Remember when you first rode a bike? That was exciting yet scary.
You probably fell a few times before you learned to master it. And that’s what being human is—to fail, learn, and rise again. It’s not so different in the professional realm.
There are so many ways to implement marketing automation, and somewhere along the way—you could commit a mistake or two. This beginner’s guide compiles a list of 10 such errors and solutions to avoid them.
As the name suggests, marketing automation is all about automating your marketing strategy’s activities, processes, and campaigns. It allows you to reach thousands (even millions for large businesses) of customers via text, social media messages, or emails.
Now, it’s time to talk about the first mistake:
#1. Losing the ‘Human’ Touch
Losing the human touch is one of the most dreadful marketing automation mistakes you could make as a marketer or business owner.
Your customers are still humans, not bots. According to Forbes, 70% of millennials feel frustrated when brands send them irrelevant emails. And, about 74% of them don’t feel happy with website content that lacks the human touch.
Use a white glove approach and try to humanize marketing automation by:
- Bringing in human representatives who can directly address specific concerns
- Using mobile apps to offer personalized information
- Creating engaging content based on the likes & dislikes of your audience
This brings us to the second marketing automation mistake:
#2. Spamming People’s Inboxes
Consider this. You’re searching for a new home. While browsing through online listings, a real estate website requires you to log in through your email address to download a brochure. But this was the beginning of a nightmare.
You’re now bombarded with emails. Every. Single. Day.
What would your next step be?
You’ll likely block that email address for good.
No wonder 78% of people unsubscribed from spammy emails, as reported in a HubSpot survey. It’s easy to schedule emails through marketing automation software, but get this: people aren’t always looking to buy from you immediately.
And even if they were, the constant emails would turn them off. You need to take it slow, nurture your leads with care, and limit your daily/weekly promotional emails.
#3. Not Creating an Inbound Lead Generation Plan
What would it be if you had to sum up the main purpose of marketing automation?
Three words: inbound lead generation
You might have the best Martech, but without an inbound lead generation strategy, you’re just firing shots in the dark. In fact, without a strategy in place, you may not even recover your initial investment in the technology.
And taking shortcuts like buying an email list will not cut it. It would only bring unqualified leads to your sales funnel.
Instead, you need to publish insightful blog posts, social media content, create beautiful landing pages, and place strategic call-to-actions in your marketing material to attract high-quality leads, and in turn, boost your business.
#4. Never Revisiting Your Automation Workflows
Did you know that implementing marketing automation led to an average 451% jump in qualified leads for businesses in 2020?
Sounds incredible! But notice the keyword here: ‘implementation’ – that’s the hard part. Marketing automation is not a one-and-done thing. Your job doesn’t end with the deployment of Martech.
It only begins there. Over time, your entire marketing strategy may change. You’d then need to review your automation workflows and readjust them to align with your current strategy. That’s where the success lies.
#5. Not Taking It “One Step at a Time”
Many small business owners commit this marketing automation mistake.
They start with a ‘grand’ plan and automate almost everything possible. But, sadly, they meet with disappointment sooner than later. As a recent YouTube video by Keap rightly points out, instead of directly implementing step 99, start small and begin with the first step.
What could that be?
Setting up an automated follow-up for a single email.
Spend some time perfecting the email content and workflow and see if it resonates with your target audience. Once you successfully execute your first small project, you can implement more significant campaigns.
#6. Underutilizing Its Potential
Say you’ve purchased a MacBook. But so far, all you’ve done with it is store some documents. So isn’t it a massive waste of a powerful machine that can also be used to run editing software, graphic design software, play action-packed games, and so much more?
It’s the same with marketing automation. You’re missing out on a lot if you’re only using it for email marketing automation.
Listed below are other applications:
- Send trigger-based marketing messages on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
- Integrate information from various touchpoints, including direct marketing, website, and social media. This allows you to score and prioritize your leads.
- Send your qualified leads to CRM and nurture them.
- Leverage analytics to further improve your automation workflows
If you wish to learn about marketing automation applications, this article by Salesforce is gold.
#7. Not Utilizing Predictive Analysis
Despite predictive analytics being the most beneficial feature of marketing automation, very few business owners utilize it. Unfortunately, only 12% of them leverage predictive analytics to optimize their automation workflows.
Not leveraging the analytics is like buying a MacBook to write a novel but using a typewriter instead. It’s highly inefficient. A typewriter won’t have the best authoring tools available in the market today, but your MacBook will.
You get the idea!
8. Incorporating Poor Copy
What’s the use of automation if the marketing copy cannot deliver its message?
Not everything can be automated yet. But writing a good copy is an indispensable part of the marketing process. Using online tools to generate automated marketing copy, you end up with poor, spun, or uninspiring content.
These tools aren’t yet equipped with the intelligence needed to study your target audience, embed emotions, and write a copy that can build your brand’s tribe. This is why 64% of B2B marketers choose to outsource their copywriting needs instead of compromising them.
Others hire in-house copywriters for the same reason.
9. Forgetting About Accountability
Technology doesn’t make decisions independently. There has to be someone in your organization responsible for overseeing all the activities within the marketing automation.
No internal ownership or accountability can lead to failure. The person chosen should know the ins and outs of the technology, encourage others to learn and adapt it, and facilitate positive outcomes through its implementation.
If you don’t have someone like that in your organization, you can even hire Martech consulting services—whatever floats your boat!
#10. Not Testing Your Campaigns
How can you obtain and compare results without testing?
Deploying your campaigns and never testing them will set you up for failure. The A/B testing, for example, lets you create two versions of the same campaign and then compare the results afterward. Moreover, you can also test your campaign to see how they perform on various devices.
Conclusion
By familiarizing yourself with the abovementioned marketing automation mistakes, you can carve your path towards success and take your business to new heights!
