Marketing Automation:The TMP S&M Forum 21 March, 2014

The promise of Marketing Automation best practice lures us to the chamber of S&M, where we learn of Social Listening, Social Publishing and the 4Ps of Marketing Automation.

have a tale to tell that none but the brave should hear. A tale of revelation, learning

and enlightenment, tempered with dire warning. For I have emerged unscathed and, I trust, wiser, from a sojourn in the chamber of S&M.

I ventured in with curiosity pounding in my chest. I had heard, but I had not seen.

Women of ineffable beauty, adorned for power, swayed with serene elegance before the doors to the soaring,

vaulted interior. Men, shirts agape at their necks, murmured in earnest anticipation. These were Marketers,

intent on discovering the secrets of the chamber.

Aproned neophytes passed out rainbow potions (or was it us that passed out?), all provided without apparent charge to the eager congregation. Yet it is an ineluctable Truth that,

just as the Universe cannot contain a lunch for which none are called to account, there’s also no such thing as a free drink. Or canapés, come to that. The S&M Forum would wring

every last drop of intelligent engagement from us before the night was gone.

At last, we were ushered into the S&M chamber itself. Here we would be bound to our chairs, manacled by our desire for knowledge. Within these sanctified walls, three Pauls would hold us in their thrall.

Their text for the evening: Marketing Automation.

speaks of the cloud, of Marketing Automation at unrivalled scale, of 1:1 experiences and multiple platforms for customer engagement; he intones the mantra ‘data’; we are seduced

by Marketing Automation case studies and harsh lessons learned from real MA deployments;

invokes the wisdom of Gates; he speaks of the many purposes of Marketing Automation; we wonder at his temerity and are chastened by dire warnings.

we are amazed by Lions.

Paul The First

Paul The Second

Paul The First had come from the lofty portals of the ExactTarget Marketing Cloud, disciples of the mighty Salesforce.com. He told of a prophecy from the venerable soothsayer Gartner, who proclaimed that, by 2017, more money will be spent on IT by CMOs than by CIOs.

He spoke of the ever-elusive Holy Grail of marketing: the personalised, 1:1 customer experience at scale.

Here it was that we first encountered that most hallowed word of the time-honoured marketing lexicon: data. Paul Smith bade us wonder at the power of great data when it is consumed by a rapacious Marketing Automation system.

He recalled the Legend of Unilever, whose ‘Sketches’ campaign for Dove soap scooped 11 Lions D’or at Cannes.

And then we gasped in wonder. Before us on the billowing fabric, awash with content hewn from the

living PowerPoint, we beheld a dizzying array of monitors, from which the fruits of an unstoppable torrent of social media postings flooded into the

consciousness of the Unilever acolytes gathered before the screens. Here, inscribed on tablets (and smartphones and PCs), were the words of the very gods of Marketing, those whom we worship, fear and glorify: Consumers.

Their spirits had been moved by the Sketches campaign and they had given of their bounteous wisdom. The acolytes, declared Paul Smith, had paid heed and they had learned. By these automated marketing

means did the mighty Unilever gain rich and enlightening insight and brand equity.

nd then was Paul The Second amongst us once more. He bade us heed the words of the Mighty

Gates, revered Oracle (dare we call him that? Perhaps not, actually…) revered Fortune Maker of the IT elite:

Thus did Paul The Second command rapt attention, as he took on the eminence of a recording angel, marking the journey of Marketing Automation and its many uses.

“Some,” he declared (was there a hint of disdain?), “use it to automate traditional lead generation campaigns and events. Others may use it to capture inbound leads from search or social media.”

He spoke of nurturing prospects through to sales pipeline, of growing and retaining customers, of enabling the sales team. But then he was transfigured by a great light that seemed to burn within his soul as he entreated us to do more. To be bold, to conduct experiments, to find new paths to marketing excellence.

And then, as if possessed by the spirit of one greater than he, who was yet to come, he uttered a warning that chilled us to the depths of our bones.

“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”

“Woe,” cried he, “to those who embrace Marketing Automation without first having built great marketing teams. Woe to those

who adopt complex solutions without adequate testing. And woe, woe and

thrice woe to those whose databases are withered and neglected.”

These were the words of Paul The Second. And then he was quiet and made way for the one whose

eminence he had foretold.

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spreads alarm and despondency with tales of despair and strife; he tempers them with shining hope and the gospels of Data and Content; we are alarmed by those

who rush to deploy marketing automation at scale all too soon.

Paul The Third

The end

And there came among us a pugnacious Celt from the clan Stevenson: Paul of that ilk. Paul The Third was a warrior from the Old Times,

when Marketing Automation was the prerogative of none but a privileged few.

He shared with us learnings gathered by tenacious, visionary men and women from the rarefied climes of O2. He spoke of the suffering,

pain and cold fear that tests the will of all pioneers – and of the courage that vanquishes

these enemies of innovation and progress.

Read now the words of Paul The Third, a fabled elder of the bold tribe of Marketing Automaters whose unflinching determination has made straight the paths of all who follow.

Here we set out his Gospel of the Four Ps of Marketing Automation:

Get the right people, with the right skills in the right positions – your success will depend on it!

People

Process

Platforms

Performance

Create time, to think through in detail how your department will function – there is no avoiding it. Document it and agree it!

It all starts with a clear data strategy, then careful consideration of the Marketing Automation platform. That decision may live with you for a very long time.

This is a marathon and not a sprint. A phased launch approach allows you to review, adapt and enhance with each new process you automate. It also allows time to stakeholder manage your sales teams and senior management, while proving ROI.

Thus spake Paul The Third and we were humbled.

S&M

We are beset by servants bearing canapés; we rise from our seats and gather agog to share what we have seen; we set about the three Pauls, begging for more of their

great wisdom; we sally forth with new hope and resolution in our hearts.

e found at last that the spell of oration that had gripped us to

our seats was broken, and we were liberated. In the first flush of glorious freedom, we networked furiously with our peers. Many of us gathered at the feet of the three Pauls to glean further pearls of hard-won knowledge.

But then, all at once, the doors to the chamber swung open. Aloof, unreachable servants brought us comestibles of indescribable delicacy. Thieves of the wind from distant Gaul, viands of uncertain provenance, enriched with exotic spices, and – enticing and inviting us – mini hamburgers.

And then it came to pass that we stepped out of the Chamber of S&M, and we flagged for taxis, and we were gone. All agreed that the S&M Forum was a thing of rich purple, and we vowed to apply the principles we had learned forthwith, from that day forward, and for all eternity.

themarketingpractice.com/forum

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