7 Marketing Automation Tips to Help You Succeed

marketing automation tipsMarketing automation (MA) software will be present in 88% of B2B organizations by the start of the 2017-18 financial year, according to B2B Marketing.net, a leading international information provider for business marketers.  However, in a recent survey by the same group, 61% of B2B companies implementing marketing automation describe the process as “difficult.”

Despite its increase in popularity, many companies don’t get the most out of this tool.  To help, we’ve put together a list of tips to achieve better marketing automation results.

Marketing Automation Tips

Perform a “check-up” of your data:

Before you implement any MA software, make sure your data is healthy. Check for duplicates, invalids and merging data.

Don’t just jump in the deep end:

Until you’ve made some decisions about how your system is going to give you the most ROI, don’t commit to a full-scale deployment. In the beginning, you may want to work with a specialist to help plan your program.

Content is crucial: 

You must have a stash of fresh and meaningful content that provides value to your audience.  Without this, your marketing automation program won’t gain the traction you desire. That said, it’s important to include some gated content, but only if it is valuable, such as webinars, case studies and white papers.

Mobile is a must:

From website design to newsletters, email templates, and landing pages; everything must have a responsive design, or you could face losing a percentage of prospects with initial interest.

If sales isn’t on board, your ship will sink: 

It may be called marketing automation, but at the end of the day, it’s all about sales.  Involve the sales team from the very start of your plans.  A marketing automation program is all about the closer integration of sales and marketing, so any breaks between the two could result in an awkward situation.

Teach someone a lesson:

Make sure that all the necessary participants are properly trained on your system and understand how they can get the most out of it.  Continue to provide training as adjustments and new features are added.

Remember, the word Marketing comes before Automation.  Without the right strategic plan, you could find yourself in a mish mash of lead forms, landing pages and everything in between.  Conversely, taking the time to integrate your automation system into your overall marketing strategy will give you the best chance for success.  If you don’t have someone in-house dedicated to this type of program, consider hiring an outside company.