Four Tips for Marketing Automation Implementation

Why is breakfast the most important meal of the day? In short, because it helps ensure a good start to your day. It’s a short-term action that contributes to long-term success.

Similarly, a good start to using a marketing automation system can lead to great results down the line. With that in mind, here are four helpful tips for successfully implementing a marketing automation solution:

Choose Wisely

The first step in a successful implementation begins well before implementation itself. There are many factors to weigh when choosing a marketing automation solution, and the level of integration is critically important to consider. While some marketing automation platforms can be used without being connected to a CRM system, integration between the two solutions maximizes the power, effectiveness, and value of each throughout an organization. The level of integration can impact the cost and timeline for implementation, as well as the overall functionality, so be sure to select a marketing automation solution that works well with your 3E Business Development CRM.

Identify and Align Key Stakeholders

For optimal results, marketing automation implementation shouldn’t happen in a vacuum. From marketing to sales to IT to operations and beyond, identify the individuals within your organization who have a stake in the process. Be sure to include those who will be involved for the actual setup process and those who will be using and benefiting from the product down the line. The size of your implementation team will depend upon the size and structure of your organization, as well as what’s required to get your chosen marketing automation system up and running and whether you are migrating from another solution. Once your team is in place, create a high-level plan that documents each team member’s responsibilities and the timing of those actions so everyone is on the same page and can work toward the same goals.

Start Small

While features may vary according to the marketing automation system you are implementing, email marketing, campaign automation, forms and landing pages, surveys, web tracking, event management, SMS messaging, and more are all commonly included. With so many valuable tools suddenly at your fingertips, it may be tempting to start using all of them all at once. However, this can easily lead those who are using the system to feel overwhelmed right out of the gate. It can also often mean that users aren’t getting the most out of each feature because they haven’t taken the time to learn how to use it to its full potential. Instead, marketers and other key stakeholders should discuss and map out their priorities and begin using marketing automation features from there accordingly. Email marketing is the most common place for users to start, with many opting to connect their email campaigns to landing pages and forms shortly thereafter.

Utilize Resources

Don't do it alone when implementing a marketing automation system. The company whose solution you choose should provide a wide variety of resources to help get you started—and keep you going—including training and support. Since different users have different ways of learning and different schedules, when in the search process, look for a marketing automation vendor that offers a variety of training options such as live webinars, recorded courses, help articles, and blog posts. Similarly, support should be offered in different ways to suit your company’s needs and operating hours. Then, make sure that the users of your marketing automation system are aware of these resources and that they take advantage of them in order to have a smooth implementation and ongoing usage of the solution.