Getting the most out of your Marketing Automation software

It’s difficult to believe, but most marketers have only stopped making too much of a fuss over marketing technology for about half a dozen years. Any software requires a learning curve, you can expect no less. And thankfully, Marketing Automation platforms have evolved towards a smooth user experience and versatility. For example, HubSpot has been continuously striving to offer a simple layout which makes it even easier to navigate to all of their different powerful tools. But that apart, how do you make the most of such a cosmic investment?

Let's not say Marketing Automation software acts as a silver bullet to mitigate your obstacles, but rather assume that it can make your job easier. Read on to learn all about it.

If not a rock, not an island - what’s MarTech?

According to the Gartner Glossary, marketing technology (commonly known as MarTech) describes a set of software solutions used by marketing leaders to support their operations, business goals and to drive process efficiency within their organizations. MarTech solutions focus mostly on content delivery through nurturing programs, lead scoring for sales automation and customer service management, while always making an extensive use of data and analytics. 

Did you get your eye hooked on the subject?
Deepen your expertise and get to know how MarTech can boost your Marketing.

MarTech vs. Marketing Automation - how do they relate?

Many talk about the differences between Marketing Automation vs. Marketing Technology, but what’s really relevant to understand is how they are connected. Without too much beating around the bush, MarTech is like the technology cluster that makes digital marketing possible. With this in mind, we can now say that Marketing Automation is one of the most requested “slices of the cake", having been designed to automate a range of marketing actions.

Have you read this case study?
Increasing an international insurance company's sales revenue funnel by 5% through successful Marketing Automation strategies

Common features to look for in Marketing Automation softwares

Marketing Automation platforms provide broad functionality and qualities beyond email marketing. In fact, there are still many marketers who don't know that email marketing is an included tool, integrated within an all-in-one solution. Normally, a Marketing Automation solution provides different modules ranging from Marketing, Sales and Customer Service to specific resources that allow to build and scale a data-driven website (CMS), and even connect your apps, sync and clean customer data and automate business processes. 

To set the record straight, let's take a peek at the key marketing features that should be included in your Marketing Automation software to personalize engagement across all your channels: 

• Email marketing with frequency cap tool;
• Landing pages and form creation with A/B testing and multi-language content; 
• Campaign management;
• Video hosting and management;
• Collaboration tools;
• Chatbot and live chat builder;
• Lead nurturing workflows;
• Predictive lead scoring;
• Lead lifecycle management;
• CRM integration;
• ABM tools and automation;
• Social and paid marketing tools; 
• Website traffic analytics and marketing attribution reports;
• Multi-touch revenue attribution reports.

Making your Marketing Automation platform pay off

You probably feel like your company just spent a pretty penny on that fancy new piece of technology, right? Well, they did so for a reason. Now, all you need to do is prove the value of the software by improving the productivity of most of your marketing efforts, and thus become highly efficient and drive more revenue streams.

Here are 5 tried-and-true tips to show your stakeholders how to get the most out of your Marketing Automation software:

1. Optimize step-by-step
   Poor data doesn’t create new prospects and bad processes don’t move a new lead through the sales funnel. Be the best you can be at every level. Just learn with the process by analyzing and optimizing at every stage of your campaign creation.

2. Align Marketing and Sales
   Work closely with your sales team to establish the best practices for lead nurturing and lead scoring so that only the most qualified contacts get into the hands of your sales reps. At the same time, train your marketing team around best practices like how technology is revolutionizing lead generation, campaign segmentation, form creation, CRM integration, compliance, and all other marketing-related activities. But more importantly, keep both teams in touch for a continuous exchange of insights and learning.

3. Say no to generic campaigns
   Context-free communications don’t engage your potential customers. Great marketing adapts to the buyer journey and is based on well-defined ideal customer profiles or buyer personas. This means delivering content based on their attributes and behavior. Let the data be your best friend, and never make the mistake of assuming anything.

4. Don’t blame the technology, blame the process instead
   Many marketers don't hesitate to make their Marketing Automation platforms their scapegoat when they fail to achieve short-term success. If your team is lacking the skills or using just a mere fraction of your platform’s capabilities, reach out to your account manager for advanced training. Creating outstanding marketing campaigns that produce actual results goes far beyond technology, it requires resilience to play the long game. The “only” thing Marketing Automation can do is the heavy lifting and help you deliver superior customer experiences through meaningful insights.
   Did you know that HubSpot offers extensive training classes of all levels, on-demand videos, and a wide variety of certification programs? Meet the HubSpot Academy right away.

5. Adopt, adapt, and achieve
   It's important to keep in mind that you’ll more quickly succeed in adapting to artificial intelligence tools than expecting them to adapt to you. After all, we're talking about a piece of software, so it's probably not as flexible or intuitive as the human beings who deal with it every day. Your business plan should remain fundamentally intact, but your marketing methodology may have to adapt.

Reminder: Don’t try to do everything at once. Get the basics working first, and you’ll be generating ROI at the drop of a hat. Maintain momentum, build capability and you’ll see your customer audience getting sizable everyday. 

It’s okay to struggle at first. Marketing Automation it’s not necessarily the immediate magical fix we’d like it to be. It’s not rocket science either. Its implementation, execution, and sustained success do require logic,  consistency and a systematic approach.