Marketing Automation is a huge contradiction in terms. The term "Automation" has served vendors like Eloqua and Marketo well over the years because it implies a "set-it-and-forget-it" service. Experienced marketers know better. Marketing Automation solutions are very sophisticated tools. They can be very expensive - with features (bells and whistles) which most users only dream of using.
Thus the problem, the "Marketing Automation" term over-promises and gives executives a false sense of confidence in their ability to benefit from the investment and implementation. As if the tool was a "Rhoomba" vacuum...and by setting it up, every prospect and lead will be swept up and closed with scientific precision. In my estimation, a tool like Eloqua is more like a very sophisticated sewing machine. I apologize for the comparison (because I always hated sewing - I ended up screaming for my mother every 3.5 minutes). But - a sewing machine does not, after being set-up, create snazzy designer garments with ease. Don't underestimate the patience, practice, and hours required to create a garment suitable to be worn in public. I don't want to come off as being negative...because the Marketing Automation solutions have great potential. May I suggest that it may be time for a change in vernacular? Step one - lets begin the process of crowd-sourcing a more descriptive term.
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AuthorPhyllis Stewart- Archives
April 2015
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