A short guide for those who are not familiar with marketing automation.

1. Part 1:
Background
What is Marketing Automation Anyway?
If you are considering to implement a new Your MAS can access your CRM and alter records,
Marketing Automation system or already using add tasks, re assigned leads, write history logs
one, you are probably well aware of this crowded and similar actions but it doesn’t replace any of
and steadily growing Market. the CRM core functionalities such as leads &
business processes management, or
The term ‘Marketing Automation’ may not be opportunities & pipeline projections.
well defined, although the technology has been Other than this your CRM is the base to many
around for over a decade now. That is due to the other add-on’s and integration to other systems
vast set of features, processes and technologies such as your telephony systems, ERP, Financial
housed under this term. Application etc.
Most of the leading MAS integrate with some of
Yet we can say confidently that any solution that the common CRM’s including Salesforce.com,
situates itself as a Marketing Automation Oracle On Demand, Sugar CRM and may offer
platform will have these key features and other integrations upon demand.
capabilities in it.
Website Integration:
Integration to a CRM System: One of the key elements in MAS is the ability to
First: Marketing Automation is not a CRM. integrate with your corporation’s online
While a CRM can stand alone without a MAS presence and enhance it as the web is
(Marketing Automation System), the other way considered on of the major channels for Demand
around is not a natural situation. Generation.
Some Marketing Automation Systems vs. CRM systems.
Do not confuse between the two

2. Part 1:
Background
What is Marketing Automation Anyway?
Such integration will include the ability to track A ‘beginners’ automated process can include
your visitors’ behavior, and deliver insight from blasting them all with April’s newsletter, while a
their implicit web behavior such as which pages more complicated process can include sending a
they viewed, how long they spent on each, as series of emails (‘Drip Campaign’).
well as explicit behavior including a form fill out If you want to add granularity to the process,
to name the most common. define several routes depending on the lead’s
demographics, behavior including which emails
Added to that are out of the box editors to they clicked and which not, what webpages they
design your own landing pages and forms with a visited following that email click etc. the options
WYSIWYG interface which save you the need to are endless but hard to maintain over time as
run to your webmaster for every new one you you grow complexity.
need to launch as well as capturing those details
straight to your CRM system. Lead Scoring
One of the key challenges your MAS can help you
Automated Campaigns and workflows: with is the answer to the question your sales ask
As you would expect from a technology including them every morning : “Who should we call
the word ‘Automation’ in it, your MAS has the today?”
ability to automate process: simple or complex To answer that, we use Lead Scoring.
pin-pointed and granular or batch - it’s up to you. Lead Scoring is a very straightforward method of
prioritizing your work so you could decide in a
glance whether you are chasing John Smith today
or not.

3. Part 1:
Background
What is Marketing Automation Anyway?
The Score usually takes into consideration the Mass Email Engine:
Lead’s behavior score including Website visits, Marketers tend to underestimate the critical role
emails opens and click trough's, form fill outs etc. Emails play in the Demand Generation efforts,
and also demographic score such as title, but emails remain one of the key channels to
company, industry, territory and other factors. create demand generation, hence it is
The difference between demographic score and considered one of the key benefits for adopting a
behavior scores is often described as ‘how much MAS in the first place, as strange as it may sound.
are interested in them’ (demographic) vs. ‘how
much they are interested in us’ (behavior) – This is why you need to review very carefully the
these two should ideally be combined to a single email engine (good chance that it is powered by
score to help you prioritize these leads. one of the mass email deliverability vendors).
Static IP, Spam checker, Inbox Preview can be
Sales Enablement: offered on top of the basic email package that
All the richness of the insights and automated comes with your MAS.
capabilities your MAS can provide you with
cannot complete unless your Sales can act upon
Some Mass Email enablement and Deliverability
them. Vendors. Email is still a big deal.
For that you need to observe very closely what is
the integration level you are offered with your
CRM, including Alerts to Sales Reps, Easy
reporting of every lead’s behavior tracking and
even the ability to deliver closed looped
campaigns by your sales rep to the MAS and
back.