10 Tip Guide To Check If You Are Prepared For Marketing Automation

As the marketing automation market grows and the more companies implement these solutions, the question is up: when will be your turn to do the same? That’s what we will find out! So, first things first: do you have all it takes to begin your marketing automation implementation? If you’re not sure what to answer, don’t worry, we are here to help you out! Together, we will review everything you need to go through to prepare for marketing automation and to make the best decision for your business.

Take that step

At this stage, you are most likely already thinking about implementing a marketing automation solution, right? You wouldn’t come this far if you did not have any interest. Then, the first thing I will tell you is for you to go ahead and implement it!

Don’t let last-minute doubts, content roadblocks, or the extra work it will take, delay, or even stop you from making this decision. Choose to see these doubts and questions about your automation implementations as a moment of introspection and reflection on your business. Besides, keep in mind that you won’t have to walk alone on this journey, as you can (and should) have by your side a trusted consultancy partner.

All settled? Let’s go ahead and get started! To begin with, let’s make a self-assessment of your marketing team and processes! This step will help you understand the areas that your marketing automation platform should impact and, surely, improve.

Self-assessment: Marketing Automation – READY?

1. How did the need for marketing automation first begin?

You may want to bet on marketing automation platforms for several reasons. Here are some of the most common ones pointed out when this question is asked: the desire to strengthen future marketing strategies or to go deep into the digital marketing world, the need to start focusing on lead nurturing and qualification processes, better understand how to interact with customers, among others. So, before continuing, try to answer this: what really motivated you to invest in marketing automation?

2. What do you want to achieve by implementing a marketing automation tool?

We always have a purpose for our actions. So, what are your goals when opting for implementing a marketing automation platform? To answer this question you have to think not only about short-term goals but also about long-term objectives. Thus, let me advise you to think about the future of your company’s marketing, where do you see it, how do you conceive the path to get there, and how automation may help.

3: Which teams in your company will use the new marketing automation tool and how will the tool ease their lives?

To prepare for marketing automation is very important that you understand who will use the platform, how will the users be affected by the tool, and how will the implementation process be managed. This analysis is halfway to a conscious decision and a good implementation of your new system. Keep in mind that this pre-work is key to get your teams motivated and enthusiastic about the new tool.

4. Which strategies does your marketing team use?

In order to better understand where your new marketing automation tool may be most impactful, you must know which are your core marketing strategies and campaigns. Among them, you may find: e-mail marketing, webinars, paid ads such as Google Ads, live events, among others. After finding the answer to this question, you will easily choose the best marketing automation platform that suits your business.

5. What is the importance of email marketing in your marketing strategy?

Since we have talked about marketing strategies, here’s one I would like you to think about more in-depth, which is email marketing. In fact, email marketing is a very hard-working strategy, which often requires specific tools. So, in case you use and abuse of these forms of marketing campaigns, prepare to implement a marketing automation solution able for that purpose. Fortunately, there are many of them in the market. The best, from my point of view, is Salesforce Pardot, a platform that focuses on email marketing and lead qualification.

6. How do you measure the success of your marketing campaigns?

Not only is important to establish marketing goals but is also important to be able to measure those goals. Thus, before implementing a marketing automation tool, you have to think about the aims of your business when it comes to marketing, this is, your marketing KPIs, and only then think about how a marketing automation platform may help you achieve them. For that purpose, think about your company’s situation today, how you currently define and measure objectives, and how you would like to improve the way you measure them and their values.

7. Which platforms are you using to generate leads?

Lead generation is key for successful digital marketing strategies, particularly, inbound ones. So, to prepare for marketing automation you should look introspectively at your lead generation process. Truly understand what is being done at the moment and find points you would like to improve with the new marketing platform. This will be a crucial step for choosing the right tool and getting to a conscious final decision.

8. How does your marketing-to-sales lead process work?

For leads to pass from marketing to sales, they have to go through a qualification process. Therefore, it is very important to analyze the process of marketing-to-sales lead handoff to understand how and what should be prioritized and improved when implementing your marketing automation tool.

9. Is your team ready? Do they have the right skillset?

So, you have chosen which teams will use the new marketing automation tool. Now, the question at stake is: are they ready to use it? To answer this question you have to list the skills needed to operate the new platform. My advice here is for you to remember that different marketing tools demand different skills. Some may require basic code notions, others may imply you have a strong analytical basis, others may be rather straightforward to learn… Therefore, when selecting your marketing automation tool, I believe you should try to pair the skills needed and the skills your team possesses.

10. Are you selecting the right Marketing Automation Platform?

So, after all the previous analysis, we have come to this moment: to choose the right marketing automation tool. During its selection, consider the features it includes, the areas it covers, the skills needed to operate it, its pricing, the partners available to implement it with you, among other aspects we have referred to you in this post. If at the end of this exercise you still unsure which tool to go for, we are here to help and guide you in your choice, considering your needs and investment!

All done?

Nice! You surely do have a lot to consider before kicking off your new marketing automation implementation! Besides, now you must have a good idea of what you want and what you need before starting this new adventure. I hope the above topics have given you the tools you need to make a conscious decision, knowing that you and your team are ready for this new challenge.

Nevertheless, if you still need a second opinion or if you still have some doubts about what marketing automation tool that will best fit your company, get in touch with us and we will be happy to help you.

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