Saturday 23 March 2013

Four Ways of Thinking That Decrease Marketing Automation Effectiveness

By Jennifer U. Rastian


There is no question that Marketing Automation (MA) improves the way leads are generated and converted to sales. But unless you are using MA to it's fullest potential, which many companies do not, you are missing out on everything this technology has to offer.

So, you have decided to implement a marketing automation platform, or you want to increase the effectiveness of your current platform. To be successful, you must be 100 percent committed to using it as it was intended and maximizing its leverage. The following four approaches to MA can be extremely harmful to its success, and should be avoided at all costs:

1. We don't have time for quality content."

This type of attitude will tank any marketing campaign, no matter how well planned. Content must be high quality and designed to target and engage your audience. If you fail to take the time to create content that works for your readers or update it regularly, your marketing automation will become nothing more than a mechanism for creating spam.

2. "We will commit to MA fully once certain aspects are successful."

Because marketing automation success rates are promising, many companies purchase MA solutions without really knowing anything about how to use them properly. Not wanting to fail, they use only parts to see how they work. Unfortunately, this is one of the most common roads to MA failure. Always consult with an expert if you have any questions or uncertainties about how to proceed with your MA implementation.

3. "Sales and marketing cannot work together"

If marketing automation is to have a chance at being successful, this way of thinking needs to be abolished. Before MA implementation is even considered, sales and marketing must be given the tools and environment necessary to forge a strong alignment. If the two are on the same page and working to achieve the same goals, MA will optimize their combined revenue generating results.

4. "IT is responsible for making marketing automation function correctly."

You cannot expect your IT department to be experts on every single software and technology available, especially given the fast rate of technological advancement. If you want marketing automation implementation and integration to go smoothly, IT must understand exactly what you hope to achieve with the software and how it is going to be used. You should hire an expert if IT is unfamiliar with the new software so so costly mistakes are made.




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