How To Win The War for Talent In Marketing Automation

I don't like war. But it seems there's a war against everything these days and this is a suitable metaphor for what's happening in the business of marketing automation, including all the content and related Web elements. The truth is small business owners are getting killed every day by marketing automation software. Not literally. And to be fair, many companies have found success with marketing automation, after climbing a steep curve to adopt this breakthrough technology. Business leaders are investing, collectively, billions in marketing automation software that is supposed to make a huge difference in sales and business results. If what the sales guy says is true, heck, you'll be able to double or triple your sales with half the people you would otherwise have to hire. It's an enticing pitch.

Here's a typical conversation I have with small business owners. This was the essence of a call yesterday. The prospect calling in starts by telling me, "Hi Cliff. Yes, we just bought Dundersoft a few months ago. Yeah, at a seminar. The speakers told us all these great stories about how they "blew up" their sales using this amazing marketing automation software. It was off the charts learning about landing pages, SMS and all sorts of ninja marketing tricks they do online these days. It seemed so easy when we bought the software. We even went through the coaching and strategy classes they sold us. But the guy didn't know our business and we still don't understand how to make all this come together. It's the list of things on the website, all the emails we need written, and now we want to sell an online course about weight loss to our list. Right, the list we got back in 2002 from the national association of widget makers. They said we could use it for emails. I know it's old but do you think we can use it? We're so frustrated we've spent all this money. We don't have much of a budget and our season starts next month. Can you help us?"

It's the same scenario most of the time when people find me online. I listen, take notes, empathize and offer a reality check by saying, "Thanks for sharing all that. I completely understand how you feel because I felt the same way when I bought the software. It was new, I was in a hurry, I didn't have any extra budget and I was hell bent on getting rid of what I had been using. Anything would have had to be better than that. The main difference between people like you and me is I actually enjoy working in this software every day. You enjoy doing what you do best, right? So here's the deal. There is no finish line when it comes to this or any other kind of marketing if you want to be successful. This means you need real sales, marketing, technology and admin people to do this work in unison with you and your team. You need to take this seriously and there's a war for talent out there. And it's not getting any better. My labor costs for this work have gone up over 500% since 2008. This is the key; you need to find the right people, to focus on the right plan for you, making sure all the crazy, maddening detail work is done on time and on budget, without losing your mind, all while running the other 38 things you have to do today. Now, can ask you a few questions?"

Welcome to my current business life. I am grateful to have carved out a niche in marketing automation, especially considering most people my age who graduated college in 1983, did so without having a Smartphone or Macbook Air. Somehow I have personally lived in CRM and marketing-related software programs every single business day since 1990 when I bought my first computer and moved off my killer 3 x 5 Index Card CRM System. That's what it takes to be good at marketing automation. You have to like this using and working and building these solutions enough to get them to make a positive impact. It's never plug and play. And you have to learn to live with the shortcomings in your software because, well, it's software, and even Amazon or Microsoft have software problems from time to time. No one is immune to frustration with software or marketing.

There's the rub. Most small business owners have no business learning to run their own marketing let alone their own marketing automation software. Yet many of the companies selling these powerful solutions tell us we can and should be learning how to run these applications. But what is your highest and most productive use of time? Learning and using marketing automation software? No. So you have to be willing to pay up for the talent you don't have. I'm in the same boat as you. I pay hourly rates of $65 to $125 for most of the talent I use in my business or refer to clients from my network. That adds up fast, especially when you don't know what you're doing. I've learned the hard way.

That's the next major problem for CEOs, small business owners and marketing professionals faced with making sense of marketing automation is justifying all the money it costs to buy it and get it working so you can actually see a meaningful result. It's hard enough driving a measurable marketing ROI before you add the technology frustrations. So given all the things that can get in our way, here's how to win the war for marketing automation talent.

  1. Craft a sound strategy. It all starts here. Don't wing it. You and your team deserve a solid strategy and this is up to you. Strategy is a critical element of your campaign planning. A weak strategy reveals itself soon enough. And no software will turn your crappy strategy into some magic sales result landing you on your favorite beach sipping cocktails with paper umbrellas planted firmly. Do the homework which may require hiring someone to help you at the strategic level. It won't be the same person as the guy designing your Website. It's a different level of talent to find and engage.
  2. Invest in the right marketing automation platform and training. No one size fits all. Every sales person you meet is trained to sell you their solution as the best for you. Make sure you use a suitable platform for you and the people on your team. It's best to buy software you can afford without losing sleep. There are plenty of less expensive solutions you can start with in marketing automation. Work your way up as you go. Also, don't expect your ops manager or assistant to learn all the new software you buy. We all need specialists these days, not generalists. Pay to train your team or hire pros to get the work done right the first time.
  3. Pay up for talent. You deserve and can well afford the best talent your money can buy. Don't be cheap on talent. You need people who know sales, marketing, technology, content, psychology, analytics and more. It all has to work together. How many people out there do you think could possibly be competent across the board on all this? Not many. If you think anyone any good at this business will work for less than $125 to $250 per hour, think again. Yes, you can hire people online for $5 a gig. Or someone offshore for slave wages. But can any of these people pull it all together with or for you? No and that's partly why you're frustrated with people. Most people simply can't do a good job and you sleep well at night. If you hire a poser someone has to manage the poser. Posers in marketing automation, web, content, sales and project management are hazardous to your wealth and very existence in business.
  4. Take a long view. Yes, you can get sales results immediately with the right traffic and offer. But the bigger point is you must take a long view to marketing automation. When is it time to stop marketing and selling? Never. So you need to budget for the software, related systems and your main cast of characters including The Driver (Owner/Leader), The Task Master (Project Manager), Web Design Dude, Web Programming Dude, PPC/Traffic/Sales Mavens, The Automation Integrator. Budget appropriately for marketing automation every month, not three. You'll be very sad otherwise.
  5. Hire smart. If your strategy is sound, you have a clear plan of action that everyone on your team knows to follow and you hire the right people to work that plan you have a much better chance of getting a positive ROI with your marketing automation software and campaigns. Hiring smart people, specialists, requires knowledge and discipline. Climb your own learning curve so you can manage the cast of characters that fits your business. Keep a solid bench.

You can easily apply any or all of these starting right now. Remember, marketing and sales is a game of failure. Add the war for talent in marketing automation, sales, and many other specialized fields these days and you face surmountable odds given the desire t0 compete for this talent. No marketing works well, but it works incrementally well if we care to raising the bar. Then we get sales, customers and revenue. Winning the war for talent starts with knowing about the war and how to compete. Once you know how intense this war is out there, you'll be more inclined to learn and apply best practices, several which I have given you here.

If you're frustrated with your marketing automation software, people or lack of results, you're not alone. Keep the faith and apply what I have given you. This caliber of software is a game changer for businesses small and large. A decade ago none of this existed. This is not the same as your email marketing services or EMS like Constant Contact or Mail Chimp. The power and function of marketing automation solutions go far beyond email and do require a more sophisticated, specialized talent and skill set.

In the end, finding customers and keeping them is the primary purpose of investing in marketing automation software, the talent and related digital resources we all need to compete these days. Invest wisely, take the long view and never stop marketing. And best of all, we get to wake up every day and go to work and find new ways to better attract, engage, convert and retain happy, paying customers.

I always appreciate your comments, questions and suggestions here on the CME blog.

To your continued success and happiness.

About the Author

Leave a Reply 0 comments

Leave a Reply: