Are You Failing at Marketing Automation?

From the Hubspot Blog, here are 10 signs that your marketing automation efforts aren't productive.

"You have to hire help just to work the numbers."
Focus on quality rather than quantity. Analyzing marketing results should be done as close to real time as possible.

"You're using multiple systems and software packages to make it work."
The marketing tools you use shouldn't be hard to use. Review and reassess your software and infrastructure.

"You are more focused on testing instead of overall traffic and lead flow."
Traffic is the always-necessary first step.

"You think a drip campaign is going to spit out awesome leads and customers."
Review the leads you have generated to make sure they're in line with your target market. Ask yourself if you have the right information to do that analysis.

"You haven’t written a blog post this week."
Blog posts give you a recurring chance to demonstrate your knowledge to prospects and leads, often being better at conversions than testimonials.

"A majority of your traffic comes from paid media."
Organic search, social media, and direct traffic convert into leads and customers at higher rates than paid media. If more than half your leads are from paid sources, shift some of your budget from outbound to inbound marketing.

"You don’t know what sources are responsible for driving leads."
Automation is worthless if you don't know the source of your leads. Determine what is driving traffic to your site and database.

"You purchase “leads” from a database company."
If they've never heard of your company, how can they be "leads". This is ineffective and the opposite of inbound marketing.

"Your marketing automation system doesn’t integrate with your CRM."
CRM systems are intended to make managing leads and customers easier, just as marketing automation systems are intended to make marketing easier. If those systems can't interface, you will end up creating more work for yourself.

"Your marketing stops once the lead is handed off to a sales rep."
Marketing also carries the responsibility to make sure leads are fully worked. Sales and marketing teams must be aligned to operate effectively.

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