How frustrating can it be when you buy a brand new powerful, stylish car, you hit the road to test the fury that lies under the hood, and, after a few blocks, the engine dies?
Well, that could be the same feeling when your company invests in a brand new marketing automation platform to boost sales, and, after some weeks, nothing happens.
The global market has proved that marketing automation is a powerful tool to boost sales and strengthen business performance. Still, it isn't a magic solution that solves any problem.
For proper implementation and positive results, a company must meet several conditions to ensure correct functioning and achieve the sales revenue that every company expects from this kind of solution.
Suppose a business doesn't fulfill the requirements. They don't have the conditions to implement an automated tool or truly understand the Inbound Marketing philosophy that lies beneath a marketing automation platform. They'll continue making these mistakes and never get the expected results.
So, let's take a closer look at these common mistakes that block correct marketing automation performance.
Some companies try to fix internal problems – commonly related to poor sales results - by implementing an Inbound Marketing strategy. They see automation as a solution for sales -and it indeed is- but first, they need to understand that Inbound automation must be built on an Inbound basis.
As Hubspot shows in a case study, a business that buys email lists or tries to connect with leads through non-personalized content won't get any good results. "Great automation results from highly targeted, personalized, valuable, timely, and remarkable content that is sent to a healthy and engaged database," Hubspot explains.
Automation doesn't mean that the lead conversion will be automatic. The conversion funnel isn't a model that works as an assembly line. It's a process based on human behavior, so it will behave precisely as consumers do. Some prospects will be rapidly converted into leads in just a couple of days or even hours, but it could take several months to take the next step. Others could even advance to the edge of the client stage and suddenly go back to the beginning of the process.
Examples and cases are countless, but the essential issue is that if a company doesn't understand consumer behavior, they want to generate good marketing automation results.
According to Hubspot, "the average email database expires at ~25% per year. That means a database of 50,000 email addresses will have shrunk to 21,000 in just three short years. So the best way to solve attrition is to replenish the funnel with new leads at a higher rate than you're burning through. Or else you'll find yourself with diminishing returns."
"Before you invest in marketing automation, ask yourself, "What am I doing to fuel the top of my funnel?" In other words, automation is a fantastic tool to qualify further and nurture leads, but what's the point when you don't even generate enough for Sales?" Hubspot says.
An old saying goes like this: You can't see the forest for the trees. In other words, focus on the whole picture, not just the details. Another Hubspot blog explains, "it's not uncommon to find that your team is obsessed with implementing a specific solution within a project.
Whether it stems from the client or internal interest, once you're fixated on making something work, it takes time to take a step back. However, taking action back is often the only way to avoid blowing the budget on a project. This step back should not be focused on re-evaluating the solution but rather on re-evaluating the problem.
Could you ask yourself and the client about the exact problem you're trying to solve and the impact of not solving it? Sometimes the solution is simply doing nothing."
Although your buyer personas can be precise and well-defined, don't forget that any digital marketing strategy must be a complete experience.
"If you are focused solely on email –Hubspot says- they (leads) probably aren't seeing the same targeted message they got from you in their inbox on your website.
Instead, they see many different, fragmented marketing messages and value propositions depending on where they go. At best, this kind of fragmentation is ineffective. At worst, it's a liability if you put special messaging or offers in front of specific audiences."
Anyway, it's always a good thing to talk about and learn from mistakes. Usually, they even work better than any example or study case.
Let's build a mistakes database for collaborative learning. Would you like to share or add some common mistakes you have experienced with marketing automation?