Marketing Automation - 3 Points to Consider

If you’re planning on joining us in person or virtually for our Marketing Automation Workshop tomorrow, here are a couple of things to consider while Adam and I share our insights:

• Don’t get scared off by the martech talk – we’re at a crossroads and we know that sticking with the status quo isn’t enough. Marketing tactics that worked just a couple of years ago aren’t producing the same results which means you’re feeling the pressure to explore new digital marketing avenues. This type of change isn’t bad – it’s just the acceptance that as an association marketer you have to approach your fundamental premise from a new direction. Understanding the value of marketing automation, and how you would apply it means that you do have to go down that path of understanding how marketing and technology work together. This view of “martech” isn’t as intimidating as it sounds, but it does require understanding why you might be asking your IT team to implement javascript code on a digital property, or why a CNAME entry needs to be made. Don’t get caught up in the “how” but focus on the “why” – this in turn will empower you to understand how all the pieces fit together and give you the ability to make the case for why your team needs to head in that particular direction.
• Remember this is more than just email – pay attention to the definitions we put out there. Since we’ve all mastered the art of multi-tasking, there is a tendency to use terms that seem to be interchangeable, or all encompassing, but that actually mean very specific things. Inbound marketing is not the same as content marketing, and marketing automation isn’t the same as email automation. Ensuring that we’re all using the same lingo will again help you build the case to your colleagues as to what you want to do and how you’re going to roadmap your plan.
• You’re not alone, so don’t feel like you have to conquer the world of Marketing Automation on your own – You’ve likely become used to being the Jack or Jill of all trades – we’ve all been there. Sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and correct some HTML, or hunt down an image and re-size it. But you shouldn’t ever feel like you have to master a digital marketing topic on your own. Malcom Gladwell noted that you could become that expert if you spent 10,000 hours focused on the task that you wanted to master – well ok, but do you have that kind of time? Associations are notorious for hunkering down and focusing on the Do-It-Yourself model – if you have the luxury of time, that’s great. But in the real world, with demanding users, short product life cycles and multiple channels requiring attention, does that make sense? As we go through our worksheets, you’ll see how all the pieces fit together and hopefully it’ll become clear where your time should be focused and what you really do need to master. The corporate world is very effective in identify the cost of time allocation – hence the presence of digital agencies – it might be time to adopt this very effective practice for your own roadmap.