Common Marketing Automation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Digital marketing is all the craze these days, that too for a good reason. Businesses are investing heavily in digital marketing tactics including (and not limited to) PPC, SEO, and email marketing for a substantial increase in profits.

If you haven’t thought about marketing automation, then the simple fact that its adoption rate has increased substantially, with a quarter of B2B Fortune 500 companies already utilizing marketing automation to their benefit should get you thinking. But just like any idea, there are always going be to be pros and cons that need to be taken into account to prevent it from backfiring on you in the long run.

Keeping this in mind, here are some common mistakes to be wary of, and how you can avoid them.

Intimidation by Marketing Automation

There’s no shame in admitting that marketing automation can be intimidating at first. It is no different from how you would feel when you get a new car, packed with state-of-the-art features.

Once you get the hang of your new car, you will eventually feel more comfortable about driving it. The very same case applies to marketing automation as well. The new features will intimidate you, but once you get past your initial fears, you will realize you can’t do without it, considering all that it has to offer.

Marketing automation consists of an ever-growing list of features ranging from lead to resource management, and it will not stop anytime soon. This can make the solution seem a lot more complicated than it already is, considering how businesses would assume training would be required to make the best of existing and new features.

As accurate as this may be, marketing automation manages to open the door to new possibilities, allowing businesses to ascend like never before. In this case, the pros of integrating marketing automation outweigh the cons, more specifically the additional investment required regarding money and time for training programs to stay ahead of the curve.

Solution: Just like new any new technology, you have to take baby steps to get accustomed to its workings. Once you learn how to use a specific feature, move to the next one, and so on and so forth.

Rather than shying away from marketing automation, consider it to be your greatest ally. Have fun and play with the different features until it becomes second nature to you.

Zero Strategy Deployment

The only way any company can possibly thrive and expand is by having an effective strategy. According to a study by Marketo, 34% of 500 B2B marketers surveyed in 2014 did not have a plan in the first place!

Solution: If your business lacks a comprehensive written strategy, it is about time you start by hiring an expert. Unfortunately, there is no other way to overcome this problem. It is an investment that your business just cannot do without. If you do hire an expert, you will always have a second opinion to count on. Even if you prefer developing and implementing your own strategies, an expert will ensure you are headed in the right direction.

Lack of a Reporting System

Decision makers and executives mostly invest in marketing automation to benefit from real-time insights. However, they are not utilizing existing reporting systems to their fullest potential.

The most popular features of marketing automation systems comprise of analytics, data management and lead nurturing. In reality, an astounding 52% of users believe that they are pointless and depend on simpler reporting systems instead. In fact, these users will rely on inefficient reporting systems that comprise of meetings, which are not necessarily required by productive teams, and the management serving as judge, jury, and executioner; without taking statistics into account.

Solution: Believe it or not; mobile applications, integrations, and automated reporting systems can help you find out more about your target audience. It also offers in-depth details about your business regarding overall performance and sales. Consider the possibility that a delay in response to an inquiry could lead to a loss of sale. With better reporting tools and faster responses, your business will benefit from higher sales.

No Testing

Businesses fail to realize that trial and error is the most effective way of increasing revenue. There is absolutely no room for error unless you want to lose out to your competition.

Even though there is a considerable amount of information available for A/B testing, not all of it is going to be applicable.

For instance, you will come across numerous tips on improving your content strategy, but suggestions like having a formal tone and a considerable amount of statistics will be counterintuitive if your content needs to be interactive. You need to focus more on employing basic practices with the right audience for the best possible results since failing to conduct tests with the right audience can lead to vague and mixed results.

Solution: When doing anything, even something as simple as sending emails to your target audience, you should create two separate campaigns to evaluate which one does better. You can test different aspects of emails, like the CTA or the subject line, to come to a thorough conclusion regarding a strategy that works best for your business. But remember; keep things as simple as you can possibly can to ensure marketing automation does not overwhelm you.

No Long-Term Plan

If you are using marketing automation because everyone is doing it, you are making a terrible mistake. Agreed, you may lose out to the competition, but that won’t be the case if you have a clear vision. Unless you have a long-term plan, marketing automation will not work in your favor.

For instance, if you have started using marketing automation without an effective content strategy, chances are you will not attract enough leads to your website, which means the ROI for your marketing automation platform will be at an all-time low.

Solution: As traumatizing as it may seem, the answer to this problem is fairly simple – take a step back. Before jumping right into it, develop and implement different strategies to see what works for your business. You can try different approaches; including writing interactive blogs, using social media platforms and even something as simple as optimizing your website. The idea here is to build a solid foundation for your marketing automation platform beforehand.

Relying Solely on Different Tools

Most marketers are able to use different tools and strategies to their advantage. But too much of anything is not always a good thing. Take for instance how while brainstorming, different ideas are noted down on a whiteboard. 10 of the top ideas are then inputted into a spreadsheet, while the remainders are used to create an online flowchart. What this will mainly do is complicate things, more than they already are. The ideas will just end up sitting there, being of no use to anyone.

Solution: Under no circumstance can you make such a mistake with marketing automation. Rather than investing in different tools, get an all-in-one marketing automation platform instead. This will save you a considerable amount of time, which can be spent elsewhere for greater productivity. It is just that simple.

Over Thinking Excessively

Overthinking excessively is to be expected when it comes to exploring a variety of possibilities for marketing automation. Before you delve deeper into customer psychology, do keep in mind you won’t be the first to have come up with this tactic, or any tactic for that matter. You need to understand and realize that marketing automation relies on the ‘80/20 rule of marketing’. What this essentially means is that a majority of conversions will solely be the result of 20% of the initial efforts put forward.

Solution: There is no denying the fact you will lose time thinking about different variables to reach your target audience. At the same time, altering templates will do no favors either, and can possibly backfire; causing potential leads to abandon a purchase for receiving the wrong content piece. Do follow your brand’s tone, personalize your content, but do not spend too much time coming up with innovative ways for positive results.

Now that you know some of the common marketing automation mistakes and how to avoid them, you will become successful in no time. Do not let these and other marketing automation mistakes from holding you back, learn and adapt accordingly to allow your business to reach new horizons.