1. Stand in the toothpaste aisle of any
grocery store today, and the options
seem limitless. In addition to the array
of brands, your varietal choices are
abundant as well including all-­natural,
breath freshening, sensitive, whitening,
tarter control and the list goes on. Why
is it, however, that most contain only one
main ingredient like whitening or tartar
control vs. a combination of all of the
above? It seems impossible at times to
While selecting the right marketing automation
solution is a bit more stressful than selecting
toothpaste and not to mention a little more
confusing, the number of choices available also feels
limitless. In her review of marketing automation
providers, MAI Executive Council member, Larissa
Five Quick Tips on Selecting the
Right Marketing Automation Solution
begin to describe it.
vendor webinars.
softwarethatwillbestmeettheirneedsandallowthem
methodical approach to selection, organizations will be
fromtheirautomationsolutionandvendorofchoice.
Included in this paper are several tips that organizations
can adopt to help navigate the selection process and
improvetheirutilizationofthesolution.
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2. MarketingIQ
One of the areas that most organizations fail to address
whenapproachinganautomationpurchaseistheirown
marketing automation investment.
organizations box themselves into a particular solution
certain number of sales people. While this can be a
spoke to several vendors that service the mid-­market
and enterprise space thinking that was the natural
“customized” emails executed from Outlook. While
was a candidate for a more mature solution, their
functions a more robust solution could offer.
A few areas that should be considered to help
one-­off static emails or newsletters? Or do you
develop campaigns based on developing buyer
personas and offers mapped to their needs?
other software?
or send email communications from Outlook or
another personal email tool?
TheRightPeopleAttheRightTime
Greg is the Vice President of Marketing for a large mid-­
a marketing automation solution. “Had I known we
solution,” stated Greg. “As much as I want to blame
right people with the right skills to take advantage of
all it can do.”
above – limited use or even worse, shelfware.
dedicated personnel to own execution and ensure it is
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3. are much simpler to use and understand (do not make
Not having the right people in place who have the time
and in addition will provide strategic vision to help
resources before purchasing.
KnowWhatYouAreTryingtoAccomplish
that was being used in a limited fashion to communicate
scoringandbuildsomewebformsforafewisolatedemail
rightmetricsinplacetoshowsuccess. Infact,shedidnot
evenknowwhatsuccesslookedlike.
purchasingautomation.
make their number
certain product line, geo or business unit will help guide
the right enabling solution.
How Complex Are You?
to the implementation of marketing automation as
have no idea how complicated it can get. And while
When selecting an automation solution, be sure to
will you need to support multiple languages?
like? Will you have multiple data sources that
feed into your automation system or will it only
like? Will you have a demand center, ops team
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4. marketing?
demand multiple scoring models?
at automation solutions. Just because the solution
then select the solution that matches best.
ProveIt
each vendor provides a custom demo that applies to
demos will not offer an accurate view of the solution
scorecard is complete, select the top two vendors
and conduct a bakeoff. Have each set-­up a proof of
During the pilot stage, run several various use-­cases
negotiations with the vendor.
Conclusion
experience
bebetterpreparedtoselecttherightsolution.
bemuchsmoother.
.
About the Marketing Automation Institute
of marketing automation professionals across the globe. For more information visit
www.marketingautomationinstitute.com.