1 – Set quantifiable objectives

The starting point for any strategy must involve setting the goals to be achieved. In addition to overall marketing objectives, it is crucial to set automation objectives. What by when?

2 – Embrace to benefits of automation

Marketing automation should eliminate repetitive tasks, reduce time and costs, facilitate superior decision making and ultimately maximise profits by lowering overheads and maximising revenues

3 – Identify the opportunities

What aspects of your business are best suited to automation? Identify the products and services for which you want to achieve cost savings and superior returns through automation.

4 – Define your target audiences

For each of the opportunities prioritised, identify as precisely as possible the primary and secondary target audiences to focus your resources on these groups.

5 – Understand audience personas

Understand as well as possible the personas within your primary and secondary target audiences considering how those different personas might influence purchase behaviour

6 – Map the customer journey by persona and opportunity

Map or document the customer journey for each persona, establishing the current purchase process for each – along with changes you might incorporate to make that journey more effective

7 – Identify critical touchpoints

Document all of the existing touchpoints for each persona in the current customer journey and the potential for additional touchpoints that might enhance conversion rates

8 – Identify optimal engagement at each touchpoint

Determine what form of engagement is most appropriate at each customer touchpoint both in terms of mode and media. Also, consider what messaging is most important at each touchpoint

9 – Engage all relevant personnel

Review the work to date with all members of both the marketing and sales teams to ensure it is accurate and optimal. A collaborative approach will almost certainly deliver better results.

10 – Identify repetitive tasks

Identify in the optimal customer journey all of the repetitive tasks and the other functions that might better be addressed by software than by human beings

11 – Review technologies that can address repetitive tasks

Use a Google search to identify which of the 100 plus software options might best meet your automation requirements, giving due consideration you the available budgets and expertise

12 – Identify critical decisions and data

Identify the crucial marketing decisions you have to make in implementing the best possible marketing strategy. Then identify the data needed to facilitate ethical decision making

13 – Identify available data

Identify the data that is currently available (both light and dark) and the additional data that might be available given optimal systems.

14 – Define the optimal data presentation

Determine how the data required for effective decision making might best be analysed and presented such that it can facilitate effective decision making

15 – Review technologies that can automate data processing

Use Google to identify the software options available for processing data and resenting it as you require. Identify which of the 100+ packages might best suit your needs

16 – Consider commonalities

Perhaps with the help of a consultant review the outcomes of steps 10 and 14 to determine packages that might address multiple needs – reducing the number you need

17 – Identify other software interfaces

Sit down with your IT team or consultants to identify where new software will need to interface or rely on existing software and how these interfaces might best be achieved

18 – Document marketing automation strategy

Pull it all together, using the information gathered to develop a marketing automation strategy that fully integrates with your overall marketing strategy and delivers on the objectives

19 – Monitor efficiency and effectiveness

Closely monitor the effectiveness of the strategy and the performance of each software package in terms of contributing to the achievement of the objectives

20 – Review strategy quarterly and refine

Undertake a quarterly review of the marketing automation strategy with a view to fine-tuning it as required. Undertake an annual strategy update, taking into consideration new software options.