Recently had this conversation with a marketing head of a leading enterprise. He confessed that their Marketing Automation (MA) licenses are grossly underutilized, and the worse is, it misfires like a loose canon.
It is always the man behind the machine, and not just it. Reasons are many from strategy clarity, to skill levels, time availability, partial implementation, complexity of the tools, et al. The most common mishap is the bad segmentation and targeting. Imagine you as a buyer ordering vests, and the MA recommends you with undergarments options of the opposite gender!
Lack of time by the in-house marketers, with their busy schedules to get the next campaign going, is often cited as the reason for shelf-ware or bad practices. I keep wondering how data-driven those campaigns could be.
On the flip side of this, companies world over had projected an increase in investments on MA tools. It is no wonder that this killer app is the fastest growing CRM category.
Where are we heading to with this dichotomy? a Chaos?
If you are caught in this, either as an end user or a partner offering MA solutions, you ought to find a way to manage this chaos, and have clarity before investing.
A SlideShare show on: Chaos & Solution
The conversation I stated in the beginning, is in line with research surveys estimating the shelf-ware of marketing automation tools, closer to 80%. Either the licenses are not utilized, or used as a glorified email system. A marketing agency forum recently published a long list of bad MA habits that causes mishaps, and damages the brand. On the flip side, over 63% of companies have projected to increase their investments in marketing automation.
Most complex problems often have simple solutions, and this is not an exception. For an easy & quick read we are introducing this SlideShare that showcases the chaos and also a possible solution.
Enjoy the read and provide your comments and views. That is how our insights are deepened, and we learn together.
Here is another piece you may be interested to read on 9 steps to MA implementation, virtually.
Our thought leadership article on “Sins to confess while adopting MA” is scheduled for publish in PeerSphere mag of CMO council. Stay tuned & provide your email if you prefer to receive a copy once published.
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