automation – Mautic https://mautic.org World's Largest Open Source Marketing Automation Project Wed, 18 Jun 2025 12:33:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://mautic.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/iTunesArtwork2x-150x150.png automation – Mautic https://mautic.org 32 32 Navigating the Digital Marketing Maze https://mautic.org/blog/navigating-the-digital-marketing-maze Wed, 08 Nov 2017 14:05:45 +0000 https://www.mautic.org/navigating-the-digital-marketing-maze/ AI. Big data. Predictive marketing. As marketers, we get incredibly excited about what these new digital marketing solutions will bring to our bottom lines. They mean that we will be able to reach more people, accomplish more tasks, and grow our business. But if we’re being realistic, some of these tools are not fully active in our businesses today. Research states:

“85% of marketers who use automation tools believe they don’t use them to their full potential.” (Source)

This means that we likely have systems in our business that are helping us achieve specific goals, but not to the degree that leverages their full capability.

Not only are we not using these systems to their full potential, some of these new technologies have not been fully developed. So how do we navigate this digital marketing maze? How do we find our way while leveraging these powerful tools to make more meaningful connections with our customers? The future of digital marketing is being shaped by a variety of tools and capabilities. They will promise a great many things, but preparing for them is just as critical as implementing them.

Here are a few key things to remember when moving forward through the space between existing and future technology:


People are still needed:

Our desire to bring value to customers should never be replaced by a computer. Computers still can’t interpret the innate needs of our customers. Although we are gathering terabytes of data, we need people to help interpret the data in a way that makes meaning.

“But what needs to go is our reliance on using automation to do our jobs. Because at the end of the day, we’re communicators.” (Source)

What this means is that we need to get smarter about how we use digital marketing systems in our business. Where does it make sense to automate? When do your customers value the human element? When do they simply want information? As marketers, our job is to truly understand the journey and the value at each and every touch-point.

Focus on workflow:

One of the most damaging things that any business can do when preparing for new technology is to create rigid, inflexible workflows. As technology continues to develop and add new features, workflows along your customer journey should remain flexible.

We often assume our customer journey’s work in one direction. Rarely do we consider a customer going backward. This thinking limits the view of our processes and workflow. We become rigid in our thinking, making it difficult when new technologies come into view. We should consider our marketing as operating in multiple directions, often skipping steps or moving from one touch-point to another without warning.

Not only will this approach help you be innovative in the way you engage customers, it will provide the flexibility required to add/remove process steps to improve the way you engage everyone along the journey.

Prepare your stack:

Most everyone is familiar with the term “agile”. We use this term when describing software development, manufacturing, construction and even marketing. At its core agile;

“…advocates adaptive planning, evolutionary development…and continuous improvement, and it encourages rapid and flexible response to change.” (Source)

These principles are important to running any business. They should be adaptive, innovative, flexible and continuously improve. If this is true, then your marketing stack should reflect the same. The key is to keep every area of your marketing stack flexible in the way that it communicates with customers, associates, and other systems. This will allow you to respond to the demands of new technology before it arrives in your business.

Digital marketing is constantly changing. As customers continue adopting new technologies and changing their buying habits, our businesses need to be quick to respond. This requires flexibility, not rigid workflows and systems that restrict.

What are other ways your business is navigating the ever-changing digital marketing space? Add them in the comments below!

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Tracking Visitor Data by Smart URL https://mautic.org/blog/tracking-visitor-data-by-smart-url https://mautic.org/blog/tracking-visitor-data-by-smart-url#comments Thu, 17 Aug 2017 13:49:58 +0000 https://www.mautic.org/tracking-visitor-data-by-smart-url/ We’re excited to continue sharing content developed by the Mautic community.

Have you ever wondered if you could track more than just visits via the Mautic tracking script? I know I did, and in this article I will show you how we can use URL’s to track anything you want.

The Basics

Before we start let’s have a look at these two URL examples. This one is without extra parameter:

https://mydomain.com/page/test/

And here we have the same URL with an extra parameter:

https://mydomain.com/page/test/?email=johndoe@company.com

If you use for example MailChimp or CampaignMonitor to send out marketing emails, consider using this technique. Simply add the email address as a parameter at the end of the URL.

In php one can catch this parameter simply with a:

$email = $_GET[‘email’];

And then proceed to use that parameter for processing. However, there is also a clever way of using the Mautic Javascript to track visitors on your site. Only some slight modifications can make it send off any lead field you want to Mautic.

Get Tracking with Mautic

Here is the default script:

<script>
    (function(w,d,t,u,n,a,m){w&#91;'MauticTrackingObject']=n;
        w&#91;n]=w&#91;n]||function(){(w&#91;n].q=w&#91;n].q||&#91;]).push(arguments)},a=d.createElement(t),
        m=d.getElementsByTagName(t)&#91;0];a.async=1;a.src=u;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
    })(window,document,'script','https://mydomain.com/mtc.js','mt');

    mt('send', 'pageview');
</script>

In short, what this does is simply pass along the identification parameters such as IP address and device fingerprint, together with the page the user is visiting. Now have a look at the script below.

<script>
	function getUrlParameter(name) {
		name = name.replace(/[[]/, '\[').replace(/[]]/, '\]');
		var regex = new RegExp('[\?&]' + name + '=([^&#]*)');
		var results = regex.exec(location.search);
		return results === null ? '' : decodeURIComponent(results[1].replace(/+/g, ' '));
	};
	
    (function(w,d,t,u,n,a,m){w['MauticTrackingObject']=n;
        w[n]=w[n]||function(){(w[n].q=w[n].q||[]).push(arguments)},a=d.createElement(t),
        m=d.getElementsByTagName(t)[0];a.async=1;a.src=u;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
    })(window,document,'script','https://domain.com/mtc.js','mt');

	var email  = getUrlParameter('e');

	if(email !== ''){
		mt('send', 'pageview', {email: email});
	} else {
		mt('send', 'pageview');
	}
</script>

The first function is used to extract a custom parameter from the URL. You can use this function for any parameter you want. Just make sure to pass the correct name to the function. In our case the name is ‘email’.

Below that you can see the default part of the Mautic tracking script. This is not relevant for us. It does what it needs to do, no need to concern us with that for now. Below that you will see a new variable is created with the name ‘email’ and the value it will get is the URL parameter for ‘email’. This means that this variable will hold the content of the URL that comes after ‘?email=’, which should be the email address of the user.

Then we have a short if-statement. This statement simply checks if the email parameter is filled or not. If it is not (which is the case for people that visit your website without a newsletter link) it will simply pass along the usual parameters. But if the email parameter is present it will pass along the usual parameters together with the email address.

Sending a Custom Parameter

You can send this along by adding ‘{email: email}’ to the mt method. Keep in mind that the first string identifies the field you want to pass along. In this case we want to pass along the email, but this could also be any other field like firstname or lastname, or even a custom field you have created. The second string or value is the actual value that needs to be passed along. Since we put the value we got from the URL in the ‘email’ parameter we just write ‘email’ to indicated that we want to pass along the string inside this value.

Lastly, make sure you enable public updating for the fields you want to track using this method. If public updating is not enabled Mautic will simply drop the field. You can do this by going to the ‘Custom fields’ section, then selecting the field you want and changing ‘publicly updatable’ from ‘no’ to ‘yes’.

Congratulations! You can now track custom parameters on your website!

The Possibilities Are Endless

Using the Mautic tracking script this way opens up new ways to identify your contacts. Think about the contact points you have and how you can use them to track different data sets.

If you are using mailing tools like Mailchimp or CampaignMonitor it is super easy to add the add extra parameters to your newsletters. Simply append the extra parameter to all the URL’s in your mail and there you go! In fact, you can use any contact network on point you have and use this methods for the parameters at hand.

Security

We should not forget that we are still handing personal data here. If you are appending sensitive data to a URL make sure you think about handling the data safely. What you could do is hash the parameters and de-hash them in your website before you send them off to Mautic. This way anyone who might come across the link cannot read or use the parameters.

Also make sure to use https, also known as SSL if possible. This is simply an extra layer of security added to the request the user will make. Best practice is to use both SSL for your website as well as the connection between your website and Mautic. You will see in the examples above the I have used https in the code, and not http.

And there you go. Now you know how to track custom parameters with the Mautic tracking script. I cannot wait to see what creative ways you all come up with to use this!

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What Airlines Can Teach Us About Automation https://mautic.org/blog/what-airlines-can-teach-us-about-automation Thu, 11 May 2017 12:03:19 +0000 https://www.mautic.org/what-airlines-can-teach-us-about-automation/ Unless you’ve been avoiding the news for the last couple of weeks, you’ve most likely seen all sorts of troubling stories surrounding customers who have been treated poorly by various airlines. If you’ve missed them here are a few;

California Family Kicked Off Delta Flight After Argument Over Toddler’s Seat

American Airlines investigates after video shows mom in tears

Delta Employees Asked Man to Leave Flight After Using Restroom

United Airlines Passenger Is Dragged From an Overbooked Flight

I don’t share these incidents to bring judgement upon the airlines or its passengers. The reason I share this is because I think as marketers, we can learn a lot from these situations. We can learn from innovative successes and groundbreaking products, as well as communication breakdowns and errors in judgement. Each of these stories should cause us to reflect and have meaningful discussions in our businesses.

As we consider each of these incidents, what is one thing they have in common? They reflect a breakdown in the customer journey. You’re likely saying, “Yes, we know all about the customer journey, there’s no problem here. We understand the touchpoints, as well as how we engage customers along each step of that journey.” That’s great. However, have you put your customer journey in front of your customer? Would they agree with each touchpoint? Have you considered missing touchpoints that maybe only your customer sees? The director of marketing at each of these airlines likely did not see the journey that included unhappy customers that are asked to voluntarily leave their flights each and every day.

So what does this mean for our marketing automation efforts? We should consider this a wake up call to how we engage our customers at each and every step and with each and every interaction. And that includes the interactions we may not always see or acknowledge.

  • Re-assess the Customer Journey:

    Your customer and marketplace are not, and should not be, static. If the way your customers find, access or engage you continues to evolve, then so should your customer journey.

    “A customer is never on a predetermined course – they are unpredictable! By ‘understanding the customer journey’ brands run the risk of pigeon holing their customers and losing them, by trying to control the process.” (source)

    This is significant. Don’t get lulled to sleep by believing that once you’ve outlined your customer journey that it is in “set it and forget” mode. There is a risk to not consistently evaluating each touchpoint. Even touchpoints you think don’t exist.

  • Review the Data and Verify:

    One of the most valuable elements of marketing automation is the ability to segment and communicate directly to the needs of our audience. But how often are we reviewing the data and verifying that the value is meaningful?

    “If the enterprise does not augment the product experience with accurate, timely, and relevant information (according to the user’s location, channel and time of usage), users will be left dissatisfied, disoriented, and disengaged.” (source)

    Don’t forget to periodically monitor click throughs and open rates to ensure your content is adding value to your segments at each and every stage.

  • Find the Gaps:

    As you reassess your customer journey, not only must you constantly be speaking with you customer facing team, but you must be speaking directly with customers at each stage of the customer journey. Why did that potential customer not place an order? Were there unmet needs? Are there touchpoints that we haven’t addressed?

    “As part of this 360-degree view of the customer, brands need to connect data from both physical and digital touchpoints in order to bridge the gap between the two.” (source)

    These gaps reside in our day-to-day interactions with customers, but also in the digital handoffs that occur as we provide our products and services.

  • Add Value at Every Stage:

    Whether your customers are loyal or encounter an unforeseen roadblock, it is incumbent upon you to add value. We are in a sharing economy. The challenge we face as marketers is that every potential customer should be seen as a potential advocate for our business whether they are a customer or not.

    “The art of creating added value starts with the ability to see your business through the eyes of your customers.” (source)

    So walk in their shoes, talk with them directly. Sometimes the best data is not in a report, but directly interacting with the people you serve.

In summary, what can we learn from the challenges airlines have been experiencing over the past couple of weeks? That no matter how long you’ve been doing business, and what you think you know about your customers, there is always an opportunity to learn more and improve the customer journey before, during and after they interact with your business.

For more information about how to create your own custom journey in Mautic, check out our video on the subject.

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Understanding Cron Jobs – A Mautic Minute https://mautic.org/blog/understanding-cron-jobs Tue, 31 May 2016 11:44:37 +0000 https://www.mautic.org/understanding-cron-jobs/ Do you have your Mautic forms, landing pages and campaign emails ready to go but nothing is happening? If you’re using the self-hosted version of Mautic, you need to check your CRON jobs.

Cron jobs are one of the most frequent topics in our Slack chats.

Cron is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like computer operating systems. Cron schedules jobs (commands or shell scripts) to run at fixed times, dates, or intervals.  Mautic requires cron jobs to update contacts, campaigns and execute campaign actions.  Mautic also optionally uses cron jobs to send emails and perform other related tasks.

If you’re in the marketing department, that may sound like “greek” to you.  In this Mautic Minute, we explain cron jobs and visually explain each part.

Mautic requires three cron jobs:

  • Keeping segments current – php /path/to/mautic/app/console mautic:segments:update
  • Keeping campaigns updated –  php /path/to/mautic/app/console mautic:campaigns:update
  • Trigger campaign events – php /path/to/mautic/app/console mautic:campaigns:trigger

cron jobs in CPanel

These paths will change based on your web server and Mautic installation.

  • if you’re not sure, ask your web host for the path to php .
  • if you’re comfortable with the shell and have access, run this command: which php.
  • to find the root of your website run: pwd – then add the Mautic directories after the response (see the image below).

There are several optional cron jobs, depending on your configuration.  You can read the full documentation at  https://mautic.org/docs/en/setup/cron_jobs.html. There are a few host-specific notes in the full documentation and it is worthwhile to completely read through.

 

 

Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel.

If you’d like to suggest a topic, please head over to the #support channel and message @imrodmartin.

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The Great Marketing Automation Collaboration https://mautic.org/blog/the-great-marketing-automation-collaboration Mon, 15 Feb 2016 14:37:05 +0000 https://www.mautic.org/the-great-marketing-automation-collaboration/ Collaboration is an important aspect of any business. We all work alongside smart people trying to produce our goods and services. I used to work in a small business consultancy. The organization designed solutions that engaged employees in strategy. We worked to help them better understand what the strategy was and how they could bring it to life. Pictures and images were drawn to help employees visualize content in an engaging way.

The business is an interesting collection of talented individuals. They’re comprised of educators, strategists, programmers, artists, designers and more. The variety of talent gives them an advantage over their competition. But more importantly, their collaboration creates innovative solutions for their clients.

collaboration art

The solutions they produce are highly visual in nature. These large images help communicate strategy so that employees can understand the “big picture”. Associates can then have a dialogue with their peers about important, strategic issues. The visuals unlock understanding, that words so often, can not.

The Team

The outcome of these engagements were often riddled with “a-ha” moments. They are moments when an employee would stop and say “I get it!”. The visuals provided a much clearer picture than a presentation filled with bullet points. But the visual isn’t born out of thin air. It takes a close partnership between the business strategist and the creative artist.

The development of these visuals always begins with the problem. It starts with the team sitting down with the client and listening to the challenges they face. Each team member hears the problem from their own point of view. These unique perspectives add immense value to the solution. In today’s marketplace, the collaboration between marketing and software development teams will become invaluable. This partnership can spark innovation and will be more powerful when they work together. And as marketing continues to move online, development must have a seat at the table. They will play a vital role in growing the customer relationship.

The Collaboration

This partnership between the artist and the strategist is important. Even though their views are different, the goal of engaging associates is the same. Likewise, the collaboration between technology and marketing is critical. These two functions have operated in silos. They are focused on their own goals, without consideration for the other.

The collaboration between marketing and software development will become invaluable and more powerful when they work together.

The collective reset button needs pressed. Teams should tear down their silos and realign on the purpose and goals set out by the organization. What is that purpose and goal? Creating seamless user experiences that add value at every stage of the customer relationship. Media buyers used to operate in lock step with marketing, and many still do today. They work together to understand how customers buy products. But communication channels are changing. Digital is now how we reach and connect with our audiences. Many organizations must work to help teams come out of the dark ages. They must forge bridges of awareness and understanding.

The Approach

So what approach do we take when aligning marketing and development? Marketing automation is a perfect place to start. These two teams must converge to meet today’s customer demands. Just like the artist and the strategist, aligning around the common goal is where we start. People would always wonder how an artist and strategist could work together. With a common goal, these two different views always produced incredible results.

Let’s take a moment to reflect on the roles of marketing and software development. Although unique, they are two sides of the same coin. How does this collaboration work effectively?

collaboration

  • Listening: Strong developers and designers always begin by listening. Both these roles need a thorough understanding of the problem. This understanding is important before thinking through the problem and crafting the solution.
  • Design: Any approach to solving a problem requires a big picture view. This view reveals all the elements that may impact the desired solution. Trusted marketers understand the entire customer experience and likewise, trusted developers are focused on creating structure and order in their code.
  • Focus: Good marketing and design requires simplicity. There should be one single theme or idea. Great developers create beautiful code that works well with as little “extra” fluff as possible. This focus removes clutter and aligns our efforts.
  • Vision: One of the most important elements that developers and marketers exhibit is vision. Marketing should take into account customer buying trends and consider feedback from their audience. Developers should also look ahead. Potential problems should be identified and resolved before they become an issue.

This approach, combined with a common goal, will create more meaningful value. And at the end of the day, that is what we want for our customers.

Marketing automation is becoming a more integrated way to do business in the digital age. It’s clear that these two roles not only have common ground, but approach their work in a similar way.

We are excited about the community of Mauticians that represent both marketing and development. It has, and will continue to, provide us with the ability to meet the needs of organizations around the world. It is in this special collaboration that we can provide tools to help you reach, engage and develop relationships with your audience.

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How to Make Marketing Automation Personal https://mautic.org/blog/how-to-make-marketing-automation-personal Wed, 10 Feb 2016 11:58:15 +0000 https://www.mautic.org/how-to-make-marketing-automation-personal/ We’ve heard it before and we’ll hear it again. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard friends, family and colleagues talk about the frustration of SPAM. Emails and correspondence that is irrelevant and unrelated to the needs they currently have. It’s begins with insensitive telemarketers and transitions to direct mail and unwanted emails. Gary Vaynerchuk once said: “Marketers ruin everything.” And I’ve found that to be true. The wider the net we cast, the less personal we become. Sometimes we just try too hard. Listen, I understand. We are trying to reach our audience in new and unique ways, with new and unique tools. But how can we reach them in a personal way?

I was traveling the other day and found myself at a restaurant seated next to a couple of gentlemen from the local car dealership. Normally I don’t find myself listening in on the conversations of those around me, but the restaurant was quiet, and I couldn’t help but follow along. It started slow, and as they continued, I gathered that one was the manager and the other was the GM. As they began to discuss the current state of the dealership, the conversation began to take an interesting turn.

Personal Marketing

The manager was talking about how challenging it was to keep team members from leaving the business. He was expressing frustration that some of the individuals that had left, were now back asking for their jobs back. And as they discussed the nature of their departure and return, the manager began talking about the culture of the business. “It’s not like it was when I was on the sales floor”, he chided. “When I was working the floor we did whatever it took to make the customer feel welcome.”

The day was cold, overcast and it had been raining, and as the manager continued, he said, “You know, on a day like today, our team would have been standing at the front door with umbrellas, waiting for customers to arrive. And when they would, we would be out there asking the customers what they wanted before they event stepped out of the car. And if they did, we’d have the umbrella handy to cover them as they walked into the dealership. Now, the sales team simply stands at the front door and hovers, waiting for them to walk up to the door.”

And if they did, we’d have the umbrella handy to cover them as they walked into the dealership.

He continued to express his disdain for the current sales team and how they have lost the hunger or drive to meet the needs of the customers who have come to their dealership. “It’s a different group.” he muttered.

Why Automation

I think it’s important for us to do a bit of a reset on the purpose of automation. It has only been a couple of years since automation has really taken off, and already, there are marketers that believe automation can replace the entire function of marketing. They are like the sales team in the story our manager talked about. They have quickly forgotten the art of marketing. They have forsaken the customer and believe that they already know exactly what the customer wants, and will wait for them to “make the right decision”.

Friends, marketing automation will not, and should not, replace your marketing team. It was developed to help you see your marketing environment in a more holistic way. It helps you take into account the location and potential needs of your customer and help you provide information and value to them in a quick and efficient manner.

Personal Automation

So let’s get back to our manager. When he was on the sales floor, he was always thinking about the customer. When the rain clouds were out, he was prepared with an umbrella, ready to meet their needs before they even asked. As marketers, we should always consider the needs of the customer based on their environment.

Where are your customers? What is their environment? Is it raining or is it sunny? Who are they with? Is it lunch time, are they hungry? The list goes on and on and on. These questions help us gain a critical view of our customers. When we see them in a way that is not a data point, but a person, seeking value, we will look at them and our marketing in a different light. Here is a great article on developing a value-based model for your business.

Time to Get the Umbrella

As you continue to seek the perfect automation tools to help you share your product or service to your audience, please take a long, hard look at your customer. They are the reason you are in business. Providing value to them goes beyond the sale. As we’ve discussed, you certainly want to maintain a healthy view of your goals, but if you don’t keep your customer front and center, your automation efforts will feel not feel personal. They will end up feeling like the car sales team that our manager talked about.

So stop staring out the window, get the umbrella, go out in the rain and put your feet into the shoes of your customer. Because when you do, your marketing efforts will feel less automated and will start to feel more personal.

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Omni Channel Marketing: A Short Primer https://mautic.org/blog/omni-channel-marketing-a-short-primer Tue, 26 Jan 2016 16:36:55 +0000 https://www.mautic.org/omni-channel-marketing-a-short-primer/ It’s 2016. A lot has changed since the days of TV ads, billboards and direct mail. We’ve seen all the data and read all the trends. Today’s your target audience is more tech savvy than ever before. They’re on Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat, navigating the “interwebs” with reckless abandon. And they’re consuming content faster than ever before. So it is important that everyone who wants to automate their marketing, understand the omni channel approach with which they can connect and engage their customers in a meaningful, relevant way.

Before we get started I fully recognize that there are a number of different individuals from different industries who are reading this. So when we talk about communication channels, I want to be clear that the channels represented here, cover the basics of marketing communication. There will likely be other channels that are not included in this list, that are relevant to your industry that you will want to consider.

omni channel

It is critical when we talk about automating our marketing channels, that we understand why we are automating, what we are automating and how we are automating. Each channel will have it’s own unique goals and approach related to the why, what and how. This will become apparent as we begin to unpack the different channels and how your customers are using them.

At a high level we’d like to outline the following channels;

  • Social Media
  • Google & SEO
  • Corporate Website
  • Customer Communication
  • Mobile Applications
  • Customer Communities
  • Brick & Mortar
  • Feedback

omni channel list

Understanding Omni Channel

As we look at the holistic customer journey, one of the terms that you will see is omni channel. This term simply indicates all the marketing channels along your customers journey to your organization. The typical sales funnel is being uprooted by new channels and processes everyday. Your customer may learn about your product or service by walking down the street, seeing a Facebook post and browsing Instagram, among a variety of other ways. Understanding this will help you see your communications differently.

Let’s remember that as you evaluate all of these different channels, consider how automation can assist you in connecting with your audience, gathering data about your customer, but more importantly bringing value to them. This omni channel approach should help you see your marketing differently. It’s time we begin looking at marketing not as campaigns or headlines, but as value creation.

“It’s time we begin looking at marketing not as campaigns or headlines, but as value creation.”

Now that we’ve defined our communication channels, we need to determine how each channel fits into the broader goals of our strategy. As we discussed in the scorecard post, what are the critical metrics that you are trying to move and what are the levers (or channels) that will help you move them?

This activity should be done with each channel. Remember, engage your team! As you begin to outline which metrics are impacted by which channel, you will begin to see how each channel can be utilized to gain the traction you’re looking for.

For starters

Let’s take a look at a quick example. Imagine one of the metrics on your scorecard is to increase awareness, and add leads to your CRM system at a trade show. As we review all of the channels you are currently communicating through, there are definitely a few that would be relevant. Social Media, Google & SEO, and your corporate website. These channels could all be used to drive awareness (among others) for your involvement at the show. The key is to now review all of customer touch-points and see if there may be an opportunity to drive awareness through them as well.

Now let’s consider how automation could help us achieve this goal. Here are just a few ideas to get you started;

  • Prizes: Determine a “conference only” prize that when visitors visit a website landing page, they will automatically be entered in the drawing. Then share the landing page on social media to gather more leads. Be sure to note they must be present to win. 🙂
  • Deliver: Bring value to your customers from the booth. What can you deliver at the conference? Think about your product or service. Are there things you can do to help them overcome their challenges in small doses? Be sure to scan their conference card in order to receive it.
  • Promote: Determine what the conference #hashtag is and begin developing blog posts prior to the conference related to the topics that will be highlighted. Share these posts via social media and include the conference #hashtag and then direct visitors to visit the booth. You can gather their contact information and provide the value you positioned in your marketing efforts.

This example represents the front end of the customer buying journey. It is a relationship generator. What happens when you get that email address is critical. If you truly want to develop a deeper customer relationship, don’t keep asking for the sale, add value. When you add value, the process of marketing automation will feel invisible and you’ll develop trust.


Over the last week or so we’ve covered a large area with a couple of high altitude posts. First we outlined customer touchpoints. Then we discussed the scorecard. And then we highlighted the initial stages of automation. In our final post of the series, we will be reviewing the entire cycle in a visual that will assist you in continuing the dialogue with your colleagues.

Is there a specific example you would like us to cover? Comment below and we can provide a case study that is specific to your needs.

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How to Automate Your Marketing Scorecard https://mautic.org/blog/automating-your-marketing-scorecard Tue, 19 Jan 2016 13:16:34 +0000 https://www.mautic.org/automating-your-marketing-scorecard/ The success of any business is often dictated by the numbers. As a business leader, your goals and strategies fall on the ability for your business to connect, and ultimately sell, your solution to customers or businesses. It is the litmus test for your success. So it is imperative that you keep score of the numbers that matter. That is why we’d like to discuss the marketing scorecard, as you determine the best approach for automation in your business.

Last time we discussed the importance of starting with outlining the customer journey. It is critical that your business starts here. Your business and marketing goals should be always be aligned to understanding, and ultimately meeting, their needs.

scorecard

As noted above, although you may find yourself in the marketing function, it goes without saying that the function of marketing should be to engage customers while supporting and driving the overall business objectives. Marketing should never sit on an island. Your marketing goals should be aligned to this “north star”.

The Marketing Scorecard

All of these goals will ultimately be incorporated into your marketing scorecard. The tasks and goals that you’ve researched, discussed and aligned on, will be the foundation for how your business keeps track of success. We would like to provide you with a quick overview for how you can develop your own marketing scorecard. This combined with your customer journey will be used to develop your marketing automation strategy.

  • Improve Awareness: As you assess your current place in the market against competitors, what are the strengths of your solution should you be sharing? What are the value gaps you can expose in your competitors, that your product or service offers? What are some relevant content areas that you can explore? How do you begin telling the marketplace about them? What new and unique channels can you use to share these stories?
  • Generate Leads: Every business needs customers. Although we in the industry calls these leads, they are people. People that have needs that you would like to fill. As you review the customer journey, where can you connect with them? Generating leads is about meeting your customers needs. Meet them where they are at. Assess their journey and provide value and the “leads” will follow.
  • Increase Sales: This is where engagement becomes relationship. It’s when the customer decides that the value they sought out, is worth the money you’re asking for in return. If your solution truly brings about a value exchange, then you have an incredible opportunity to extend that relationship into something much more valuable.
  • Drive Loyalty: This is the brass ring of any business. When a sale becomes something more. Apple, Nike, Starbucks. These organizations have delivered value AND an experience that enriches our lives. They are adding value after the sale. As you craft your scorecard, don’t simply stop at the sale, find opportunities to delight the customer long after the sale is done.

Marketing Scorecard

Bear in mind that these are high-level scorecard metrics and are designed to be a starting point for you and your team. Each one is a broad category that encompasses other more specific measures that will ultimately focus on individual goals that, if developed well, are SMART.

Marketing is not an Island

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, this should not be an exercise you accomplish on your own. There is value in reaching outside of your function to ensure that you are creating a holistic scorecard. Consider the functions that impact each and every area of your strategy. There could be a new scorecard metric that is waiting to be revealed, that will have a significant impact on your business!

Later this week we will drill down even further and start to assess all the communication channels that will help you drive your strategy and connect to your customers and impact your metrics. As you begin to unpack these high-level metrics, what are some underlying measurements that you are tracking? Share them in the comments below.

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Hands On With Mautic Webinar https://mautic.org/blog/hands-on-with-mautic-webinar Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:16:15 +0000 https://www.mautic.org/hands-on-with-mautic-webinar/

UPDATE: This Hangout is now available to be watched in our archives.

We understand that marketing automation can be confusing at times and there can be some uncertainty about the best way to structure a tool like Mautic to improve your business. Mautic is a new and exciting open source platform which allows every business regardless of size the ability to use marketing automation.

Now that you have a tool you can afford and a powerful open source product to use it is time to learn how to implement marketing automation.

In this Hangout we will get ‘Hands On with Mautic’ in a step by step walkthrough where we explore the functions of Mautic by looking at the software.

If you have always wanted to learn about marketing automation but never had the time (or money) then this Hangout is for you! Join us as David Hurley, founder of Mautic, gives some helpful advice on marketing automation and Mautic. Get your questions answered and start revolutionizing the way you do business!

Details

Google+ Hangout scheduled for February 11, 2015 at 2:30PM EST. (Check local time). Signup for the webinar and visit our Google+ Community page

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