There is no perfect marketing automation software that applies to all businesses across the board. Different marketing automation platforms have different elements, so some are better suited for some environments more than others. However before you invest, look out for these five top must-haves.

1.   Multi-channel capability
Leads stream into the sales funnels from varying sources and that is why multi-channel capability is important. Your system must have the ability to coordinate across the various channels and campaigns on many platforms. It should have the ability to handle social media, email, online and offline integration, and direct mail.

2.    Aggregate Information
Other than being able to coordinate data across different platforms, your automation system should also be able to aggregate that data in a way that helps you segment your customers and prospects into targeted groups. Successful marketing automation relies heavily on how data is collected and how it is used. 

3.    Lead scoring and nurturing
Once you get the data on your leads, the next critical question would be what to do with these leads. Do you understand their needs and how can you meet these needs? Your marketing automation tool should help you answer these questions. It should have the ability to perform lead scoring so that you know the sales-ready leads, it should also help with lead nurturing so that you guide your customers through their buying journeys, and it should have segmentation tools that allow you to tailor content to the customer's specific needs at that stage in the buying cycle. 

4.    Content Marketing
Content is a key aspect of implementing a successful marketing automation platform. A good platform must be content hungry. It should allow you to generate and cross-reference the content you create. Go for a system that allows you to monitor and customise information, gather data on an individual's profile and consumption, and one that allows you to generate content across various platforms. 

5.    Analytics
A good marketing automation platform allows you to access all your information in an easily accessible comprehensible format. It should have customisable dashboards and intuitive designs in analytics presentation. At a glance, you should be able to see data at an individual level, data pertaining the campaigns and overall data indicating performance. 

Making sure your marketing automation system has these five elements is one step towards successful implementation. It is, however, important to note that choosing the right automation system does not on its own guarantee success. Paying attention to the People and Process parts of the transformation plays a key role in determining whether your implementation will be successful or not.

Collagis is committed to helping businesses to drive sustainable and effective Marketing Automation transformation. Contact [email protected] to set up a time to discuss your business needs.

​Marketing automation gives businesses the chance to have meaningful interactions with their customers at pivotal moments. Automation must, however, be adapted in a strategic manner so that the change process is effective and seamless. Here are ten tips for effective marketing automation change.

1.    Define success
Before investing in a marketing automation system, you need to define marketing automation success. If it’s driving revenue, by how much? Clearly defining the success will help you implement the tool to get desired results.

2.    Focus on efficiency in content production
Content is the fuel that drives your marketing automation engine. From the very onset, have an idea of the content that will resonate more strongly with your clientele and potential customers.

3.    Reach a consensus on the lead scoring measures
Instead of just pursuing a great number of leads, have your sales and marketing teams agree on criteria to pursue leads with the greatest potential. That way, you increase the chance of increasing revenues since most of your leads will most likely give you business. 

4.    Take Total Cost Ownership seriously
In addition to the subscription fee you pay for your marketing automation system, there are other costs that you will incur from campaign design and activation among other days to day tasks. Keep money aside for these additional expenses; otherwise, your system might not give you the ROI you hoped for.

5.    Align your system with business strategy
Before implementing a marketing automation system, it is advisable that you take six to twelve months preparing for it and ensuring it is aligned to your business strategy. 

6.    Pay attention to content requirements
Generating content regularly is not enough. Periodically, you will need to carry out an audit to determine which content is current and valuable, irrelevant and outdated and what you can do to salvage the situation. 

7.    Work with your CRM
Your customer relationship management system should be integrated into the marketing automation system. This will help close the gap in creating new growth opportunities.

8.    Understand your business needs
It’s easy to get carried away by the hype of a marketing automation system but if it doesn’t meet your needs then it won’t achieve desired results. Understand what your business needs are and then research on the systems that can meet these needs. 

9.    Capitalise on the discovery workshop
Before implementing a marketing automation system, the vendor conducts a series of workshops with you to help you and your team members understand the system. This is critical because you are able to evaluate the need and efficiency of the system to your unique situation. 

10.    Assess, refine then rest
Implementation of marketing automation systems is continuous. You have to keep reviewing, refining and resetting periodically as the business environment changes. You might even have to change your entire marketing automation system if the one you’re using becomes outdated.

Collagis understands firsthand the challenges that come with change and that is why they are committed to walking the journey to support the implementation of  marketing automation with you and your team.  For more information about Collagis services, contact Sheree on [email protected]

Research shows that the adoption of marketing automation has increased by over 50% in the last year and is expected to grow exponentially within the next year. 

However, just like with any marketing platform, there are pitfalls that you can avoid when implementing a new marketing automation platform. These include: 

1.    Failure to align your marketing and sales

Research shows that businesses that fail to align their marketing and sales when adopting marketing automation often realise lower or even negative return on investment. This is tragic since marketing automation platforms are intended to help increase sales and ultimately profits for the company. 
Your sales and marketing teams should agree on lead definitions. The team leading your Marketing Automation implementation should be in constant communication with members from both Sales and Marketing. They should work through what constitutes a quality lead, expectations on lead volume and velocity and the type of leads Sales has the capacity and incentive to serve. The marketing team should also rely on constant feedback from sales, so as to use this information to create the ideal nurturing campaigns.

A good marketing automation software is not enough on its own. You will need the right sales and marketing teams working together for successful implementation.

2.    Assuming that a new platform will sort out all your issues

No matter how excellent a marketing automation platform is, it cannot make up for deficient internal processes. It’s an automated platform, not magic. A lot of effort has to be put into the marketing strategy and planning so that your implementation can be a success. 
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Since a marketing automation platform is a tool used by a long chain of individuals in a business, it is important that every individual in the chain does their job well so that overall success can be achieved. If any team member or groups of teams are slacking, irrespective of how sound the automation platform is, your business will not yield the desired results.

3.    Failure to produce up to date content that is relevant

Do not be deceived, content is a major component of marketing automation. The marketing content is what fuels your marketing automation platform so that it keeps going. Ensure that your automation platform is smoothly running by creating content that provides balanced information about the business and products and services offered. Including white papers, informative eBooks, research reports, infographics and other content is extremely valuable as well.

Watching out for this pitfalls is one step towards realising the successful implementation of marketing automation tools. However, let’s face it, it’s not as easy as black and white. That is why Collagis is dedicated to bringing your workforce effectiveness tools to the marketing automation transformation. Collagis will help make your marketing automation journey seamless and successful by bringing to your best practice change, program management toolkits, approaches, and processes, which they then customise to suit the needs of your business and to address the marketing automation challenges

Want to know more about how to effectively manage Marketing Automation change? For more information on Collagis and our services, email [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you.

Selecting the right marketing automation system can be gruesome. Changing or adopting a new marketing automation system is even more gruesome. When leaders decide to acquire a new marketing automation system, they should be effectively enabled to take their teams through the transition process as seamlessly as possible.

Leaders can be effectively enabled for the change by following these tips.

1.    Involve the main stakeholders in the decision process

Marketing automation systems are employed by several stakeholders in any business and involving them from the very onset of deciding on the best automation system is imperative. These stakeholders include sales, marketing, data and IT, who should all be involved in the selection process and implementation as well. They should be adequately trained on the system so that they are able to assist and oversee its implementation and use by teams.

2.    Prepare to migrate your marketing data properly

Leaders should ensure that their data is properly migrated into the new marketing automation platform. This will help ease the transition once the organisation starts using the marketing automation tools. It is common to find that some of the data is incomplete or of low quality.  A proactive approach to data strategy and management needs to be taken to ensure the data that moves into the new marketing automation system is relevant and useful. Otherwise, you put garbage in and you get garbage out.

3.    Prepare corresponding metrics and set goals for the transition

Leaders should proactively establish goals and then put together performance indicators that will be used to monitor how the team is progressing towards achieving set objectives. Changing into a new marketing automation system should not be rushed. It is a large project and it should be evaluated and adjustments made every step of the way so that the business gets the most from it.  Goals should be set with a realistic phasing, taken into consideration the time it will take to build and migrate programs and upskill the team.

4.    Engage IT in the transition process

Marketing leaders ought to work closely with their tech leaders when transitioning into a new marketing automation system. The process requires tech guidance from evaluation to deployment and maintenance. 

IT leaders can  help in developing a cost-benefit analysis for the services the automation system offers. 
IT professionals can also offer guidance on the best automation system to go for, customised to the organisations unique set of needs.  The biggest potential pitfall when it comes to switching marketing automation vendors involves issues with technology integrations. Addressing existing and unforeseen issues from the very onset can save the business a lot of time and money.

5. Identify Change Sponsors and Agents

Leaders and teams are often not effectively enabled to adopt and drive Marketing Automation Change. It is essential that leaders become sponsors of change, helping to create and communicate a vision for the future state and a compelling case for "why" change is required. Marketing teams are change fatigued, so leaders need to clearly demonstrate the "what's in it for me" for teams, and paint a picture of the future state that inspires action and adoption. Change agents within the team need to be identified and activated in order to embed the change.

Collagis recognises a gap exists between technology implementation and the effective embedding of people and process to support sustainable and effective MarTech change. Collagis can support your organisation in bringing best practice process change and program management toolkits and approaches to help enable Marketing Automation change. We can customise these to suit your unique needs and challenges  during marketing automation transition process.
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Want to know more about how to effectively manage Marketing Automation change? 
Contact Sheree on [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you.