The problem
For marketing automation to really be effective it needs to be wielded by the marketer, not by the marketing automation expert. By expert I mean the consultant who knows how to configure this marketing automation suite or that marketing automation suite. Often, there may be various module experts involved as well. All of that effort, not to mention all of those resources, in order to automate what should be relatively simple marketing processes. As a result, marketing automation calls for a big up-front investment in training and implementation that result in a tough-sell ROI proposition.
The purpose of automation is to simplify and speed up processes ̶ not complicate things! Marketers need and want a quick and efficient way to automate what are in reality relatively simple processes. The problem is that marketing automation solution providers need to integrate functionality in order to provide a rich cross-channel feature set that competes with the market leader. This is exacerbated by the market leader gobbling up and integrating emerging technology and media channels in order to stay in the lead. The net result is that the “integrated” technology is often more complicated to use than the processes to be automated, leading to a low process automation penetration rate, hence lower ROI.
The end-user needs a simple marketing automation interface if they are going to use it on a regular basis. Ideally the CMO and marketing directors brainstorm strategy and initial tactical scenarios using a design tool. These preliminary designs are then refined by the marketing analyst or admin assistant, depending on the size of the marketing department. The resulting marketing programs and campaigns are further refined and implemented using existing technology. Simple – or at least it should be. Sounds like a dream.
The solution
This is actually much closer to reality than you think! Customer State Marketing offers such a design interface. Due to its simplicity the productivity gains are astonishing, as I have alluded to in many of my blog postings. This got me thinking as to why this is. I think I have narrowed the design benefits of Customer State Marketing down to two components:
1) Scenarios display the characteristics of object oriented programming
2) Scenario programming is procedural
For programmers, these two statements are significant. For everyone else this sounds like some foreign language – definitely very obscure…
Let me put it another way:
1) Scenarios are self-contained. They know how to behave in response to external stimulus (i.e. an event). This stimulus occurs randomly and the scenarios will automatically respond to the event according to the rules contained in the scenario itself. The scenario only knows what it needs to know in order to respond to the stimulus, and contains all of the information necessary in order to carry out its functions properly (i.e. actions), such as sending the appropriate email.
2) Scenarios follow simple rules, and have a simple program flow and limited branching options. This makes it easy to design state-based event/action program flows that govern how and when a scenario responds to a random customer event.
The benefits
The benefits from combining these two design aspects, object and procedural, accrue when describing and building simple to complex marketing automation ecosystems that govern acquisition, conversion and retention tactics in accordance with a cross-channel strategy.
1) The object nature of a scenario means that each scenario can stand alone. It does not need to be linked to other scenarios in order to function properly, something that would add complexity. By narrowly focusing on a specific goal, Customer State Marketing scenarios permit the marketer to consider only a limited set of relevant events thereby limiting complexity. This makes it possible to begin small, automate some quick wins, and then gradually build up to a complex Customer State Marketing ecosystem.
2) The procedural nature of a scenario flow means that it is easy to understand, and similar to simple if/then/else branching that is familiar to non-programmers. As a result very little training is required, and a marketing person can quickly master the design tool. There is no longer the need for marketing automation solution experts and the time and expenses that entails, not to mention the loss of flexibility that occurs whenever you need to translate requirements from one department to another, what I like to call translating from marketing-ese into IT-ese.
Conclusion
These two aspects, object and procedural, of Customer State Marketing are what make it so simple to use and easy to apply in a tangible manner to automate marketing processes. It is such a pleasure to use. I get the best of both worlds, develop solutions in record time, and have yet to confront a marketing automation challenge that Customer State Marketing cannot resolve.
Remember: Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity because complexity killed marketing automation.
