Why does marketing automation often fail?

Marketing automation lacks automation. It’s a sad state when we’re addressing situations like this. It’s like using the drive-through at Burger King and being told to go inside to pick up your Whopper—it defeats the whole purpose. It’s not what you were expecting, it’s more manual than it’s worth and it’s not what you wanted.

The same goes for marketing automation. Users expect their solution to simplify and streamline a good chunk of their marketing efforts, but there’s a lot of conflicting data that suggests the opposite. It seems most marketing automation solutions’ implementation process, training programs and content creation is anything but automated.

Uncovering the Content Piece

Marketers say the number one barrier impeding their marketing automation success is the lack of content. Content is the most critical component for any marketing campaign. It needs to be relevant, timely, valuable, personalized and permission-based. But consider the fact that content is extremely expensive and difficult to scale.

When you add up the costs of creating something as simple as a four-email campaign, you see that the expenses of the associated labor, licensing and strategy work can total thousands of dollars. And even if you’re doing a ton of content development work, chances are it’s not even personalized for your recipients beyond a few variable tags and rudimentary segmentation.

When it comes to the current platforms on the market, many of them boast a plethora of features to help you with these scaling issue. One leading system claims it has forty-five features, only a few of which cover email delivery. On top of that, there’s a list of advanced features users can tack onto their system, bringing it to a total of sixty-eight features to optimize their solution. While it may be extremely flexible and customizable, it may also be too convoluted for what most businesses are trying to achieve with marketing automation.

¹http://www.slideshare.net/PepperGlobal/pepper-global-2014-marketing-automation-report
²http://www.regalix.com/by_regalix/research/reports/state-of-marketing-automation-2014
³http://www.slideshare.net/PepperGlobal/pepper-global-2014-marketing-automation-report
⁴https://www.siriusdecisions.com/Blog/2014/Feb/Eight-is-NOT-Enough-Increasing-Adoption-of-Marketing-Automation-Platforms.aspx

What should you look for in marketing automation solutions?

Without splitting hairs, when it comes to marketing automation, marketers should expect their platforms to be easy to use and, well, automated. Emerging now are thinner, cleaner and smarter solutions that are focusing on the gaps the larger platforms have failed to deliver on.

When it comes to implementation and training, people want a prescriptive experience. These streamlined platforms offer plug-in and play methodology, where the software is smart enough to guide the user through adoption with very little vendor support. Some companies are fully onboarding their customers in under eight days.

In terms of content creation, this is where things are getting really cool. Through one simple data point (e.g., phone number), specialized platforms are automating and personalizing the content creation stage, as well as intelligently sourcing prospects who are indicating their interest in specific products and services. Think of it as Marketing Automation 2.0. We’re not talking generic emails with a few variable tags. We’re talking full-scale reports with highly personalized insights that prospects are incredibly interested in.

Check out this prime example: the Snapshot Report. It’s a detailed analysis of a business’s online presence that provides key insights about the state of their digital marketing needs. All of this data can be auto-generated and auto-emailed with as little as a business’s phone number. Not only does a system like this nearly eliminate the cost of producing content, but imagine the power of knowing when local businesses start engaging with these reports. Platforms like this are a direct roadmap to your hottest leads.

What are the keys to marketing automation success?

To quote industry experts Greg Sterling and Neal Polachek, “Traditional companies that fail to actively restructure and innovate around sales and sales automation today will see a further erosion of market share tomorrow, ceding revenue to the growing list of digital competitors and alternatives in the local digital market.”

Never has that been truer than right now. If you haven’t explored niche marketing automation platforms yet, remember the following:

1. Adopt a platform that’s actually automated. One that you can implement and start marketing with in a short time frame, and creates content for you.
2. Look for platforms that are streamlined and focused on scaling, ease-of-use and ready-to-market out of the box.
3. Use marketing automation designed for your business, not someone else’s. Use technology that knows your business, market and customers.

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