Revving up Your Marketing Automation Platform

So, your organization just bought that new, shiny marketing automation platform (MAP) and has tasked you to be its power user. What now? What if you don’t have experience in Marketing Automation? Where do you start? Fret not, there are blog posts about it for a reason. Follow these simple steps to make sure your tool is up and running in no time.

Technical implementation.

Work with a third party vendor or the MAP creator themselves to get all integrations working properly. This means email authentication, website tracking, CNAME alias set up, and other vital pieces to make sure that your MAP is fully operational. Many organizations make the mistake of rushing this process but it’s imperative to ensure your platform is structurally sound before using it to its full potential.

Collect your data.

Your organization most likely has a database of both current and prospective customers/clients. Make sure to consolidate the data and ensure that all is clean, up to date, and comprehensive. Without good data, your MAP will find it difficult to segment lists, create targeted nurture programs, and send out communications to the correct audience.

Plan of action.

Figure out how the tool will be utilized and begin planning respective campaigns. Are you using the MAP to nurture prospects? For customer or client renewal? Communicating information to your current customers/clients? Schedule a few whiteboard sessions with all pertinent team members to help define goals. Online communities are also useful in understanding how your software can be used; there is a lot of excellent information out there for just about any organization size. Pardot has excellent starter nurture campaigns which you can leverage.

Begin creating.

Emails, landing pages, and forms will be the backbone of any comprehensive MAP. You will want to make sure that every asset you create is in line with your brand and uses exact logos, fonts, colors, and voice. Reference your branding guidelines to confirm alignment.

This will be an ongoing step throughout use of your marketing automation software.

You’ll need to make sure emails render properly, landing pages and forms are connected and flowing, and nurture campaigns are succinct before kicking off any major campaign. Taking the time to test prevents hiccups when sending messaging to actual contacts.

Like most software, updates and enhancements will be made continuously throughout the year. Always keep an eye out for emails and industry news on quarterly updates. You can also consider joining a user group in which MAP tool users meet and brainstorm on best practices, new features, and other extremely useful information—take advantage of each and every resource at your disposal. Best of luck on your marketing automation adventure, let us know if you need help getting started!