Need Marketing Automation — Now What?

Need Marketing Automation — Now What?

A Marketing Automation Platform has the ability to quantifiably and unambiguously turn a marketing organization from a cost center into a revenue center. However, choosing the “right” platform is critical because the credibility of the marketing team rests in how it delivers on the expectations.

We all want to tame the beast to our advantage. Yet more often than not, I run into clients who lack a structured approach to go about selecting the “right” platform that not only addresses their needs, but also optimizes the spend, minimizes the learning-curve and scales with the organization.

So in that vein, the following is a 50K-foot view of a process to think through when rolling out a MAP:

A. Analyze the legacy business processes –

• Determine which ones stay, which ones go, and which ones need altering
• Map the desired processes across all departments (Marketing-Sales, Marketing- Exec Staff, Marketing – IT Staff)
• Prioritize which ones need implementing first to get some quick wins

B. Business Objectives/Requirements –

• How will marketing be gauged in the short-term?
  Map out a short-term and a long-term goal
• Get a buy-in from all parties (Sales ,IT, Exec Staff) on-board
• Set clear expectations with appropriate teams –
  Exec Staff – wins, ROI
  Sales – definition of a sales ready lead? Volume of leads, etc.

C. Audit all existing databases –

• CRM Systems
• Prospect Databases/External Lists –
  Completeness of data fields?
  How recent is the data?
  Level of engagement with the prospects?
  Buyer Personas?
  Segmentation

D. Marketing Plan –

• How many campaigns?
• Which channels?
• Frequency of prospect touches?
• Time frame?

E. Tracking and Metrics –

• Custom dashboards to determine:–
  Lead Velocity through the process
  Revenue Performance
  Engagement behavior across the channels, etc.

F. Stay away from analyses-paralyses

Remember…a Marketing Automation Platform, like marketing, is a journey and not a magic wand. So explore, evaluate and scale …