Marketing automation is a topic that can be both exciting to dive into and overwhelming. Often both at the same time.
ActiveCampaign are the experts on marketing automation and CRM’s – we asked Adam Tuttle, Director of Sales (APAC) to share some of his knowledge so you can learn to use and optimise it in your own business.
No matter your experience level with marketing automation, I believe there are a few practices that can continually be done to optimize the overall results you see.
Here are 5 of the top things I believe should be done no matter the size of your organization or team. If you are a seasoned veteran of marketing automation or totally new to the game, these optimization points are valid.
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1. Identify your marketing automation needs:
One of the most common mistakes I see people make when they implement or manage a marketing automation strategy is that they don’t take time to identify their individual needs. Rather they rely on “experts” to tell them what they need to do.
In my opinion, these should be viewed as a directional guidepost rather than explicit truth. Each business is unique and the needs of that business equally unique. Take the time to identify and the true needs you are trying to address when using marketing automation. This will give so much more focus to the overall process.
2. Set 1-3 goals at a time:
Often marketers (especially those new to marketing automation) try to do too many things at once. What often ends up happening is an overall result that is mediocre. Spreading yourself to thin with goals ends up hurting the results long term in addition to diluting the focus to get tasks accomplished.
Creating goals in batches tends to create more focus on those goals as well as helping you prioritize what really needs to be done now vs the future. Additionally, pacing goal intentionally, allows you to start measuring results and setting future goals based on the knowledge gained instead of constantly changing a massive set of automations because it was all built before being able to test results.
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3. Test, test, and then test again
Often times I see marketers get everything set up, turn it on and then once they (sometimes) make sure it’s running, never touch it again. Although that sounds great in theory, the issue is simple. Lack of testing often leads to failure.
Through testing, I find marketers often refine their process for true optimization. Many times at ActiveCampaign we have customers come into our support channels with a massive problem that could have been avoided through proper testing. Marketing automation systems are complex at times and it’s easy to make mistakes with logic in the workflows. Proper testing will allow for a much more stress-free launch of any new automation.
4. Review regularly
There are two aspects to this:
1. Have peers review your work:
I’ve built hundreds (maybe thousands) of automations since 2013 when I started working with them and am very confident in my work. However, every new automation, no matter how simple or complex gets reviewed by at least one person if not two or three.
Why? Because I’m human and make mistakes. I also want to ensure I did not over complicate the process. Sometimes even though my method works, it is not the best way to accomplish my goal.
2. Set times to review the entire process:
Most people who use ActiveCampaign are continually adding new automations. So, I recommend setting up regularly scheduled review (e.g. monthly, quarterly, etc) just to make sure anything new aligns with automations you’ve built in the past.
You might find that the process in the present time has been refined and automations you’ve built in the past are no longer relevant. Turn those off and move on. It is important to be aware of what is happening at all times. Especially if you have multiple parties involved in building automated sequences. It is critical that all parties involved are on the same page about what is going on at all times.
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5. Document:
Make sure you document what you are doing, why you are doing it and where it’s at. The more complex you build out your systems it is important to keep track of what is actually going on. Yes, most marketing automation systems give you ways to label and organize your automations. No, this does not usually provide all of the needed information.
I personally prefer Google Sheets or Airtable to document all processes. It also makes auditing and reviewing much easier when taking the time to review.
Lastly, documenting adds an extra layer of security if something were to happen to the person to does much of the building.
If they were to get ill or leave the company it can be extremely difficult to pick up the pieces of their work. Having a structure ensures that anyone trying to step in will at least have a place to start.
To find out more about how you can automate your systems and marketing, contact the team at ActiveCampaign!
