Are you using the marketing automation software package you’ve invested so much in as a simple emailing tool? Time to think bigger! Today’s marketing automation packages have many different functions and can offer incredible insight if you only take the time to learn how to best leverage the software.
Here, Pierre Moynier of eTrigue shares his thoughts on the current reality of marketing automation and how you can get more out of your software in this excerpt from Welcome to Web2Sales.
What are some common pain-points that modern-day marketers are experiencing?
It varies from user to user. Sometimes you get some pretty savvy people, and sometimes you get people who aren’t even familiar with email marketing. They need a bit more help from editors in putting things together.
But overall the biggest challenge for people taking on marketing automation is that it’s the first time they’ve done it, and they need more direction on the strategic and tactical side.
Once they get past the one-off email, they’re not entirely sure how to then nurture that relationship. What’s an appropriate amount of time to follow-up with additional outreach? Should I separate people who respond into a separate flow?
For people who are branching out for the first time, we find that the most successful individuals usually will have a consulting call with us where we’ll let them know what our most successful clients have been doing, find out what they’re trying to do because, no two clients are the same; there’s no cookie-cutter approach.
The main pain-point is that marketers aren’t leveraging their marketing automation tools to their full potential. That creates a big need for partners to come in and advise people, and to help them get more mileage and bang for their buck out of their marketing automation tools, be it from best-practice advice on lead generation, like what content you should create, how you distribute it, and how often you should reach out to people.
Having a go-to expert can help you get more out of your subscription.
Having said that, people aren’t failing using marketing automation; before they were just looking at clicks and opens. Now they’re actually tracking people and getting some insight into companies, netting them some actual prospects. The evolution is there; people are moving to the next step.
But for those that have marketing automation tools and want to take it to the next level, they definitely need to turn to some professional advice, be it through webinars, one-on-one consulting, or with partners who have the required expertise, so there’s no need for trial and error; they can learn from experience.
What is your take on how most marketers currently use marketing automation? Do you think they’re using the technology to its fullest potential?
I’d say it’s mostly being used for email management. But beyond that, marketers aren’t necessarily focusing on the behavioral aspect, although they are starting to dig a little deeper.
Once you get passed all the demos, marketers realize that it’s a bit more complicated to operate on a day-to-day basis. Our solutions at eTrigue are quite intuitive, but other solutions are often aimed at larger enterprises that need dedicated teams, so smaller companies struggle with those. You end up with small companies adopting big-brand solutions that they simply can’t manage.
Obviously the growth of marketing automation has continued, and along with that is that need for best practices; now that we have this going, what’s the best way to do it?
Agencies who specialize in guiding marketers through marketing automation processes are doing very well, and it’s growing out of a need for expert advice and guidance.
Do you agree that Web2Sales is the logical next step when it comes to content marketing?
You want to be able to get your content in front of the right people and not just reach out on a one-off basis (if appropriate). The efficiencies of marketing automation tools make it much simpler for marketers to nurture potential relationships.
People who do show interest will be moved to a different flow or campaign; they’ve raised their hand and are moving down the funnel now. As long as you’re sharing valuable content, people will self-identify.
Once you’ve identified a confirmed visitor and converted them, that’s a big step, and it’s a big incentive for the sales team since they know who that person is, rather than only having a vague idea that may not seem that enticing to pursue.
When you get real-time alerts, it informs you when prospects are interacting with your website or content.
An MIT study showed that when you call someone within 30 minutes of them leaving your site, you have a ten times greater chance to connect with that person, and a seven times greater chance to qualify them.
As they go through the cycle, you can gain some great insight into their behavior, which helps you nurture them along further in the sales process. Leads in different stages can be marked in the CRM, and every stage will have its own nurture campaign aimed specifically at different prospects.
Sales teams now have the ability to control where those campaigns go, and the marketing team can set up the campaign as they see fit based on conversations they should be having with sales.
So the marketing automation piece will help with efficiency and getting content out there on a more regular basis, and once individuals click on it, they’re captured as a known visitor.
That in turn can go to the sales person’s hands, exponentially increasing their chances to connect with that person, and even if they miss them the first time, alerts should help move these prospects through the sales cycle.
Marketers can do the work without using nurture campaigns, but boy, it sure is a lot of work. It’s much easier to leverage the technology and the software to set it up.
Marketers need to take a look in the mirror and ask; do I want to try this on my own? Do I need professional help from my marketing automation provider? Do I want to work with a specialized partner?
