Introduce Marketing Automation: Three steps to the first campaign

The fact that the already complex and sometimes lengthy customer journey of decision-makers is increasingly shifting to the internet is putting companies under considerable pressure. As a company, it is more important than ever to be involved in the decision-making process at an early stage and to support and manage this process with measures that are targeted and individually tailored to the potential customer. This is where marketing automation comes in with an appropriate tool. This makes it possible to analyze interested parties or customers based on their profile data and their clicking and reading behavior. With the knowledge gained from this, messages can be personalized and relevant content can be created - and played out automatically.

Introducing marketing automation

In order to establish marketing automation in a company, it is not advisable to start with the technology, but rather to begin with the processes. In detail: The approach referred to as the "technology path" involves automating existing processes with the help of suitable software - with subsequent optimization and increased efficiency of the processes. The introduction of marketing automation on the "process path", on the other hand, involves first optimizing processes and making them more efficient. These are then implemented using an automation tool. This is not only more effective, but also saves resources. Because only when the goal of processes and measures is clear can they be implemented effectively and efficiently. This also applies to each individual campaign, which can be created and implemented in a targeted manner thanks to marketing automation. You can launch an automated campaign in just three steps.

Step 1: Design your campaign in a targeted manner

First of all, the departments involved, such as marketing and sales, must agree on a common goal for the campaign. This - such as generating and qualifying leads or tapping into cross-selling and upselling potential with existing customers - determines the design of the campaign. It is also important to formulate where exactly the target point is for the respective prospect or customer: Is it downloading certain content, calling the sales department or requesting a demo version or product sample? The next step is to jointly define the steps required to achieve this goal:

• How does the decision-making process typically work?
• What helps the customer or prospective customer make a decision?
• What information does he need and when?

Visualize the campaign on a pinboard or whiteboard. You can then move and vary individual elements until the desired result is available as a roadmap. In addition, everyone can always see what the company is trying to achieve.

Step 2: Model the structure of your campaign carefully

Once you are clear about the goal and the way to achieve it, you need to model the campaign in detail - in the way that a prospect or customer might go through it. Play through the possible progressions within the campaign and check them for completeness and logic.

• What triggers are there for which measure (e.g. mailing)?
• How many levels and at what intervals are needed to reach the campaign goal?
• Do you need different campaign strands depending on the recipient's behavior?
• When and why should a campaign end?
• Which content in which format (e.g. e-mail, use case, white paper, video...) is required?

Allow sufficient time for this step. If you plan the campaign carefully first, you will save yourself the effort of having to make changes during or after the technical implementation.

Step 3: Implement the campaign in the system, test it and make success measurable

Once the conception phase has largely been successfully completed and all elements have been created, such as mailing texts, download content, landing pages and download forms, you can implement the campaign in the marketing automation tool. A comparison with the whiteboard or pinboard helps to ensure that nothing is overlooked. Also define relevant key performance indicators (KPIs), such as bounce rates, conversion rates, open and click rates, which you can use to evaluate the individual elements and the campaign as a whole with regard to your objectives. Carry out several test runs with the technologically structured campaign along the various campaign strands. If everything runs according to plan and without errors, nothing stands in the way of the campaign launch.

Conclusion

Marketing automation is a process that brings about change throughout the company: not only can marketing and sales processes be made more efficient, but the entire customer communication can also be raised to a higher level. The first campaign should not be created with the expectation that it must be as comprehensive as possible and perfect down to the smallest detail. It is better to start with small campaigns, simple logics and few steps. The more campaigns a company successfully implements, the steeper the learning curve and the easier it is to increase the complexity of the campaigns.