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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