“The best thing about marketing automation from a sales perspective is that it leads to increased conversation rates for the sales team,” says Jeff Tillar, NuGrowth’s Director of Business Development.
In fact, NuGrowth has proven repeatedly through our sales and marketing efforts that you are at least 30% more likely to have a conversation with someone that has engaged with content or your website as tracked through the marketing automation system.
As Jeff notes, “The more conversations you are having, the more relationships you are building, the more you are helping, and the more you are closing!”
“B2B marketers who implement marketing automation increase their #salespipeline contribution by 10%”. – Forrester Research
— NuGrowth Solutions (@nugrowth) June 20, 2017
When you are not seeing the results you want from your marketing automation tool, something is probably off. Let’s look at a few reasons why your efforts may not be affecting the outcomes you desire.
1 – You haven’t defined the results you want
Let’s be clear – to get what you want, you need to define it. Sometimes we want and need more conversations in market. Sometimes we simply want more brand impressions. At other points it’s critical to have rapid pipeline generation.
It’s necessary to define what you want out of the marketing automation program so you’re able to track it and execute well. This is a step that many just don’t take.
2 – Your content creation team is unclear on who your buyer persona is
It is impossible to create content that will engage your ideal buyer without a thorough understanding of who they are and what makes them tick. Research and define the buyer personas you are writing for, so you can tailor your messages to fit their needs and the results that you are looking for.
3 – You are not leveraging the database attributes of your target audience correctly
If you’ve created your personas correctly, then you have database elements within your CRM that can be mapped to them. The marketing automation tool should be leveraging these, and collecting more as people interact. This enables you to score leads, and drive their interaction to the top of your sales team’s list in a way that you both understand.
4 – You take the idea of “set-it and forget it” too far
Marketing automation is a great tool. It has elements of streamlining workflows and giving you the ability to set programs and let them run. However, if you put a program into play and you’re not consistently monitoring the workflows and results, you’re missing the boat. An on-going cadence of program review is critical to the success of any marketing program. Programs leveraging marketing automation are no different.
5 – Content creation stops
Take a tip from the marketing automation specialists that sell marketing automation – Act-On, Marketo, HubSpot, Pardot, and more. One of the consistent items you’ll notice is a steady stream of new content and new programs to their lists. Content production should always continue in support of a good marketing automation program, and you’ll need it as your funnel continues to fill and diversify.
6 – The sales team is not using the software daily
You may be familiar with this story – your marketing team sets up automation programs, doesn’t educate well on what to expect, and the sales team doesn’t effectively follow up on interaction. If the team does not know how to integrate marketing automation software into their regular work, chances are good that they will not use it frequently or effectively.
The tool can only assist in lead nurturing if the team understands how to access essential information. If the team cannot easily access opens, clicks, lead scores, campaign statistics, and the different profiles being targeted, they will not be able to see the important numbers that could have a significant impact on sales. Without a proper understanding of how the tool functions, your team will not connect the dots between marketing and sales.
7. You stop learning
Marketing automation is a tool – it’s not a solution. If you don’t continually learn and improve through the use of the tool, it is not providing the value that you need. Make this a priority. Review programs collaboratively and objectively. Make opinions known, then act on the facts that the marketing automation statistics show.
As marketing automation continues to evolve and improve, there are lessons to be learned in every program you run. These are seven mistakes that we’ve seen made consistently. If you’ve found yourself making these mistakes, or if you have any other questions relative to marketing automation, we’d love to connect.
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Paul Fuller is the former President of NuGrowth Digital. Paul has led successful sales and marketing teams for clients ranging from innovative start-ups to enterprises with billions in revenue.
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Paul Fuller is the former President of NuGrowth Digital. Paul has led successful sales and marketing teams for clients ranging from innovative start-ups to enterprises with billions in revenue.