Not All Marketing Automation is Created Equal

Do you know what features to look for when researching marketing automation programs? It can be easy to be fooled by some technology on the market being called marketing automation. Often times these programs are nothing more than automated email services with added CRM features. Yes, these programs may have similar options as other MA technologies but are they really the same? As you shop for the right marketing automation technology, keep in mind the five fundamental components that will help you weed out the bad apples and find the technology that is truly marketing automation.

Look for these key features:

1. Website Visitor ID
2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
3. Behavior Analytics
4. Email Automation
5. Campaign Optimization

Look for these 5 Fundamental Marketing Automation Features

Marketing Automation comes in all shapes and sizes but without the fundamental features listed below, the technology you are looking into may not truly be marketing automation. We say this, not because we’re partial to marketing automation but because we want you make an informed decision. After all, this is a big step toward helping your business reach a higher level of success.

1. Website Visitor ID 
   Visitor ID is the most essential piece to the marketing automation puzzle. Without this feature, you will have no way of identifying the individuals that visit your website. Marketing automation allows you to create a unique profile for every user with information collected during the first interaction and all other interactions that follow. Your marketing team will then have a clear picture of who they are nurturing.
2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
   CRM programs on their own are a good way to record customer contact information but when integrated with marketing automation technology, you’ll be able to see so much more. The added CRM feature allows you to track ALL interactions with prospects, both manually and digitally while also having the opportunity to manage their individual campaign participation. Through this, your sales team will clearly see where prospects are in the sales process and your marketing team can nurture leads with the appropriate content.
3. Behavior Analytics
   This marketing automation feature is pretty cool and one you would really miss out on if you choose a technology other than MA. With behavior analytics, you will see a detailed timeline of all actions your prospects have carried out with your website, emails, social channels and more. From the information provided, you can further personalize campaign messages to fit the needs of your prospects.
4. Email Automation
   Marketing automation’s email service has many capabilities, including the ability to allow your marketing messages to align directly with the stages in your sales funnel. Your emails can be personalized, relevant and timely, based off triggered actions performed by individual prospects. Detailed email delivery reports come standard with many MA technologies, allowing you to measure prospect engagement.
5. Campaign Optimization
   Having the option to see the outcome of your campaigns is essential in understanding their effectiveness and proving your ROI. With campaign analytics, A/B tests for messaging and activities is a reality. Having the ability to track and test all marketing campaigns is an important feature that allows for more effective optimization.

Don’t be Fooled by Marketing Automation Impersonators

It can be easy to get lost in all of the options you have when searching for the right marketing automation technology. Make yourself a checklist and if the proposed software doesn’t checkout, move on to the next! If you feel overwhelmed just from the thought of beginning your search, give Biznet Digital a call at 248-560-9000 or shoot us an email, our marketing automation experts are here to answer any questions that may arise. For those of you that are one stop closer to making a decision, before you do so, take our FREE Marketing Automation Health Check today to see how ready you are at implementing the right MA software.