As I talk to marketers about their goals and objectives for 2009, many are looking at marketing automation systems. While I applaud their forward thinking, I also find that they are making decisions without iron clad ROI and/or a true understanding of what a marketing automation system can do for them.
We highly recommend building out a series of Use Cases which will:
- Show specifically what the investment will return for you and by when
- Provide a clear vision to how the solution will be used
- Engage and align all key areas of the company – sales, marketing and senior management in the process thereby producing buy-in, collaboration and a common vision
- Create your “Go To Market” campaign schedule with agreement from all parties
- Provide your training case around your solution
How did you approach this important spend?
Monday, March 23, 2009
Making a Decision for Marketing Automation
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1 comment:
Good question. I like to take the "reverse funnel" approach to making a business case for marketing investments.
In this case, I would take a look at what our revenue target looks like for the year. We'd agree with sales on what the contribution from marketing would be to that number (I've been at companies where it's ranged from 30-70(!) percent). We'll look at the conversion percentages between marketing-sourced lead an opportunity, then look at the number of inquiries we need to book to generate the MQLs.
On the cost side, I can calculate how many prospects I need to engage before I get an inquiry. And what a typical cost/suspect and cost/prospect would be.
And then I make some conservative estimates on what a marketing automation system can deliver into the funnel; or what opportunities I can affect through nurturing programs. There are a bunch of levers you can operate to determine what efficiencies you can generate through automating your campaigning, but I like to keep it simple.
The other factor I take into account when presenting a business case for marketing automation to the finance team is that there will be a quarter or two ramp time as we get started with a new system, and learn and adjust to having a powerful tool in house.
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