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.
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