• MarTech Today
  • Sections
    • Ads
    • Marketing
    • Content
    • Sales
    • Analytics
    • Management
    • Resources
    • More
    • Home
  • MarTech Today
  • Ads
  • Marketing
  • Content
  • Sales
  • Analytics
  • Mgmt
  • Resources
  • More
  • Events
  • SUBSCRIBE

MarTech Today

MarTech Today
  • Ads
  • Marketing
  • Content
  • Sales
  • Analytics
  • Management
  • Resources
  • More
  • Events
  • Newsletters
  • Home
Martech: Marketing

How marketers should plan for implementing automation

Planning and goal-setting prior to implementation is key to success.

Rodric Bradford on October 14, 2020 at 1:00 pm
  • More

The status of marketing automation in martech stacks varies depending on the business. Some marketers are going into their second decade of automation, but may be considering moving to a different solution, while others involved in digital transformation to get started now. Regardless, of the level of expertise with automation, some universal best practices have to be implemented.

“A lot of it has to do with what channels are most important to you and what resources you have available to manage these channels and what technical resources you have to stitch platforms together,” said Justin Sharaf, VP of Marketing at Jahia Solutions, during a recent episode of MarTech Live. “You may have your marketing automation, you may have three or four other tools but if you can’t stitch them together you are not taking full advantage.” 

Planning for automation

“Automation can be a core function and be the brains [of the operation] or it can be the arm of a larger brain like a customer data platform,” said Sharaf. “Map out the customer experience first and figure out what you need to support that journey.” 

Mapping out the customer journey is required before successful implementation of automation. 

“You have to think about the customer experience you want to offer, more than just the tools you can use,” said Helen Abramova, marketing technology lead at Verizon i the same episode. “Goal-setting is also necessary in planning.” 

Abramova warns marketers not to judge automation tools based on successes for failures of use by competitors in the same industry, or even by different divisions of the same corporate enterprise. 

The most important goal of marketing automation implementation is to ensure the automation enhances the customer experience. Marketers also want to make sure increased automation does not decrease from efforts to measure touchpoint interactions. 

“Automation is key for both database marketers and digital marketers,” said Suneel Grover, SAS marketing AI and decision science architect at MarTech. “Both can have high automation that increases efficiency and the customer experience at the same time.”  

Timing of the task

Marketing automation as the foundation for marketing operations includes automation in campaigns, channels, engagement, promotions, sales and awareness outreach. However, the time required to implement marketing automation can vary from a few weeks to a few months. Mid-sized companies starting from scratch can expect the process to take one to three months. More complicated automation implementations can take from three to six months, while highly complex enterprise-wide automation implementations normally last between six months and one year. 

“The complicated implementations have a lot of integrations, use multiple languages and have thousands of emails to automate,” said Abramova. “Make sure you are meeting your basic needs regardless of the size of the implementation.” 

To make the process even more efficient, Abramova recommends marketing teams identify power users to help with automation implementation. Power users are stakeholders who understand the implementation from both macro and micro viewpoints, can comprehend data reports and easily identify inefficiencies in the automation process. 

Analytics as an answer

For Grover and SAS, the ‘secret sauce’ of implementing automation is analytics, and in particular, an Analytic Base Table. 

“An analytic base table is a combination of data attributes aggregated at the customer identity level that enable automated and customizable marketing AI,” said Grover. 

An Analytic Base Table includes: milestones reached, number of conversions, number of visitors in the last three, seven and 14 days, average length of visit, counts of pages per category and search terms used. 

“The best analytic results come with machine learning,” said Grover. “You have to keep analytics fresh with automatic [processes] for better automation.” 

Integration with other systems 

Integration issues have been minimized as major automation providers like Marketo and HubSpot have dramatically increased their integration capabilities in recent years. 

“They now have new niche tools to build integrations themselves, because they have to, they had no choice based on demand,” said Sharaf. “Integrating marketing automation platforms are easier these days, but it is still all about the architecture, data placement rules and content integration.” 

Abramova looks at automation implementation as a people-first process. “You need people, either internally or externally, who have [automation] experience,” she said. “No code or low-code integration really is not possible yet, so you need to rely on people who know what they are doing and have been there before.”


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech Today. Staff authors are listed here.



About The Author

Rodric Bradford
Rodric J. Bradford is the Editor of MarTech Today and has worked in the marketing technology industry as both a journalist and corporate project manager. Prior to joining MarTech Today Bradford served as Convention and Technology Beat Reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Business Press publication and worked as Technology Reporter for Global Gaming Business, the world’s largest casino publication. In the corporate world Bradford has served as Technology Project Manager for CNA, Cigna, General Dynamics and Philip Morris. Bradford is an alumnus of the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Related Topics

Channel: Martech: Marketing

Subscribe to receive daily martech news and expert insights. See terms.

Processing...Please wait.


We're listening.

Have something to say about this article? Share it with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Get the daily newsletter digital marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

Next Event: Sept. 14-15

Available On-Demand: March 2021

Available On-Demand: October 2020

×

Attend MarTech - Click Here


Learn More About Our MarTech Events

White Papers

  • Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms
  • Selecting a Customer Data Platform For Your Organization: The 2020 Gartner Market Guide
  • The Complete Guide to Web Core Vitals
  • The New Era of Automation in SEO
  • Nielsen Annual Marketing Report: Era of Adaptation
See More Whitepapers

Webinars

  • Drive Customer Engagement with the Power of Personalization
  • 7 Use Cases That Prove Why You Should Implement DAM
  • Accelerate Your SEO & Content Marketing Program with 4 Key Milestones
See More Webinars

Research Reports

  • Local Marketing Solutions for Multi-Location Businesses
  • Enterprise Digital Asset Management Platforms
  • Identity Resolution Platforms
  • Customer Data Platforms
  • B2B Marketing Automation Platforms
  • Call Analytics Platforms
See More Research

On-Demand Free Training

Receive daily martech news and analysis.

Channels

  • Advertising
  • Marketing
  • Content
  • Social
  • Commerce
  • Sales
  • Analytics
  • Management
  • Home

Our Events

  • MarTech
  • SMX

Resources

  • White Papers
  • Research
  • Webinars

About

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS

© 2021 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.