There’s a perception that once you license a (MAP) Marketing Automation Platform, all your marketing problems are solved.
Not even close.
All too often we see B2B brands making significant investments in marketing automation software after buying into impressive presentations by vendors of the wonderful things these technologies can offer.
Once they sign on the dotted line, brand marketers become paralyzed with what to do next.
The reality is, a MAP can’t stand alone. It’s just a piece of the Inbound Marketing puzzle.
Here are 3 must-do steps in order to get the most out of your MAP:
- Make sales and marketing alignment a priority.
The most successful marketing initiatives demonstrate integration between sales and marketing, with both groups understanding their roles and collaborating appropriately. In order to be fully utilized, MA technologies require sales and marketing to leverage the tool and analytics to inform decisions, lead scoring approaches and engagement protocol based on where a person is in his/her stage of their buyer’s journey. - Have trusted agency partners.
B2B brand marketers don’t have the bandwidth or expertise to deliver on all the components that feed into an MAP. Companies need agency partners who are skilled in collaboration and can help brands streamline their workflows and tools. - Engage all of your marketing teams.
This step cuts across a brand’s entire marketing organization. It breaks down barriers between teams, scales efforts and helps each team experience the benefits of how a MAP can support their efforts.
Whether or not you’ve already invested in a MAP, be sure these three areas are addressed. Failing to do so may negatively impact your marketing team’s ability to strategize and execute an effective Inbound Marketing initiative.