5 Common Marketing Automation Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

It’s not uncommon to make mistakes when using automated solutions for the first time. Even with the proper training, and a wide variety of tutorials and resources at your disposal, using new technology is difficult. Especially when it comes to marketing automation, where new solutions are constantly being released and updated. Everyone wants to take advantage of emerging tech. Nevertheless, you want to limit potential pitfalls as much as possible. To help you out, we’ve outlined a few of the most common marketing automation pitfalls that customers can fall into. Plus, we’ve given you some helpful tips to avoid them.

Stagnant Results

Marketing automation comes chock full with useful tools and features, but your team isn’t really getting the traction that you anticipated.

How to Avoid: Re-evaluate your marketing strategies and long-term goals. 

It’s easy to think of marketing automation as the perfect bandage to fix all your problems. But it isn’t. Buying and using expensive, complex technology without developing a comprehensive strategy, or without setting realistic long-term goals? That’s a recipe for disaster. Marketing automation bolsters good marketers, but it doesn’t do their job for them. Before you make the switch to a new marketing automation solution, make sure that your business leaders establish an actionable game plan, and that your new tools will actually help you achieve your goals.

Under-Utilizing Your Tools

You’re using your new software, but not really utilizing all the available features. Maybe you’ve just dipped your toes into lead segmentation, or are more comfortable with social media management.

How to Avoid: Provide additional training opportunities

If employees don’t seem to be fully utilizing their new automation solution, make sure to provide them with additional training opportunities. A good solution is like a well-stocked toolbox. There’s a lot there for you to work with, but you have to know how to use every tool in the box. Maybe some get used less than others, so it’s nice to have a refresher once in a while to make sure you’re doing the right thing. Otherwise you’ve wasted money on technology that offers features you don’t really need. If your business doesn’t need an overly complex marketing automation solution, then stick to your guns and buy something simpler that gets the job done.

Small Errors and Typos

While sending out email campaigns and messages to clients, you’re using the wrong titles. Or maybe your most recent copy had spelling errors, or didn’t display correctly on customers’ mobile devices. Depending on the severity of your mistakes, this can permanently burn a lead.

How to Avoid: Enforce quality over quanity

Simple typos and formatting errors are things that can be squashed by more intensive copy editing, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. But if these things are a pervasive issue, maybe consider the rate at which you’re producing marketing content. You only ever get a chance at one first impression, so it’s important to make it good. Additionally, make sure that you’re properly previewing your content. Make sure several pairs of eyes approve of what you’re about to send to hundreds, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people.

Poor Lead Nurturing

Your workflows are pressuring the leads into a purchase too quickly. Without a proper relationship between a potential buyer and your brand, they may feel overwhelmed by a sudden and aggressive call to action. This can damage your potential for future sales, and may negatively impact your reputation.

How to Avoid: Develop a fruitful relationship

Instead of having your solution immediately throw them into a potential purchase, use the tools at your disposal to periodically send them content that may pique their interest. Use this method to ease the consumer into your organization. After they’ve been exposed to blog posts, news stories, and multimedia content, they’ll be much more likely buy something from you. When they feel like you’ve given them the information they need to feel confident in their purchase, you can draw them into the sales funnel.

Only Being Used By the Marketing Team

When introducing automation into your marketing strategy, make sure that your entire team is aware of the benefits it brings to your organization. Especially the sales team. Marketing and sales should have a symbiotic relationship, which can only be strengthened through marketing automation.

How to Avoid: Include Sales in Your Automation Strategy

Stop and ask yourself how you can incorporate sales into your automation plans. With the right strategy, both marketing and sales can greatly benefit. You could trigger alerts to sales when a lead spends time on one of their pages or fills out a form. This data can prove invaluable to sales reps during their future communications with leads, and would otherwise be unattainable without the automated solution.