Getting a handle on your Marketing Automation software can be a challenge. But here at Agent3, we’ve predicted the top 3 things to look out for to get ahead of the competition in 2022.
2022 is going to be a big year for Marketing Automation. A function businesses look to when wanting to improve productivity within their marketing efforts, its use is only going to increase – with marketing teams spending more and more as they look to keep pace with the ever shifting digital environment brought about by the pandemic.
As specialists dedicated to Marketing Automation, we work with clients in a variety of different industries, and have noticed some interesting trends that will surely come to affect businesses using MA platforms in 2022.
In this blog, we have narrowed down our top three predictions for the year ahead. The important topics to look out for, so you can get ahead of the curve and continue to get the most out of your Marketing Automation platform and its place at the heart of your organization’s MarTech stack.
1.The rise of specialist tools
In the same way that you might upgrade a car to help it run better, or go faster, people are doing the same with Marketing Automation platforms. Where MA was once the heart of the MarTech stack, supporting organizations with one simple system, we will see an increasing slant towards organization’s using individual specialism tools that cater to a particular function. Some examples of these are tools like Unbounce, for landing pages, or Convertr, to optimize data and routing.
Whilst MA tools are great with the sheer breadth of functionality they offer, this utility does come with a caveat. It is no surprise that tools that are created specifically to deliver one type of activity, and specialize in it, are more often than not going to perform better than an MA tool that is designed to perform a variety of functions.
Simply, it all comes down to this focus on breadth vs. specificity. MA platforms allow users a breadth of functionality, catering to a lot of different use cases, whilst these specialist tools are being used for individual issues.
MA will still be the beating heart sitting at the center of this stack, but these increasing numbers of supplementary tools will be present too. The main challenge for MA users in 2022 will be focused on integration – how teams can use all these specific tools working in harmony with the wider MA instance, working in harmony from a technical, operational, and lead flow perspective.
2. Skills, skills, skills
This rise of specialist tools leads us to our second prediction affecting Marketing Automation in 2022 – growing and developing the right skills. Finding and hiring the best people with intricate knowledge of Marketing Automation platforms is a well-known challenge, but it is now set to increase with the specialist tools being added to the mix.
It will no longer be good enough to just know about the Marketing Automation platform you use. Many will need to focus on how the specialist tools and MA platforms integrate and work alongside the other. Businesses will need to hire someone with the skills – or develop the skills – so a top down overview of their whole maretch stack and MA instance can be achieved.
What’s more, they’ll need to think about the implications of what this mixing of specialist tools and MA platforms will mean from a business perspective. Whether that’s downstream processes like lead scoring and routing, upskilling or bringing in skills to deal with this will be incredibly useful for your MA teams and Marketing Automation progress in 2022.
3. Cracking the lead nurture code
Now, we know that this is not really a ‘new’ prediction. Organizations have long used MA tools to help with lead nurturing, to allow them to automate communications based on customer and prospect behaviour. But what’s key about nurturing for 2022 is how relevant it’s becoming.
We’re noticing more and more companies waking up and smelling the proverbial ‘nurture’ coffee, to see what they think of as nurturing isn’t, in fact, lead nurturing at all. (A series of batch and blast email sends does not, as we know, a lead nurture make).
The common issue we’ve heard time and again from our clients is ‘I’m doing some form of lead nurturing, but is this right?’. At Agent3, we’ve developed a frequently used 5-step process, and it is processes like these that Marketing Automation teams will need to follow and learn from to improve.
So, what’s next for MA in 2022?
We know getting the most out of your Marketing Automation platform can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be. Just by reading our three predictions, you’re already on your way to understanding more about how to improve your MA platform and boosting your businesses’ performance.
Do you struggle with a particular point in your MA instance? Or do you simply wish you know how you can get more out of your instance? What about lead nurturing? Come and chat to us! We’d love to find out more about your problem, and how to help with our knowledge and solutions. Email us at marketingautomation@agent3.com