Splintering of Technology
There is a lot of hype and excitement around marketing automation technology presently. But what is it, do you need it, and how should you go about implementing it if you do? Firstly, let’s define our terms. Almost every single project we do, whether CRM, marketing automation, email automation, sales automation or combinations of those, start off with the client, 70 Fathoms (that’s us) and vendors needing to define what we’re talking about when we talk about the technology we’re planning to implement. We find the best way to cut through this language is to focus on the channels. Which channels are you using to sell and market your products and services? Which ones are you aspiring to use? When you define that, the technology choices and options start to get clearer. The tools available are increasingly becoming channel-specific, ironically when another big buzz word is multi-channel marketing, the technology is splintering. This is bewildering to buyers but actually a good thing. Old-school CRM was a jack of all trades, new technologies are masters in their own sphere. And yes, you can join up the data and often the technology platforms you are using, so don’t let that put you off.
Think by Channel
Marketing automation is not a clearly defined category of software but we broadly describe it as technology which will automate your marketing campaigns but across more channels than just email. Automate means sending communications to customers, or instructions to sales to communicate with customers, which are created in advance and triggered by changes to your dataset or hitting certain date rules but not by a marketer pressing “send”. In theory, marketers construct sophisticated and/or rules across a multiple of possible responses and across many channels (SMS, telesales and email perhaps) and then, ongoing, tweak those rules to maximise the results. Used well, it’s a great tool, but there aren’t many marketers with strong marketing automation skills yet and there’s a steep learning curve while they develop them. Conceptually, it’s a different sort of marketing – the sort of marketing that direct mail traditionalists will be more comfortable with learning probably – but often it’s brand marketing-driven firms who are adopting the technology first and they’re not used to the analysis and frankly the maths and statistics skills you need to make sense of your new information.
ROI & Training
If you’re going to invest in this sort of marketing software, make sure you know what it does do and what it doesn’t. The vendors will show you all the bells and whistles but don’t assume that it does things you thing are “standard”, check. (Notably consider the data management issues, especially if you’re in B2B. Marketing automation suits aren’t usually data warehouse substitutes or “marketing databases” with high-end data management tools. Listen to the old-school data managers who understand how hard it is for software to recognise that One Peach Tree Drive is the same as 1 Peach Tree Dr.). Make sure you can build a business case for the investment i.e. will it help you sell more or save you money? And most of all allow time and budget for training for your people. The software is only as good as the data that goes into it and the people who use it. It won’t come naturally to everyone, so back them up and support them while they learn.
Implementation
If you conclude it’s the right solution for you, remember you’re implementing change and manage it accordingly. This is a relatively new sphere of software and you may find that the vendors can be a little inexperienced in complex projects. Make sure you get the best implementation team in, who have implemented databases and integrated solutions (unless you’re literally starting from scratch with no data and no integration). The complexity of an implementation lies in these two areas – you need people who have detailed knowledge of what can go wrong and what to protect you against, to help it go well. But never forget the change and your users… once the dust has settled, your shining new system is in place and populated with freshly cleaned data, you don’t want marketers doing the same email campaigns they’ve always done but using a vastly more expensive system because they don’t know how to use it any other way.
