Comments on: Marketing Automation: Like Bringing a Gun to a Knife Fight

By: webbiqu1

webbiqu1 — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:58:35 +0000

Thanks for the comment and the link Paul, your post is right on target.

By: Paul McKeon

Paul McKeon — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:20:02 +0000

Enjoyed your observation that without alignment between marketing and sales–especially if sales reps get comped on the number of phone calls they make–marketing automation will be an expensive toy.

Automated marketing programs are also hungry for compelling content–without it, your “gun to a knife fight” analogy is even more fitting. I blogged along the same lines last week at http://bit.ly/cFo1Y4.

By: webbiqu1

webbiqu1 — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:57:49 +0000

No worries Eric, I find your comment informative and not spammy at all. I would add to your comment that “the best and most magical software packages are those which disappear into your process and are used without thought by these users” that every executive I’ve spoken with in the marketing automation / demand generation software space – every one – has noted the fact that the most active users require the least tech support. In other words, for marketers who make the use of such software part of their daily routine and standard operations, the use approaches the “without thought” stage you speak of. For those who use it only sporadically for specific campaigns, the technology remains somewhat of a barrier. The heaviest users also gain the greatest benefit from the software.

By: Eric Goldman

Eric Goldman — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:56:48 +0000

Another great post – thanks for the interview! To all that has been said, I would add the following:
1) The application of computer assistance to marketing and sales is long overdue – we’ve enhanced every other facet of our business operations already, so its TIME.
2) Bringing computer assistance to bear on anything is a Process – it doesn’t happen in one fell swoop, and it doesn’t happen accidentally. It takes planning, design and thought.
2) And then when you know what you are trying to achieve, bear in mind that the application of technology is both a techie issue (choosing the right tools and integrating them into your other software platforms), but it’s also important to change the user’s mindsets too. The best and most magical software packages are those which disappear into your process and are used without thought by these users. Not many software programs achieve this magic, though: most require changes to the user’s approach and these changes must be formalized and then stressed in training and coaching exercises. If you install the world’s most advanced Sales and Marketing Automation system and skip this step, you will be simply be making a costly mistake which doesn’t increase revenues or decease expenses.
To give your readers some ideas of what I mean by Process and Process descriptions, here is a link to a blog post which defines the Process we use to run our Social Media Marketing Campaigns. The link is to an index with 4 posts on it:
1) How to run a Social Media Marketing Campaign.

And because the Process suggests using ROI as one of your metrics:

2) How to measure the ROI of your website as a whole
3) The 10 best free ROI calculators on the Web
4) How to build your own ROI calculator.

I apologize if this appears like a spammy comment – readers have found these related posts really useful as not only do they cover ways to calculate ROI – something most marketers feel is impossible, but the Process description is easily transferred to running your Website and all of its associated components.
Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/cEc0ln