If you don’t even know what marketing automation is, don’t fret. Most 2017 marketing trend reports show that about 50% of companies today either don’t use marketing automation or don’t know anything about it. In the B2B sector, the numbers aren’t much better. Somewhere around 45% of companies are in the dark.

With that said, just because you know and might even be using marketing automation, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s working for you—or that you even have the elements in place to make it happen.

Marketing Automation Defined

Let’s start at the beginning. There are several definitions for marketing automation, but I like the simplicity of Hubspot’s version. According to Hubspot, the world’s largest inbound-marketing platform:

“Marketing automation refers to the software that exists with the goal of automating marketing actions. Many marketing departments have to automate repetitive tasks such as emails, social media, and other website actions. The technology of marketing automation makes these tasks easier.”

But as clear as this definition may be, it still doesn’t convey the power marketing automation can actually bring to the table. John Ippolito, a Hubspot partner specialist, goes a step further.

“People often think of marketing automation as something they should get to make their lives easier, but the real reason you should want it is to close more deals and generate more revenue than you’d be able to do without it,” he said.

That about sums it up. Marketing automation should be used to drive leads, sales and revenue, not just to handle routine tasks. Properly managed, it can make a very real difference in your marketing ROI.

How do you know whether you should invest in marketing automation or not?

In my experience, I usually ask clients four key questions first to determine whether they’re ready to add automation to their marketing mix.

1. Have you conducted client research? Do you know what keeps your buyers up at night? What do they need to do their job well? What is their purchasing cycle like? Without profiling your customer in detail, this information—which, in marketing speak, is called your customer persona—any marketing automation system is unlikely to deliver the results you want.
2. Are your sales and marketing teams aligned? Unless sales and marketing have agreed-upon goals and serve each other in a closed-loop feedback system, you won’t be able to pinpoint what is and what isn’t working. Worse, there is very real potential for qualified (or even hot) leads to fall through the cracks on either end.
3. Do you have the staff/resources to regularly create content? Unless you have someone, either a staff member or an outside resource to create meaningful content, your marketing automation results aren’t likely to go anywhere. Without content, you have nothing more than a software framework, not a value-added automation tool.
4. Finally, and most importantly, do you have a clear content strategy? If you don’t have a good content strategy in place, your messages are more likely to be disjointed, rather than legitimate information that drives awareness, engagement and conversions. Lack of a strategic content strategy is by far the most common error B2B businesses make when launching a marketing automation program.

Marketing automation is one of the most powerful digital marketing tools to come along in recent memory. But no matter how great its potential, a tool is just that—a tool. Without a strong marketing team and a solid content strategy behind it, automation alone won’t have the power you need to drive the sales, revenues and ROI you want.

Are YOU ready for marketing automation? Or, do you NEED to get ready for it? Let’s chat.