GETTING STARTED WITH MARKETING AUTOMATION

UBIQUITY WHITE PAPER GETTING STARTED WITH MARKETING AUTOMATION AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE FOR NEW ZEALAND ORGANISATIONS www.ubiquity.co.nz LEADERS IN DATA-DRIVEN MARKETING www.ubiquity.co.nz ity..nz 1

This white paper has been developed to provide actionable information about the processes that have become collectively known as Marketing Automation, and to help you decide if Marketing Automation is right for you. Let s start by explaining exactly what we mean by the term. 2 www.ubiquity.co.nz

WHAT IS MARKETING AUTOMATION? Definition Here s a definition of Marketing Automation as suggested by Wikipedia: Marketing Automation refers to software platforms and technologies designed for marketing departments and organisations to market more effectively on multiple channels online (such as email, social media, websites, etc.) and to automate repetitive tasks. That definition is as good a starting point as any, but it s talking about features you really don t gain much insight into exactly how you could use Marketing Automation to benefit your organisation. So let s drill a little deeper: 1. Despite the name, Marketing Automation isn t only about marketing. It can also transform almost every aspect of your business. Thanks to new marketing technologies and practices, it s now possible to be more effective than ever before when communicating with customers and prospects and that can have implications across virtually every aspect of your operation, from sales to customer service, from finance to administration to the C-suite. 2. Marketing Automation enables Rapid Response. In today s always-connected environment, consumers expect organisations to respond to their sales, marketing or customer service enquiries immediately. Marketing Automation enables you to react and respond far more quickly. 3.Marketing Automation helps you manage the targeting, timing and content of your marketing communications so that you can spend your marketing dollars more effectively. 4. Marketing Automation helps you deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time. You can automate the communications to be sent to specific segments at scheduled times, or set up triggered communications driven by specific user actions. 5. Marketing Automation can enable you to simplify complex campaigns. You can create different content for each audience and send them out simultaneously, using the same mechanism. 6. Marketing Automation can enable you to nurture prospects throughout your sales funnel, with relevant communications triggered at specific points in the customer journey. Those are some of the general benefits of Marketing Automation. Now let s get more specific. Marketing Automation In Action: Panasonic New Zealand Panasonic wanted to find ways to communicate with its retailers and retail salespeople in a more relevant and meaningful fashion. Using the Ubiquity Engage system, Panasonic was able to manage its Panasonic Rewards Sales Incentive Program much more effectively, operating a multi-faceted incentive program that rewards individual salespeople not just for their product sales volumes but also for their product knowledge and brand loyalty. www.ubiquity.co.nz 3

What EXACTLY CAN Marketing Automation DO FOR YOU? Quantifiable Benefits According to Wishpond s State of Marketing Automation in 2015 study, these are some of the quantifiable benefits you can expect from Marketing Automation: REVENUE INCREASES 79% of the CMOs at high-performing companies expect boosted revenue through Marketing Automation systems QUICK RETURN ON INVESTMENT 75% of all businesses that use Marketing Automation systems see positive ROI within the first year. PROSPECTS SPEND MORE Prospects that are successfully nurtured through the use of Marketing Automation systems spend 47% more than non-nurtured prospects. MORE PROSPECTS Companies that use Marketing Automation systems generate twice as many prospects as companies that only use mass email software. BETTER QUALIFIED Companies that use Marketing Automation systems effectively have reported as much as a 451% boost in qualified prospects. HIGHER CONVERSIONS Companies using Marketing Automation systems have reported conversion rates up to 50%. Common Misconceptions Marketing Automation is a highly effective business process, but it s not magic it makes the marketing process more effective, but it still needs to be guided by you. Here are a few key points that need to be consided: Marketing Automation will not generate content for you. It s a process for delivering content but it won t create the content itself, you still need to develop the materials to be shared. Marketing Automation does not give you permission to SPAM. The system will enable you to send out more messages more efficiently, but your communications must still comply with NZ s Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act (and any international regulations if your catchment is more global). You also need to respect the wishes of your customers and not wear out your welcome by over-communicating. Marketing Automation does not mean set it and forget it. Remember The Sorcerer s Apprentice in Fantasia, as brooms and buckets ran amok when Micky wasn t watching? Human involvement is still essential to ensure that the right tasks are multiplied, not the wrong ones. Marketing Automation won t sell for you. Marketing Automation will help you identify and communicate more regularly with those who already believe in your brand, but you still need to do your part. 4 www.ubiquity.co.nz

17 PRIMARY BENEFITS OF MARKETING AUTOMATION 1. Increase revenue and average order value 2. Target potential customers across multiple channels 3. Improve accountability of marketing & sales teams 4. Reduce repetitive tasks, allow more time for creativity 5. Quantify and refine existing sales/marketing processes 6. Control marketing and sales costs 7. Track customers across all interactions 8. Segment customers and prospects at a micro-level 9. Serve messages that are relevant and highly targeted 10. Reduce the time required to create campaigns 11. Gather better reporting on what s working and what s not 12. Follow-up automatically, improving customer satisfaction 13. Improve conversion rates 14. Integrate across multiple data sources 15. Increase customer retention 16. Gain a better understanding of customers and prospects 17. Improve alignment between marketing and sales www.ubiquity.co.nz ity.co 5

WhEN SHOULD YOU CONSIDER Marketing Automation? Are You Ready Yet? Not every organisation is ready for Marketing Automation and in fact, there are some businesses that would be better advised not to choose such a system. Here are some of the questions you need to answer, to determine whether your organisation could gain substantial benefits by investing in a Marketing Automation system: 1. Do you have enough customers and/or prospects? Organisations whose customers and prospects collectively number in at least the high hundreds are the most likely to gain value from implementing Marketing Automation. However, if you re not currently generating hundreds of prospects, but believe that the potential exists, keep reading. 2.Could your organisation actually cope with Marketing Automation? What sorts of processes do you already have in place to cope with customers and prospects? If your systems are poorly equipped to handle current workflows, then you may desperately need Marketing Automation but perhaps you should choose a supplier who can manage Marketing Automation on your behalf, rather than trying to handle additional processes within your own organisation. 3. Do you currently have a long, complicated sales process? Marketing Automation systems can be really beneficial in such circumstances, especially where regular contact is required with prospects over an extended period in order to eventually close the sale. 4. Does your marketing team already incorporate data analysis into its decisionmaking on a regular basis? Then the team should be well able to cope with the data-driven insights provided by Marketing Automation. 5. What exactly is the problem that you are trying to address through Marketing Automation? Is it that you ve outgrown your current email marketing systems and want to move to the next level? Do you wish to acquire more prospects or simply to know more about each prospect who engages with your organisation? Are you looking to enrich the interactions that take place during the buyer s journey? Is it your aim to gather more data to predict potential revenue? Knowing the issues that you are aiming to address will play a significant role in determining exactly how you should evaluate and implement the most appropriate Marketing Automation solution. Marketing Automation In Action: Genesis Energy Genesis Energy is a data-rich company and we sometimes struggle, like many do, to really use that to enhance our marketing efforts. Ubiquity finds ways that we can use the data that we have, to be more targeted and to get a better response from our marketing campaigns. Chris Watney, GM Marketing, Genesis Energy 6 www.ubiquity.co.nz

MARKETING AUTOMATION TRENDS NZ: 77% Will Spend More More than three out of four New Zealand marketers are planning to increase expenditure on marketing technology in the next 12 months, according to the NZ Marketing Association s Mood of Marketing survey, conducted in June 2015. They re in good company. All around the world, marketers have been steadily increasing their investment in Marketing Automation. EmailMonday has collected many of the more compelling statistics: There are nearly 11 times more B2B organizations using marketing automation now than in 2011. 1 Best-in-Class companies are 67% more likely to use a marketing automation platform. 2 79% of top-performing companies have been using marketing automation for more than two years. 3 Nearly 70% of businesses are using a marketing automation platform or currently implementing one. 2 42% of CRM users plan to increase spending on marketing automation 4 43% of companies using a marketing automation platform have been doing so for over four years. 2 33% have already implemented marketing automation software within their businesses and half of all respondents plan, or aspire, to do so. 11% plan to implement marketing automation immediately and 19% within the next year. Only a few respondents said they weren t (3%), or were unlikely (5%) to implement marketing automation software. 5 1 SiriusDecisions B-to-B Marketing Automation Study (2014) 2 Aberdeen Group State of Marketing Automation 2014: Processes that Produce (2014) 3 Gleanster Q3 2013 Marketing Automation Benchmark (2013) 4 Software Advice Customer Relationship Management Software UserView (2014) 5 Apteco Ltd Trend Report Data Driven Marketing 2014 / 2015. www.ubiquity.co.nz 7

FIRST STEPS TOWARDS MARKETING AUTOMATION 1 SET YOUR OBJECTIVES In preparation for implementing Marketing Automation, it s time to set some goals. What exactly are you hoping to achieve through Marketing Automation? Review the list of benefits that we identified earlier and then add in your own unique requirements to customise your Marketing Automation goals. 2 DOCUMENT CURRENT PROCEDURES Take the time to document exactly how your marketing processes operate now the elements involved (in particular around acquisition, conversion and retention) and how they fit into your current processes; the people who operate the existing systems; and those within your organisation who must manage the outcomes (often sales people and clerical staff). 3 DEFINE YOUR CUSTOMERS & PROSPECTS Devote however much effort is necessary to identifying and segmenting your target audiences. For B2C audiences, demographic, attitudinal and behavioural information might be appropriate; for B2B targets, think decision-makers, influencers and gatekeepers. 4 STRATEGIC CHOICES Now it s time to consider what s involved in the initial phase. You need to find the appropriate answers to questions such as these: Who in your company will use the technology? What relevant skills and/or experience do they have with such technology? Who will take ownership of the technology? How do you plan to train your users? Which departments will be involved in the training? Should you aim to have a few Power Users or should you spread the knowledge and expertise throughout your organisation? Are you considering a DIY solution that you and/or your team will implement within your organisation or are you considering having an external supplier handle most of the system for you, at least in the early stages? How do you plan to involve your IT people in the planning and deployment processes? Below are some typical segmentation structures: Common Data Points What do you know about your customers and prospects? Here are typical data points that marketers use for segmentation and personalisation: Email address Job-related (e.g. company, title) Social influence Name Device ID Lifestyle details Location Social profile Family (e.g. marital status) Demographics (e.g. gender) Postal address Psychographics Cookies Owned account information Attitudinal IP address Location-related (e.g. city, town) Behavioural Social ID (e.g. Facebook) Phone number Transactional 8 www.ubiquity.co.nz

STEPS 5-7 5 IDENTIFY STAKEHOLDERS The impact of Marketing Automation will be felt across the organisation. Accordingly, it s both prudent and essential to determine the requirements of all stakeholders those who will be directly involved and also those who will be indirectly affected. Likely stakeholders include: Marketers who will be involved in the dayto-day operation of the Marketing Automation system Sales teams, who will be concerned with both the quantity and quality of leads generated and nurtured through the system IT staff, who will need to be involved to facilitate the implementation of any system and its integration with existing databases and other infrastructure The Marketing Director/Marketing Manager, whose concerns will include functionality, efficiency and cost-effectiveness The Head of Sales, who will be especially interested in growing sales, increasing market share and earning more profits for the organisation The CEO, who will be focussed on the big picture, and how any technology investment will increase sales, deliver a solid ROI and provide a competitive advantage The CFO, whose concern is the bottom line and who will be looking for cost-effectiveness, increased revenue and diminished waste The CIO, who will wish to ensure that any new investment in technology will not create technical or resourcing problems for the IT team and will not overload the current infrastructure 6 EVALUATE YOUR EXISTING DATA As you move towards Marketing Automation, you will need to evaluate the data already in your systems, in terms of both quantity and quality. Is your organisation s customer & prospect data consolidated and useable for marketing purposes or is it distributed across multiple databases and not available for integration? How recently was your database cleansed (i.e. addresses verified, duplicated and dead addresses removed, data points confirmed)? Do you have enough demographic, attitudinal, behavioural or activity information about each customer or prospect within your database to segment your audience effectively? What information do you track about how responsive your database to typical offers? Do you track your emails deliverability? Do you track your emails open rates, clickthrough rates and conversion rates? 7 IDENTIFY ANY BARRIERS TO ADOPTION What (or who) within your organisation might prevent effective implementation of Marketing Automation? The time to find out is before you start. Typical Barriers The NZ Marketing Association s Mood of Marketing June 2015 survey identified why Kiwi marketers were not planning to invest in marketing technology in the next twelve months. The results were not unfamiliar (nor insurmountable): 53% don t have the budget 28% don t have the infrastructure 27% lack corporate buy-in 9 www.ubiquity.co.nz www.ubiquity.co.nz 9

STEPS 8-10 8 EVALUATE YOUR CONTENT ASSETS Take a closer look at the content (e.g. images, copy, product listings, etc.) already created by your organisation. What existing content assets do you have? Are the assets well-categorised and readily accessible? What resources can you devote to updating, repurposing and repackaging that content? Is your content mobile-ready and deviceagnostic? 9 IDENTIFY INTERNAL CHANGES To implement Marketing Automation effectively means that your organisation will probably need to make changes to some of its operations. That may include: Gathering relevant data from internal operating systems and combining it with information from various silos such as CRM, POS, email and contact centre records Enhancing your analytical capabilities so that you can identify the various stages of your customers journeys and differentiate the needs of the various target groups in each phase Defining business rules so that prospects and customers can be moved automatically and smoothly from one stage in the journey to the next CHANGE 10 BUILD A BUSINESS CASE Last of the preliminary steps in the assessment process: build a business case to support the introduction of Marketing Automation. Your own organisation will naturally have its own requirements for creating a business case, but some of the factors that might support your argument include: Examples and case studies, bolstered by realworld statistics (some of which we mentioned earlier), which demonstrate the benefits enjoyed by companies that adopt Marketing Automation Discussion of the benefits that marketing automation enjoys over traditional systems such as email marketing programs, thanks to the integration of additional insights from your various databases Explanation of the vitally important automated triggering capabilities which can be put in place to move prospects through the customer journey without constant human intervention Reduced costs of execution thanks to automation of routine tasks Improved customer engagement thanks to highly targeted and personalised campaigns More effective collaborations between sales and marketing Significantly improved tracking and reporting of marketing initiatives Once you ve taken these ten steps you will be in a far better position to determine your organisation s readiness for Marketing Automation. Congratulations! SAME OLD You ve reached the end of this report and now you re almost ready for the next step, choosing a Marketing Automation partner. 10 www.ubiquity.co.nz

THE NEXTSTEP You ve COMPLETED this Getting Started guide NOW WHAT? Contact Ubiquity for a confidential assessment of your Marketing Automation requirements and to request a copy of our 11 Step Checklist which will help you choose the ideal Marketing Automation partner for New Zealand conditions. www.ubiquity.co.nz 11

Ubiquity is New Zealand s leading provider of marketing automation and customer engagement solutions. Our world class, marketing automation platform Engage allows you to use your data to create highly personalised, multi-channel data driven marketing programmes that connect with your customers. Innovative in its features, simple to use, easy to integrate and flexible to meet all your needs. Backed by a team of customer engagement specialists based right here in New Zealand, you can access strategic consultancy services, campaign execution resources and support whenever you need them. +64 (0) 9 309 1921 info@ubiquity.co.nz Postal Address: PO Box 7488, Wellesley Street Auckland City, New Zealand Physical Address: Level 1, 361 New North Road Kingsland, Auckland 1021 New Zealand LEADERS IN DATA-DRIVEN MARKETING 12 www.ubiquity.co.nz w ui