Page 15 - index

What to consider when introducing a
marketing automation platform
The following seven tips could
come in handy to avoid major pit-
falls before implementing a market- lease periods should be included
ing automation platform; or maybe
you just want to save detours and
reach your marketing goal quicker,
then check out at some useful sug- 4. Ensure and monitor data quali-
gestions:
1. Keep in mind that good con-
tent educates and entertains
As the boundaries between work
and private life are more and
more disappearing, marketing
competes with messages not
only for getting the attention of
the target persons from 9am to
5pm, but also beyond that time.
This means that potential cus-
tomers must feel the relevance to
their core tasks and get benefits
by reading the subject line of the
email/message, when you try to
reach them. Particularly well suit- telephone qualifications. If no- ment prospects; sometimes one
ed are contents that both expand
knowledge and entertain.
2. Ensure internal exchange of
ideas: Platforms like Yammer
are very well suited for the ex-
change of ideas in a team or be-
tween teams, channeling infor-
mation about new features and 5. Provide central templates for
templates pretty well. By sharing,
you get a very good sense of
who is a specialist in that subject
and can support possibly with
ideas and knowledge. Moreover,
many benefit from expert advice
and templates provided that
way.
3. Provide sufficient resources
for the change management:
Marketing automation means
change management in any or-
ganization that implements it,
hence responsibilities must be
redefined and training and
coaching is essential. If not all
needed qualifications are availa- these templates as “offer” have
ble in the team, look for "outside
help" to bridge the shortage in
the short term or even perma-
nently. Anyway, the implementa-
tion of marketing automation is
always accompanied by an in-
vestment in internal and external
resources, therefore set budget
BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES
aside in order not to have to stop well as the central marketing con-
halfway. Similarly, budget re- trol of content and design.
6. A / B tests: The evaluation of the
in the project planning; otherwise impact of design and text in mar-
it can quickly lead to unplanned keting is always very subjective,
delays. therefore you should try to get as
many opinions as there are mem-
ty: Often underestimated, for bers in the team to an email tem-
example, is the time and effort plate. Objective reviews are only
for the permanent monitoring of possible via A / B tests. Here you
the data quality. For this pur- should test both the subject line
pose, it is advisable to appoint a and email text, but also the place-
data analyst who ensures that ment and number of buttons and
imports follow predefined policies forms: Interested parties are of-
and duplicates (for instance, by ten willing to give a lot of infor-
uploading or from the CRM sys- mation for promising content, but
tem) are regularly merged, inva- sometimes not. It can be that a
lid email addresses get qualified button above the text is well
retroactively, as well as incom- used, or even below, if the con-
pletely filled fields get appropri- text for it is necessary. Some-
ately completed by external data times, it is good to have multiple
sources, nurturing programs or calls to action to be able to seg-
body feels responsible for the action is more effective. All that
quality of the database, there is you can find out in tests. Many
usually a decline in deliverability, marketing automation platforms
an incorrect assignment to target offer standard features to do that,
segments and ultimately unsatis- making the set-up and evaluation
factory results of campaigns and of such tests relatively easy (e.g.
nurturing programs. with Marketo or Oracle Eloqua).
Important is a minimum number
of data to draw meaningful con-
use in the regions: The scaling clusions, as A / B tests make just
factor of central templates is of- little sense when the total audi-
ten underestimated, as it re- ence is under 1,000 contacts.
quires more than simple training.
With a number of central tem- 7. Manage expectations and be
plates not only a unified branding patient: Success with marketing
can be guaranteed, but also the automation does not crop up
use of the platform is facilitated overnight. In the first year, the
considerably. Fact is that adapt- expectation should initially not be
ing these templates puts already more than sending campaigns
many regional marketing manag- successfully via the platform. In
er to test, especially if they were the 2nd year, you can then al-
previously not necessarily work- ready take in hand a number of
ing with CRM or ERP software. MQLs (Marketing Qualified
With the creation of their own Leads), and from the 3rd year
campaigns, most marketers are onwards a visible participation of
at first overwhelmed. Providing marketing in sales is realistic,
because opt-in lists must be es-
stood the test, where the regions tablished, data adjusted as well
can then select, translate, cus- as processes implemented and
tomize and send whenever it optimized. All this takes time and
makes sense for them. There- brings initially no visible success.
fore, the regional marketing man- ◊
ager has control of the target
audience and the dispatch, as By Daniela La Marca
MediaBUZZ Pte Ltd - Independant ePublisher for Asia