbreachable silos—Demand programs through third-party media sources are still executed in silos, which can block true integration.
• Resistance from internal teams not "bought in" to the original implementation

If you're finding you're not satisfied with the return on your marketing automation investment, don't throw in the towel. Identifying the weakest links in the bridge between your current state and the "next level" is a big step toward filling the gap between the promise and reality of marketing automation. 

1, 2, 3: Source: "The State of Marketing Automation: Utilization," SiriusDecisions