Organizations face challenges in successfully implementing marketing automation and the opportunities that come with it. Embracing marketing automation tools enables organizations to overcome key challenges and reduce the workload of a B2B marketer.
Various Marketing Automation Platforms (MAPs) available in the market have revolutionized the B2B marketing landscape by minimizing the need for resources. MAPs have streamlined the marketing process and made them more efficient and quick.
Even though MAPs have evolved into robust tools to suffice certain requirements, few B2B marketing teams are still struggling to overcome the challenges of automation.
Following are a few marketing automation challenges and ways to overcome them:
Challenges in Email Deliverability
One major marketing automation challenge revolves around email deliverability. B2B enterprises must ensure the overall good health of a sender’s email, including delivery rate, click rate, perceived email health, and ROI. Email automation is one of the initial tools that organizations embrace but find difficult to maintain good email health. A crucial challenge in email automation is ensuring that mail reaches the inbox rather than a spam folder or is not delivered. Other factors might impact email deliverability; CMOs should consider implementing strategies to have a good email reputation. One efficient email marketing automation trick that will ensure success is to have updated, accurate data.
Maintaining Data Quality
Maintaining data quality is another major marketing automation challenge that CMOs must overcome. If the marketing automation platforms cannot manage the huge influx of data maintaining data quality is difficult. Lack of correct, updated, and complete data degrades the data hygiene of the enterprise.
CMOs should consider exploring, evaluating, and choosing the right marketing automation tools to manage the huge influx of data. Many marketing automation vendors prioritize data accuracy and hygiene by providing robust features. It is crucial to find a tool that helps to clearly define, segment, and offer accurate and relevant data for marketing campaigns.
Also Read: Four B2B Marketing Trends to Anticipate in 2022
Lack of Effective Strategy and Relevant Skills
B2B marketing teams usually consider automation a comprehensive tool that will help them overcome most challenges just by the correct implementation. Implementing automation tools without defining clear objectives can create chaos in the presales operations. CMOs should consider embracing automation with an effective strategy based on their industry and organizational goals. Understanding pipeline development, lead generation, and marketing qualified lead (MQL) conversions will assist in designing an effective strategy that helps to accomplish the automation goals.
Marketing automation needs marketing teams with relevant skill sets to make the most of the tools. The skill gap is one challenge that hinders CMOs from embracing technology in their workflow.
CMOs should consider hiring marketing professionals with technical expertise to enhance their processes.
Resistance from Resources
Another significant challenge that decision-makers might face while embracing automation tools in their MarTech stack is employee resistance. Most resources consider their job at risk if the organization embraces automation tools. Enterprises can take their resources in confidence by communicating transparently with them about the change and how innovation will help the business operations. Moreover, other than resistance from resources, there might also be resistance from regulatory bodies. A few government authorities and industry veterans suggest banning AI and other tools like ChatGPT that can automate marketing operations.
Challenging to Evaluate ROI
It cannot be easy to understand the real influence of marketing operations and business growth because of implementing automation. Many CMOs might struggle to justify every investment that they get allocation for automating marketing campaigns. Businesses that want to make the most of marketing automation investments need to better understand where to invest the money. Answering crucial questions will help businesses optimize their marketing automation expenditure.
Decision-makers need to align the automation budget and their goals better. CMOs should evaluate all their previous marketing automation campaigns and understand which campaigns delivered the maximum results. Moreover, it is crucial to understand which marketing automation channel gathered more leads with less investment and invest accordingly in the future. Business leaders should evaluate their entire presales operations to observe and understand how marketing automation influences every ROI metric. Organizations with accurate results from marketing automation campaigns can make strategic changes to improve the ROI.
Also Read: The Essential Guide to B2B Search Engine Marketing
Misalignment Between the RevOps teams
Even when sales, presales, and customer support teams are working on different goals, they are cohesively working for the same vision to convert prospects into customers and retain them. The Gaps between the marketing, sales, and aftersales teams create difficulties for businesses to embrace marketing automation. Organizations can implement a cloud-based CRM system that unifies data to overcome the B2B marketing automation challenges.
Embracing B2B marketing automation can be a tedious task with multiple challenges. CMOs need a strategic plan to overcome all marketing automation bottlenecks to ensure success.
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