5 Ways to Boost the Impact of Your Marketing Automation

Despite the potential that marketing automation offers to connect with leads and convert them to customers, many brands still use this marketing tool as simply glorified email distribution. The most successful companies use their marketing automation systems extensively, according to recent research.

And yet 85 percent of B2B marketers using MA platforms feel that they are not using them to their full potential and only 26 percent of B2B MA users have fully adopted their system. There is a wealth of data that says marketing automation works, but there’s just as much evidence that not every company that has marketing automation is getting the most out of it.

Marketing automation is one of the most sophisticated tools we’ve seen thus far in terms of how precisely it can deliver exactly what a target wants. Let’s look at a few of the hurdles that marketers have with marketing automation, as well as the best ways to circumvent those issues.

1. Overcome the “Set It and Forget It” Mindset

When marketers hear “automation,” they think “one-time effort.” Unfortunately, that’s not true of any marketing tool. Yes, marketing automation makes it easy to nurture leads while you sleep through pre-created emails, but that doesn’t mean your work is done.

It’s extremely important to monitor campaign results and continually tweak your emails to improve results. And as you launch new marketing campaigns, your marketing automation becomes the cornerstone of your efforts.

Key Takeaway: Marketing automation doesn’t do the work for you; it helps you automate repeatable, redundant tasks and provides you with the insights to improve your marketing. So use it as the tool it is and constantly strive to improve results.

2. Mind the Gap With Your Sales Systems

Unfortunately, there is often a lack of integration between marketing automation and sales systems. In fact, there’s often a disconnect between Sales and Marketing teams, period, and this lack of alignment is a barrier to adoption of marketing automation for 30 percent of companies. The left foot doesn’t know where the right foot is stepping, and that makes it difficult to work together.

Marketing automation has the power to show you the revenue driven by marketing efforts, but dumping a lot of unqualified leads on your sales team won’t win you any friends.

Key Takeaway: Communication is key here. Make sure Sales is involved in in the processes. Establish the mindset of Sales and Marketing being strong partners with a common purpose. Work with your sales team to align processes between the two departments, and to set common definitions and clear goals. Meet regularly to ensure that marketing automation is complementing and contributing to the sales efforts.

3. Set Goals for Marketing Automation

Using marketing automation just because you think you should isn’t going to move the needle on results. It’s imperative that you set goals and understand the reports that you want out of the system. Not all the analytics you can get may be of use; instead, focus on those that contribute to your understanding of where you are with your goals.

Key Takeaway: The ability to track analytics is one of the most powerful functions of marketing automation. Having a strategy with set goals for your marketing automation is absolutely necessary. Clearly define your strategy and continually measure results.

4. Define Your Processes Before Launching

For some reason, many marketers do this the other way around: they start using their marketing automation system, and then define processes. But it’s a whole lot easier if you first understand your buyers and their journey in researching and then making a purchase. From there, you can define the processes you will use to nudge potential customers into your lead funnel and nurture them from there.

Key Takeaway: You’ll get better results if you start with processes you can then repeat for best results. And don’t forget to work with your sales team when defining those processes.

5. Stop Trying to Do It All at Once

While we started talking about companies that don’t take advantage of all the functionality in their marketing automation, some companies go overboard and end up frustrated. I get it: there are some amazing features in marketing automation that you want to try. But using them all at once only clouds the water. You’re better off using one feature or technique at a time and adding on from there. That way, you can measure results for that single change rather than wondering which of the many components you’ve thrown together actually netted those results.

Key Takeaway: Think of it as a maturation process: You will scale your efforts over time, but only after you’ve mastered each level.

Marketing automation has tremendous potential to convert customers at a great ROI. It’s all in the effort and attention you are willing to give it. Nurture your processes and continually tweak them for best results, and you’ll make 2017 the year that marketing automation took your business to new heights.

The post 5 Ways to Boost the Impact of Your Marketing Automation appeared first on AllBusiness.com

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