This article was written by Ray Kemper, CMO of Televerde and published by Chief Marketer in June 2016. Chief Marketer serves marketing professionals at consumer and business-to-business brands, as well as their agencies, with rich, detailed information on measurable marketing strategies, tactics and techniques.
By Ray Kemper
What Springsteen Knew About B2BMarketing Automation
When Bruce Springsteen sang, “I just
want someone to talk to – and a little
of that human touch” he wasn’t
talking about marketing automation,
but he might as well have been.
YYes, really. Think about your marketing
automation systems. They need a
combination of human savvy and
technological automation to be
effective. In fact, if you’re not getting
the ROI you hoped for, your marketing
tech processes may need more of
the human touch than they’re getting.
There’s no doubt that marketing
technologies have had plenty of
marmarketers thinking, “I’m on fire.” They
offer so many great features to help
teams scale and personalize and
modify campaigns. But those very
benefits have led some leaders to
view marketing automation as the
perfect auto-pilot dream: digital
engagement and rising ROI without
much human intervention required.
That doesn’t cut it.
What Springsteen Knew About B2B Marketing Automation1
In fact, if you’re not getting the ROI you hoped for, your marketing tech processes may need more of the human touch than they’re getting.
Dancing in the Dark
MMarketers who let people take a
backseat to technology are going to
miss out on the most valuable part of
effective marketing: insight. Our
world has always been about one
person understanding what motivates,
challenges and satisfies another.
MarMarketers triumph when they connect
with the heart of the buyer’s day-to-
day needs. That’s why we study the
buyer’s journey; people’s decision-
making processes are complicated
and it takes skill and research to work
with them along the way.
Sure, marketing technologies are
great at helping marketers help
buyers. But while our tools excel at
automating tasks and serving up
data, they can’t handle the entire
buyer’s journey. Successful
conversions require the playbook
of human intervention.
AAfter all, turning a lead into a sale
rarely works without a real
cconversation. Want to gather insights
and build tailored solutions? That
takes more than broad demographic
data. Buyer decisions are based on a
number of factors, and can change
at the last moment. Navigating all of
the moments that go into a decision
is is tricky business.
So is creating the kind of loyalty
Springsteen fans are known to feel for
the man they call “The Boss.” Good
sales reps are known for their ability
to bond with their prospects, but
marketers also need to offer up the
connection and analysis only a
person—not a tool—can offer.
The Hungry Heart of Marketing Automation
Successfully identifying where, when
and how to incorporate the human
touch into your B2B marketing
pprograms requires some thought.
Consider the following touchpoints:
Successful marketing automation
starts with an experienced team
member researching the market and
buyer preferences. That means
rresearching, identifying and mapping
out buyer personas and understand-
ing the influences they experience
on their journey.
Writing and designing the
campaigns requires several people.
Templates are a start, but coming up
with the right element to get attention
requires a skilled marketing strategist.
Creating powerful copy and visual
design also requires a specific kind
of copywriting talent, if you want
content that dazzles your prospects.
Unearthing where prospects really
are in their buying decision can only
truly happen with a person-to-
pperson conversation. You’ll need a
sales development teleservices agent
to qualify your prospect in the funnel.
Many marketers think they can be
hands-off when it comes to the
mountains of data a marketing
aautomation system can collect. But
prioritizing metrics, interpreting data
and translating those numbers into
insights takes an experienced
marmarketing mind. For instance, one
metric might point to one conclu-
sion—but placed in context of an
overall data picture, the conclusion
changes. How do all of the numbers
fit together? Where do you need to
optimize and move forward? Which
campaigns are working and which
aren’t? No out-of-the-box report will
meet all of your needs, so you’ll need
to modify reports to answer the right
questions.
TThose are just a few critical touch-
points on the buyer’s journey where a
real, live person should step in and
guide the process. But the same
applies to the overall management
of your technology.
Consider all of your channels driving
activity. Again, there’s no software
that can view the sum of that
eengagement, as well as its parts, and
study them in terms of your sales and
services. Drawing those insights will
involve a marketing expert, analysis
and cross-team discussions.
What Springsteen Knew About B2B Marketing Automation2
Managing the technology is also
critical. Implementing the platform
and figuring out how it integrates with
the company’s existing tech stack
requires someone with strategic
fforesight on what the team needs to
get out of the tech. You’ll need to
decide how it connects sales to
customer service, to other teams and
how your processes align with the
content strategy.
The Glory Days of MMarketing Technology
Implementing marketing automation
is not a one–and-done process. They
may be “Born to Run” on their own,
but someone will need to monitor all
of these factors on an ongoing basis,
from managing data fields to
ppartnering the campaign strategy with
the platform’s features. This takes
complete, dedicated management.
Take that human element away and
your buyers will feel it and be less likely
to convert.
So the next time you brainstorm
wways to improve your marketing
automation results, crank up the Best
of Springsteen first. It’ll be a good
rreminder that the human touch is a
big part of reaching your marketing
automation goals, and getting the
most out of your investment. By
combining your people and your
tech, you might just find yourself in
the “Tunnel of Love” with regard to
yoyour marketing programs.
Call us about driving more sales
opportunities with marketing
automation.
televerde.com 888-787-2829
Consider all of your channels driving activity. Again, there’s no software that can view the sum of that engagement, as well as its parts, and study them in terms of your sales aand services. Drawing those insights will involve a marketing expert, analysis and cross-team discussions.
What Springsteen Knew About B2B Marketing Automation3
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