Good advertising and marketing is all about sending the correct message to the correct folks on the proper time.
Correctly segmenting your contacts utilizing the correct variables means that you can higher goal all the pieces from emails to PPC campaigns to touchdown pages. The extra focused your messaging, the extra probably you’re to see a elevate in conversion throughout the board.
That is why many individuals select to undertake a marketing automation platform: software program that addresses the administration and automation of your contact database, buyer nurturing, e mail advertising and marketing and different workflows.
Along with contact administration, most MAPs even have a broad vary of different options, together with lead scoring, content material administration, search engine marketing administration, monitoring and reporting.
This smorgasbord of options leads us to some of the widespread advertising and marketing automation misconceptions: folks suppose that advertising and marketing automation is the solely device you’ll ever want.
However the actuality is:
A idiot with a device continues to be a idiot.
This quote by Grady Booch aptly describes the danger of implementing a advertising and marketing automation platform with out really understanding its strengths and limitations.
There is no such thing as a silver bullet.
Advertising and marketing automation won’t remedy your whole issues, nor will it’s the one device you’ll want in your advertising and marketing stack. Whereas your MAP may need the power to do the entire above – it doesn’t imply it’s the most effective device for the job.
The truth is, in some instances, utilizing a extra specialised device is a greater option to go – it’s a part of the explanation why main advertising and marketing automation suppliers (like HubSpot, Marketo, Eloqua and Pardot) have thriving associate networks with a ton of integration companions.
Unsure in case your advertising and marketing automation device is providing you with the pliability you want? Listed below are some examples the place utilizing specialised software program may also help you refine your execution and drive higher outcomes.
Touchdown pages
Some advertising and marketing automation platforms present the power to arrange primary touchdown pages, however the vary of options accessible to create, take a look at and optimize them are restricted.
At Uberflip we’ve discovered a handful of limitations with our MAP’s touchdown web page builder.
To get the extent of customization we wished in our touchdown pages, we’d have needed to spend extra time and sources fidgeting with CSS and HTML. Even then, we’re restricted by how the tip end result will look. We’re additionally restricted by the truth that we are able to solely create one variant on a touchdown web page and the visitors break up is randomized by our MAP, giving us little or no management.
As I communicate to increasingly more entrepreneurs, it’s clear that it is a widespread ache level with regards to touchdown pages. Nick Bhutani, Sr. Digital & Acquisition Advertising and marketing Supervisor at booker.com has the identical drawback. Based on Nick, they wanted:
A higher answer as a result of the out of the field touchdown web page characteristic offered by our advertising and marketing automation platform simply wasn’t as versatile when it comes to design and growth. Our design crew was on the lookout for cellular/responsive fashion touchdown pages, and located this device so much simpler to work. This had a really optimistic impact on our cellular/pill conversions.
On the finish of the day, using Unbounce helped booker.com lower their CPA by 42% they usually noticed a 33% elevate in conversion charges.
Equally, at Uberflip, we’ve discovered that utilizing a specialised touchdown web page builder like Unbounce has an a variety of benefits, particularly after we’re testing touchdown pages for promotions or different campaigns:
- We have now higher entry to extra high-quality templates
- We are able to be certain that our touchdown pages are mobile-friendly (surprisingly, this isn’t doable with many MAPs)
- We are able to simply manipulate the design to match our model pointers
- We are able to create multiple variant and we’ve got nice management over how the visitors is break up between touchdown web page variants.
Backside line: the extent of customization and depth of characteristic set are key to driving outcomes with regards to touchdown web page optimization.
Lead scoring
Lead scoring is an effective way to prioritize leads to your gross sales crew. Right here’s the way it works in most advertising and marketing automation instruments:
- Determine traits and behavior of the individuals who you suppose are prone to convert into clients.
- Create a method based mostly on these parameters, assigning totally different weights to every variable relying on the assumed affect.
- Ship what you assume to be certified leads (i.e. they hit a sure rating) to your gross sales crew.
- See in case your gross sales crew loves or hates you (i.e. have been your assumptions right?)
- Rinse and repeat.
The problem is that these are solely variables that you simply suppose have an effect based mostly on a restricted knowledge set.
In actuality, there are numerous alerts that may inform you whether or not or not somebody is prone to turn into a buyer. And plenty of of those alerts are seemingly unrelated to your product and are exterior the scope of the information your MAP supplies.
Utilizing a device like Infer or Lattice-Engines, you may automate a extra refined lead scoring course of.
These instruments complement your present knowledge with hundreds of exterior alerts that their algorithms can discover by scouring the web. That might imply something from worker rely and expertise distributors to social presence.
You’d be shocked at what sort of info you aren’t even conscious of could also be indicative of a possible purchaser’s conduct.
For instance, advertising and marketing expertise firm Demandbase uses a predictive analytics platform to determine the shared traits (based mostly on inner knowledge and exterior alerts) of “high-value” leads and prioritize them. By ensuring their gross sales and advertising and marketing groups have been centered on the upper scoring leads, they have been in a position to considerably enhance their pipeline and noticed a 75% enhance in shut fee.
By means of analyzing your present knowledge and discovering the entire exterior alerts that have an effect in your lead rating, you may validate your assumptions, enhance accuracy and study extra about your clients.
Bonus: A extra correct lead rating means you’ll be feeding higher results in your gross sales crew — they usually’ll love you for it.
Content material administration
Nice content material fuels advertising and marketing campaigns.
However creating great content isn’t enough to generate leads. You want to have the ability to create an excellent content material expertise, which incorporates all the pieces from killer design, nice construction, the power to handle premium content material like ebooks and movies and efficient calls to action.
Relating to managing the consumer expertise to your weblog or useful resource middle, the CMS capabilities in a MAP are sometimes restricted. It’s additionally price noting that, whereas just a few advertising and marketing automation suppliers have CMS capabilities, many don’t, so there’s usually a disconnect between content material belongings and advertising and marketing automation processes.
Taulia, a funds options supplier based mostly in San Francisco, was utilizing the CMS offered of their advertising and marketing automation platform. However as content material turned a extra essential a part of the advertising and marketing efforts, it was clear they wanted extra flexibility in creating and updating your complete content material expertise – not simply the content material itself.
By utilizing Uberflip, a CMS designed for content marketers, they didn’t have to depend on IT to simply:
- Set up all their content material (together with weblog articles, movies, ebooks and white papers)
- Create tailor-made content material streams for particular personas
- Place and customise calls to motion
- Embody nested varieties and overlays inside the consumer expertise
Utilizing a specialised content material advertising and marketing platform that integrates with their MAP helped Taulia tailor the consumer expertise and handle the content material from their advertising and marketing campaigns simply. This implies they will transfer sooner, goal content material higher and on the finish of the day, generate extra leads.
Adapting your advertising and marketing ecosystem
Understanding the aim, strengths and limitations of your advertising and marketing automation platform is essential to driving killer outcomes. Whereas your MAP is likely to be the core of your advertising and marketing ecosystem, you additionally must determine the correct complementary instruments based mostly in your objectives and wishes.
Relating to sure capabilities, they merely don’t present the identical depth of options that you simply may want.
However whatever the instruments you employ, with out the correct folks and processes in place to execute, you’re going to be wasting your time and money.
So take Booch’s quote to coronary heart and keep away from turning into a idiot with device. Perceive how your organization and your crew operates and construct a stack that can enhance your processes and get outcomes.
Are there some other challenges you’ve skilled with advertising and marketing automation? How did you overcome them?