Every industry has its own set of secrets. The marketing automation industry is no different. With marketing automation adoption on the rise, industry leaders will go out of their way to protect these secrets fiercely. None of the marketing automation vendors will ever tell you any of these secrets about marketing automation. So, we’re going to share these secrets with you. Yeah, you heard that right!
Secret #1: YOUR Data Will be Stored on THEIR servers
No one will ever tell you that your data will be stored in the cloud. Maybe this is not a big deal for a lot of companies, but it is still a pretty hush-hush thing that no one talks about in the marketing automation industry. However, if your organization is part of a highly regulated industry, then you might face some bottlenecks.
If industry regulations do not allow to ship and store data overseas or on the public cloud, then you will have to find some other way of implementing marketing automation.
What you need to make sure is that the marketing automation platform you opt for has a server or cloud location in your country. Don’t let this secret hamper your marketing strategy anymore!
Secret #2: You CANNOT Import User Behavior Data
If worst comes to worst, and you are having a tough time with your current marketing automation platform, you will probably have to switch systems. You will have to get a new marketing automation platform that will suit your needs better.
But here’s the catch. And no one will tell you that. You can import all your contacts from your old marketing automation system to your new one, but you cannot import any user behaviour data.
So, what happens to the user behavior data that you had gathered in the past? All that goes down the drain. You will have to start everything from scratch, and gather behavioral data just like any other new marketing automation adopter.
Our advice? Choose your first platform carefully so that you don’t have to switch systems at all.
Secret #3: You CANNOT Export User Behavioral Data into another Marketing Automation Platform
Behavioral data might just become your arch-nemesis if you want to switch marketing automation systems or transfer your data to another system. Because, guess what? You cannot export user behavioral data into another marketing automation platform if you want to. None of the vendors ever mention that, so most automation users are in the dark till the moment they want to transfer their behavioral data.
Choosing the right platform in the first place is the key. It is okay to take your time, rushing forward with the most popular platform might not be the right thing to do.
Secret #4: End-to-End Implementation is a MYTH
If you are thinking that you will just get an automation platform for your organization and end-to-end implementation provided by your chosen software vendor will take care of it, then think again. End-to-end implementation does not really exist.
Depending on your vendor the implementation services that they provide will vary. If you are going with a marketing automation software vendor, you actually will not be getting any implementation support at all apart from a few online resources like tutorials and FAQs.
If you are going for a more popular, bigger vendor, you will probably have to shell out a hefty amount in implementation fees in exchange for more tutorials, phone sessions and educational content.
At the end of the day, you will have to implement your marketing automation yourself and if you do not implement your marketing automation platform correctly, it will be difficult to achieve any kind of positive result.
Secret #5: Your Email Reputation is ALWAYS at risk
A marketing automation platform usually lets you use a share IP for email marketing purposes. But, thing is that no one will ever tell you that. It is a distressing fact and it might be not a good thing for you.
You will be sharing this IP with other marketing automation users and you will suffer if any of these people are engaging in unethical email practices. Again, this is one of those things that will never strike you unless you face it. But it’s better to always ask for a dedicated IP meant solely for you.
Secret #6: Tracking Code might SLOW your website down
Usually marketing automation systems use JavaScript that you can add to the header section of your webpages. This lets you track user activity all over your website. What nobody tells you is that this might actually cause your website to slow down. So when your website slows down you have no clue what is going on in the first place.
Consider placing it in the footer and preferably within a container, so that the script loads in the background while the main sections of the website load.
If you are thinking about adopting marketing automation, and have more questions then why don’t you give Esanosys a try? Book a free consultation!!
