Marketing, Interrupted

by Dave Sutton

  Hopefully, you’ll never find yourself in one of these precarious situations with your brand. But just in case, learn more about how you can avoid these types of mistakes and take control of the ensuing mayhem by taking a transformational approach to marketing.

  The Little White Lies

  In a 2015 report, the top three complaints from marketers were the software takes too long to implement, is too expensive and too risky. Sound familiar?

  While Marketing Automation Platforms open up new frontiers, the little

  white lies that vendors employ to make the sale—and that we believe—are an expensive source of confusion.

  Success in marketing automation goes far beyond just choosing the right vendor.

  To help clear the air, here are nine little white lies about MAP’S:

  1. Implementing a MAP is “set it and forget it”

  The term marketing automation is a little misleading and while it is true that you set up a campaign and it “runs” automatically, it isn’t that simple. Any marketing technology you implement requires dedicated human interaction to be successful. No MAP will analyze the page views vs opt-ins vs qualified leads and adjust the campaign accordingly, or monitor which email sequence converts the best and explain why.

  Once sales identify a new bottleneck, who is going to generate the new content to drive leads to complete the opt-in form? Who is going to gen- erate content to re-engage older leads, especially if your company has a longer sales cycle? Who is going to adjust the email subject line if no one is opening your emails? Be wary if your MAP Vendor alludes to a “set it and forget it” approach, as it just isn’t true.

  2. Marketing Automation will save you boatloads of time

  Do not be fooled by this statement.

  Unless you are performing every single task a MAP can perform on a daily basis—and trust me, you aren’t—it won’t save you time.

  “It takes longer every year!”

  — Scott Brinker

  VP Platform Ecosystem at Hubspot

  Getting a MAP up and running is not a quick and easy task. Choosing and making the move to Marketing Automation requires buy-in from all stakeholders. Prior to launching your first campaign, your team will put dozens of hours into buyer personas, data analysis, campaign design, copy- writing (landing page, email, social media, paid ads), email sequences, and

  data configuration to personalize and segment messages. Don’t forget the alignment of your sales/marketing systems and processes—a difficult piece of the puzzle for many organizations.

  3. All it takes is a team of one

  C-suite execs and MAP Vendors are equally guilty of perpetuating this lie. Getting C-suite buy-in for new software is hard and MAP Vendors use statements like, “We make our software so easy a 12-year old can setup a campaign” or “It only takes 5 hours a week to manage” to help expedite the C-suite buy-in. Unfortunately, what often happens is the company doesn’t have the proper resources in place to correctly execute the setup, manage- ment, analytics, and A/B testing necessary to make marketing automation pay off in the long run.

  MAP’s are multi-channel, involve different segments, engage sales and marketing, and activate prospects at different points in the funnel. Marketing Automation should touch every part of your organization— customer support, sales, lead generation, lead cultivation, marketing, recruiting, after-sales, etc. It isn’t something that can be added to your VP Marketing’s to-do list. It requires dedicated focus and special skills.

  4. You need to hire a MAP rock star with tons of experience to ensure success

  Looking for a rock star with 5-10 years of MAP experience may not be your best bet. Platforms have changed, technologies have changed, and there are dozens of new channels to engage prospects. You need to find someone who understands your brand voice, buyer personas, and culture; who has experience launching and managing the technical and creative aspects of personalized marketing and/or email automation campaigns; who knows the channels in which to reach your target market. In today’s Marketing Automation world, you need someone who knows conversion and understands the value of a real lead.

  5. Marketing Automation doesn’t require any technical skills

  Has your marketing team segmented email lists by event details and/or user

  attributes? Do they know how to correctly configure what attributes need to be sent to the MAP—and how to map that information? Do they have experience with domain configuration, email authentication, DNS, and A/B testing? How is personalization added to your marketing messages?

  In 2015, it was reported by Gartner that only 38% of those that have MA use advanced tactics like progressive profiling. Progressive profiling requires a technical understanding of how data is gathered and how to best segment this information. You are seriously limiting the potential of your platform’s ROI by overlooking the technical skills necessary to successfully execute a lead generation program.

  Beyond the technical skills, an understanding and experience in email deliverability, email list best practices, and reengaging old leads are valu- able assets to keep your emails out of the spam folder.

  6. The more I pay for a platform, the more likely my emails are to reach the inbox

  When was the last time you asked a MAP vendor for their email deliver- ability rate and statistics while researching platforms? Did you, like most marketers, assume that was just “part of the package”? After all, the hefty price tag should guarantee email deliverability, right? Wrong. One of the most overlooked considerations for a MAP vendor is email deliverability rate and email list policies.

  Marketing Automation is complex enough, and the nitty gritty details of email deliverability are rarely covered in the sales process—specifically, that it’s the marketer’s job to follow email best practices, only send email to opted-in contacts, and remove invalid email addresses proactively. Talk to your vendor about this up-front to avoid serious deliverability issues that can wreak havoc on your lead generation program.

  7. It’s just an email marketing platform with some fancy features

  Don’t confuse an email service provider (ESP) with a MAP. While ESPs like Constant Contact and Customer.io have entered the automation field with some fancy features, they are lacking major functions of a robust MAP. For example, MAP vendors offer a unified customer view, multi-channel

  functionality, buyer persona mapping, landing pages and forms, lead scor- ing, sales/marketing integration, and can even go beyond the digital realm to trigger direct mail pieces based on actions performed by users.

  8. The vendor with the best publicity is clearly the top choice

  MAP vendors are not one-size fits all, and it is not a decision to be made lightly. Your systems and technology must match your business needs. It’s important to understand fully what you are purchasing and ensure that it is the right platform for your specific business needs. It should be aligned with your overall sales and marketing strategy, and you should secure the necessary resources prior to adopting and launching a new MAP vendor. As you navigate through the thousands of articles comparing vendors, remember, you are reading marketing by other marketers.

  9. Implementing a MAP will automatically generate tons of qualified leads Implementing a MAP will generate leads, but if your content isn’t aligned with your buyer personas/target market segments/target accounts—or if these are completely inaccurate—the leads aren’t going to be qualified. You first have to understand your audience and speak to them in a way that compels them to engage with your brand. If anything, an unsuccessful Marketing Automation campaign may reveal if the audience you think you are targeting is indeed the audience engaging with your brand.

  In summary, implementing a Marketing System takes lots of work, consumes time (and more every year), requires teamwork, and ongoing support.

  “Martech is going mainstream. By now, everyone has had a CMS and a CRM. But in terms of other marketing technologies—whether it’s personal- ization, content mark
eting or social media management software—

  we’ve crossed the chasm from Early Adopters to now the Early and Late Majority. Executives at “Main Street” companies are now acknowledging the need to adopt these tools.”

  — Scott Brinker

  VP Platform Ecosystem at Hubspot

  There are plenty of other marketing automation myths: it’s cold and imper- sonal, businesses with long sales cycle aren’t ideal candidates, and it doesn’t work. You can probably come up with more. However, what’s important to keep in mind is: Marketing Automation is just a tool.

  Successful transformational marketing begins with a deep understanding— backed by some real scientific rigor and creative magic—of your market and your customers. Only then can you powerfully develop your Brand Story, Strategy and enabling Systems to create profitable, productive customer experiences.

  Chapter 17

  Establishing the Conditions for Success

  or anyone who has ever lived through a transformational project involving big change, you know that it can be a journey with many ups and downs. And not unlike riding “Kingda Ka” (at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey), it’s either the ride of your life or the scariest thing you’ve ever done—or

  a little bit of both!

  On the “King”, you leave the station going from 0 to 128 miles per hour in a jaw-dropping 3.5 seconds. Actually, there isn’t even be time for your jaw to drop. You shoot straight up that impossible height so fast, you don’t even have time to think, so you just hang on. Arriving at the top, you immediately plummet right back down in a 270-degree spiral. There is very little that can prepare you for a drop of this intensity—most people just wing it.

  Now, the beginning of your transformational marketing journey may not be quite as hair-raising, and your initial climb may not cause nose-bleeds, but based on our 10-years of experience, the first few moments will certainly set the tone

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  for the rest of your journey. Furthermore, if you take the time to get a few things firmly in place before you’re strapped in and leaving the station, it can make a world of difference in terms of your enjoyment of the ride. There is no need for you to wing it!

  There’s a reason this coaster is known as the “King.” Kingda Ka is quite simply the tallest and fastest roller coaster in North America. This upside down U-shaped track bolts up 45 stories in the sky—that’s 456 feet high! This leaves all other coasters in the dust. And of course, it’s going to take some mighty acceleration to get you to the top of it!

  The Transformational Marketing Journey and Productivity

  After the commitment has been made to transform marketing, there is often a period of increased productivity and a level of anticipatory excitement —we sometimes refer to this as “Uninformed Optimism.” Even though no real changes have been initiated yet, the marketing team actually performs at a slightly higher level in anticipation of the new capabilities that are coming.

  Once the program is initiated and changes begin, a different and more com- plex phenomenon occurs. On an individual level, a new learning curve begins (and it may be a steep climb for some of your marketers). This is accompanied by a sharp decline in performance at the individual and team level (and perhaps at the business unit or company level depending on the scope and scale of the trans- formational initiative). We refer to this phenomenon of declining performance as the “Valley of Despair.” The Valley is characterized by a steep fall in productivity, followed by a slow rise to previously established performance levels. The Valley of Despair is a natural organizational response to the major changes that frequently occur when change is implemented. Minimizing the depth and length of time that the organization spends in the trough of the “Valley” is critical to a successful marketing program implementation. We’ll go into more detail on how to do this in the next section.

  As the organization emerges from the Valley and overall marketing produc- tivity rapidly increases, a new form of stress and tension will occur. Not unlike riding a roller coaster, people begin to speculate that there is another steep decline just over the next rise. The organization may again begin to feel the stress of the unknown and want to close their eyes and duck their heads. At this stage, it is important to note that not all tension and stress is bad. In fact, under the right circumstances, tension is essentially a structure that helps to facilitate creativity and increases people’s ability to change.

  You generate “Creative Tension” when you have a clarity about your desired brand destination and alignment on the “truth about today”, (i.e. the gap is clear and people are motivated to change).

  One’s stake in marketing transformation determines one’s level of stress

  When it comes to roller coasters, everyone seems to be a little different. The “thrill seekers” have never seen a coaster they didn’t love and they always clamor to sit in the first row. The “coaster phobics” avoid them at all costs.

  There are a lot of people in the middle who aren’t sure what they feel—until they’re harnessed-in and asking themselves, “What was I thinking?” The best advice I ever received about riding roller coasters: keep your eyes open and look forward. Being able to see what is happening actually helps dispel fear and nausea.

  With a better understanding of the entire transformational marketing journey

  up front, your eyes are now fully open and you’re looking forward. However, there are still some things you must get in place before you strap in and leave the station. If you establish the conditions for success up front, you can navigate the stress points, avoid the pitfalls and generate the creative tension that will help catapult you to the next level of marketing performance.

  Managing the Undercurrents of Marketing Transformation

  If you’ve ever worked on a complex, far-reaching, transformational initiative for any period of time, you’ve probably experienced a project that felt like a complete disaster. The scope was out of control, deadlines routinely missed, campaigns sputtering, executives slashing resources, and team members at each other’s throats. The undercurrents are strong and swift. And if you’re not careful, it’s easy to get pulled under or worse: pushed out the door.

  “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”

  — Mike Tyson

  Trust me, we’ve all been there.

  According to a study in 2016 by PricewaterhouseCoopers, more than 60 per- cent of project failures are linked to internal issues such as insufficient resources or missed deadlines. In other words, failure is linked to common situations that a good project manager with a good project plan should be able to avoid.

  Conversely, you probably can recall situations in which the environment sur- rounding a project was extremely positive, enabling success to be achieved in spite of serious shortcomings in the planning and management of project activities.

  So, what’s going on here?

  How important is planning and project management in marketing transfor- mation success?

  The short answer: very important. However, there is more going on here than meets the eye. Just having a buttoned-up project plan, an agile methodology, and a great project manager does not guarantee success.

  What is the real science behind planning for transformational marketing success?

  We have identified five key activities that must be part of any project plan if transformational marketing success is to be achieved:

  • Quantifying Explicit Value—There is a specific activity defined in the plan for quantifying and validating explicit value associated with the marketing project. The sponsoring executive and the project team have mutually agreed on a business case that is clearly defined and measurable in terms of strategic, operational, economic, and organizational benefit. These two parties have also agreed upon a case for user adoption at an individual level.

  • Generating Full Alignment—There is a specific process defined for generating and sustaining executive alignment. The execu
tive spon- sor for the project and associated business leaders are well aligned on the priority of the marketing transformation effort and achievement of intended business outcomes. There is informed understanding and intention among all of the key stakeholders about the complete jour- ney to results, and its many challenges and individual implications for employees in their roles.

  • Showcasing Sponsorship and Accountability in Action—Specific activities are outlined in the plan to demonstrate how leadership is personally “at stake” and visible to the organization throughout the project. An executive leader or executive leadership team is in place with the positional authority, credibility, skill, resolve, and time to get the marketing transformation moving, and maintain its momentum through to results.

  • Securing Active Commitment—There is a track of work for testing for active commitment regularly with leadership and the project team.

  Rooting out “passive” commitment to the project and/or passive aggres- sive behaviors regarding changes to marketing is imperative. Marketing leaders take personal responsibility for the program, take a stand for success, and are seen to take sides on conflicts and difficult issues.

  • Managing Performance Risk—Activities are defined in the plan to assure that team performance is routinely monitored and risks are mitigated. Scope for the marketing team must be appropriate to obtain the business