Visibility

Many people look at marketing automation (MA) as a technology problem and expect that by applying good technology, great results will follow.  The truth is that while technology is important, it is not the most important part of implementing a successful marketing automation program.    For the most part, marketing automation vendors compete on features and functionality – who has a better lead scoring capability, or who has the best e-mail editor.  And unfortunately, most marketing organizations make their purchase decisions based on those same features and functions.  This state of affairs is caused by many factors.  After all, the vendors selling MA platforms are technology companies – they sell what they know, and what they know is technology.  For the most part, the early adopters of marketing automation were also technology companies – they buy what they know, again, technology.  As a result, there is a great deal of focus on what the marketing automation platform can do.  The most important question to ask, however, is “What can the marketing automation platform enable me to accomplish?”

A broad set of skills are required to be successful with any marketing automation implementation.  It is assumed, that if you’ve had experience with e-mail marketing and web analytics, that you have the skills and background to implement an MA platform.  After all, all MA platforms include an e-mail engine, landing pages and a web analytics component.   While these are key elements of successful marketing automation programs, the universe of activities is much, much broader. 

At its core, marketing automation is about driving leads from initial interest to fully qualified sales prospects.  This is fundamentally a business process – the process of managing the marketing funnel – and demands the objectives, planning and professional support required when automating any business process.  To be successful, the technology must only be deployed after the business planning has been completed.  The marketing automation platform is there to support the business process, not define it.

What does it take to be successful with a marketing automation implementation?  There are three elements that are critical:

•    The development of clear objectives
•    A strong planning process
•    The support of experienced marketing automation professionals.

Let’s look at each of these individually.

First: Set Clear Objectives

You must clearly define what you want your marketing automation project to achieve.  Some marketers will want to completely automate their lead development process, in some cases even automating some of the steps of the sales process.  Others will be happy with incremental improvements in their marketing processes and a stronger linkage between their e-mail marketing campaigns and the web traffic it drives.  Regardless of your objectives, they should be written down and agreed upon by all the stakeholders in the project.

To start, marketers should fully understand how their lead development process currently works, and if possible, have good measures for its efficacy.  Armed with this information, you can now look for opportunities for improvement.  Do you need to increase the number of inbound leads?  Do you need to improve what you know about them (qualification)?  Are they getting stuck at some point in the funnel? 

In addition to identifying what you need to improve, it is critical to understand what all stakeholders expect from the project.  Most importantly, what does the sales organization expect?  As marketing’s primary customer, their satisfaction will go a long way towards defining your success.   Defining these objectives will set the table for the planning process and make sure all interested parties know what to expect from the  project.

Second: Plan Where You Want to Go

Now that you have set your objectives, the real work begins!  Without question, completing a planning process can be the most demanding part of a marketing automation implementation project.   And this explains why most organizations either skip it or complete the process poorly, thus endangering the success of their project. 

The planning stage should map every step a lead takes is it moves from a simple inquiry to becoming a sales qualified lead.  Beyond that, this process should also include a mapping of the sales process, to ensure that these two processes are fully aligned.  The analysis should include a definition of the roles prominent in the buying process, what content they consume as they learn about your offering, and the sources by which your leads enter the funnel.  By understanding how the lead moves through the process, it will be possible to map the technology elements to the business process.

This process will also articulate how the marketing automation platform will store the lead information, how it will integrate with your web-site and all on-line marketing assets, and how it will integrate with your CRM solution.  This integration, while relatively simple, requires a great deal of precision.  Small implementation errors (such as improperly mapped fields) can lead to major problems that are difficult to diagnose. 

By spending the time to define both the business and technology processes clearly, you’ve set the stage for a successful marketing automation implementation.

Third: Who Can You Turn to for Help?

Through the entire process, from objective setting to final implementation, it is critical that you engage the support of experienced MA professionals.  Working with experienced professionals will ensure that you have the support and guidance you need to keep your project on the right track.  Essentially, there are two sets of skills required for marketing automation success:

•    Marketing process professionals – These professionals have experience analyzing lead development processes and techniques.  They can analyze your current marketing process, identify areas for improvement, and make recommendations that achieve your objectives.  Invariably, they will be able to take the process findings and turn them into integrated campaigns that find and develop your target leads until they are ready to turn over to sales.  Armed with strong analytical skills, they also understand the “touch” side of marketing and can combine the two to great effect.
•    Marketing technology professionals – These professionals are experienced in translating the marketing process into the appropriate technical implementation.  They will frequently have experience designing and implementing CRM platforms (such as salesforce.com) and have now taken those skills into the marketing real.  They should understand how the lead management system is constructed and how it interacts with the CRM platform.  Strong technically, they also understand how the marketing process works and how the technology impacts what is possible in lead development.

It is rare to find both sets of skills in a single person, and most successful MA projects have multiple persons to fill out the team.  Ultimately, there will be the development of a marketing operations role.   This role will be analogous (and work side-by-side with) the sales operations manager, ensuring that the marketing process and the technology that supports are operating smoothly.

When selecting a MA technology vendor, look for those that have a good track record of implementing successful MA projects.  The will have a good mix of these skills on staff, and a strong cadra of partners who can fill in the gaps as appropriate. 

…It’s About a Lot More Than Technology

Selecting the right marketing automation platform is important.  But first, you must start by understanding your objectives and investing the time in a planning process that sets you up for success.  Once you’ve done this, you will be in great position to identify the marketing automation platform that best meets your requirements.  Most importantly, make sure that the business requirements drive the technology decision and don’t be afraid to look for outside help with your business planning process.  Put the business discussion first – the technology second.  You’ll be glad that you did.