If You Think Marketing Automation Is a Magic Bullet, You're Shooting Yourself in the Foot

Perhaps the biggest problem with marketing automation is its name. The word “automation” implies that this is a magical technology that you can turn on, walk away from, and presto – you’ll have a successful campaign. Perhaps a better name for this technology would be digital marketing assistant. But buyers beware! If your marketing automation system relies on content that lacks creativity and strategic insights, it can easily become an expensive spam maker. 

As a marketer in the highly competitive world of B2B, it pays to avail yourself with all the tools at your disposal – including marketing automation. That doesn’t mean that marketing automation systems replace the other tools in your belt. You don’t throw out your hammer because you bought a new wrench. 

In a commoditized industry, marketing is a numbers game. If you put an offer in front of enough people, chances are that a few of them will bite. This works well with automation because the cost per impression is lower than almost any other form of marketing (except for word of mouth). The numbers game also works well if you’re reselling a brand that another marketing department has already built; say selling brand-name watches or pharmaceuticals. In the world of B2B technology, chances are that you are targeting a small, niche market that doesn’t have a lot of familiarity with your product or service. In this world of ultra-niche, low awareness marketing, putting an automation system on autopilot is only going to deliver disappointment.

Now that I’ve beat marketing automation down, it’s time to build it back up a little bit. “Hey there little marketing automation system, pick yourself up, wipe off those tears. It’s not your fault you bring spam to the masses, it’s the way people have been abusing you.” 

Marketing automation can be a very effective delivery vehicle, because it is fast, efficient, easy and low cost. But the medium is not the message. What the marketing automation companies fail to mention is that using a system like this puts even more demand on you to create interesting, compelling content. This content needs to build a consistent brand and work in tandem with your other marketing materials to tell a compelling story, build trust and create desire. 

No matter how your message is being delivered, it is crucial not to lose site of one over arching principle – The content, not the delivery vehicle, is king.

By Mark Stiltner, Copywriter
The Market Creation Group