For anyone who has ever gone through a Marketing Automation project, you know that it can be a journey with many ups and downs. In fact, success in Marketing Automation goes way beyond just choosing the right vendor. It’s crucial to have the Five Conditions for Marketing Automation Success to maximize the ROI. If you don’t have the conditions in place, the chances of failure are really high. That’s why 44% of marketers are not fully satisfied with their marketing automation systems. Most of them think that the software takes too long to implement, is difficult to learn, and is too expensive. While Marketing Automation Platforms (MAP) open up new frontiers, the little white lies that vendors employ to make the sale – and that we believe – are an expensive source of confusion. To help clear the air, check out our slideshare with the “9 Little White Lies About Marketing Automation Platforms”.

1. ABOUT MARKETING
AUTOMATION PLATFORMS
LITTLE
WHITE LIES
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2. Implementing a Marketing Automation Platform is "set it and forget it"
The term marketing automation is a little misleading and while it is true that
you set up a campaign and it “runs” automatically, it isn’t that simple. Any
marketing technology you implement requires dedicated human interaction to
be successful. Once sales identifies a new bottleneck, who is going to generate
the new content to drive leads to complete the opt-in form? Be wary if your
MAP Vendor alludes to a “set it and forget it” approach, as it isn’t true.
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9 Little White Lies about Marketing Automation Platforms

3. Marketing Automation will save you boatloads of time
Prior to launching your first campaign, your team will put dozens of hours into
buyer personas, data analysis, campaign design, copywriting (landing page,
email, social media, paid ads), email sequences, and data configuration to
personalize and segment messages. Don’t forget the alignment of your
sales/marketing systems and processes – a difficult piece of the puzzle for
many organizations.
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9 Little White Lies about Marketing Automation Platforms

4. All it takes is a team of one
Getting C-suite buy-in for new software is hard and MAP Vendors use
statements like, “We make our software so easy a 12-year old can setup a
campaign” or “It only takes 5 hours a week to manage” to help expedite the
sales process. Unfortunately, what often happens is the company doesn’t have
the proper resources in place to correctly execute the setup, management,
analytics, and A/B testing necessary to make marketing automation pay off in
the long run. Marketing automation should touch every part of your organization
– it isn’t something that can be added to your VP Marketing’s to-do list.
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9 Little White Lies about Marketing Automation Platforms

5. You need to hire a MAP rockstar with tons of experience to ensure success
You need to find someone who understands your brand voice, buyer personas,
and culture; who has experience launching and managing the technical and
creative aspects of personalized marketing and/or email automation campaigns;
who knows the channels in which to reach your target market. In today’s
Marketing Automation world, you need someone who knows conversion and
understands the value of a real lead.
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9 Little White Lies about Marketing Automation Platforms

6. Marketing Automation doesn’t require any technical skills
You are seriously limiting the potential of your platform’s ROI by overlooking the
technical skills necessary to successfully execute a lead generation program.
Beyond the technical skills, an understanding and experience in email
deliverability, email list best practices, and reengaging old leads are valuable
assets to keep your emails out of the spam folder.
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9 Little White Lies about Marketing Automation Platforms

7. The more I pay for a platform, the more likely my emails are to
reach the inbox
When was the last time you asked a MAP Vendor for their email deliverability rate
and statistics while researching platforms? Did you, like most marketers, assume
that was just “part of the package”? After all, the hefty price tag should
guarantee email deliverability, right? Wrong. One of the most overlooked
considerations for a MAP Vendor is email deliverability rate and email list policies.
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9 Little White Lies about Marketing Automation Platforms

8. Don’t confuse an email service provider (ESP) with a marketing automation
platform (MAP). While ESPs have entered the automation field with some fancy
features, they are lacking important functions of a robust Marketing Automation
Platform. For example, MAP Vendors offer a unified customer view, multi-channel
functionality, buyer persona mapping, landing pages and forms, lead scoring,
sales/marketing integration, and can even go beyond the digital realm to trigger
direct mail pieces based on actions performed by users.
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7 It’s just an email marketing platform with some fancy features
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9 Little White Lies about Marketing Automation Platforms

9. The vendor with the best publicity is clearly the top choice
MAP Vendors are not one-size fits all, and it is not a decision to be made
lightly. It’s important to understand fully what you are purchasing and ensure
that it is the right platform for your specific business needs. Your systems and
technology must align with your brand story and overall sales and marketing
strategy. Most importantly, you should secure the necessary resources prior to
adopting and launching a new MAP Vendor. As you navigate through the
thousands of articles comparing vendors, remember, you are reading marketing
by other marketers.
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9 Little White Lies about Marketing Automation Platforms

10. Implementing a Marketing Automation Platform will automatically generate
tons of qualified leads
Implementing a MAP will generate leads, but if your content isn’t aligned with
your buyer personas/target market segments/target accounts – or if these are
completely inaccurate – the leads aren’t going to be qualified. You first have to
understand your audience and speak to them in a way that compels them to
want to engage with your brand, and to want to learn more.
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9 Little White Lies about Marketing Automation Platforms

11. For anyone who has ever gone through a Marketing Automation project, you know
that it can be a journey with many ups and downs. In fact, success in Marketing
Automation goes way beyond just choosing the right vendor. You need to have
the Five Conditions for Marketing Automation Success to maximize your ROI.
Click here to take the online assessment now and evaluate your current
situation, so you can take appropriate action to have all the conditions in place
for a successful Marketing Automation implementation.
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9 Little White Lies about Marketing Automation Platforms