As a community, we believe that it is not just about sending newsletters or promotional messages; it’s a powerful way to build and maintain relationships with customers, nurture leads, and ultimately drive conversions. We also strongly believe that it’s our responsibility to be trustworthy senders and respect our recipients’ inboxes.

Gmail and Yahoo hold the throne when it comes to email service providers, boasting massive user bases. This means a significant chunk of your target audience likely uses them, making its policies and features crucial to your email marketing success. Now, Gmail and Yahoo are rolling out new spam protections aimed at making inboxes safer and less cluttered.

For Gmail, this will require email validation, easy unsubscription, and they will enforce a Threshold for Spam Rate for senders with more than 5,000 Emails sent to Gmail per day (see details below). 

“Last year we started requiring that emails sent to a Gmail address must have some form of authentication. And we’ve seen the number of unauthenticated messages Gmail users receive plummet by 75%, which has helped declutter inboxes while blocking billions of malicious messages with higher precision. Today, we’re introducing new requirements for bulk senders — those who send more than 5,000 messages to Gmail addresses in one day — to keep your inbox even safer and more spam-free.” (Google Blog)

Yahoo is also turning its focus on domain reputation and sender authentication. The updates to Yahoo Mail mean that if your domain has a poor reputation – often due to sending spam or emails which contain phishing-like activity, you will face much more scrutiny. Additionally, the content of an email will be reviewed much more closely, to ensure it doesn’t contain phishing attempts or other scam-related characteristics.

Yahoo’s approach takes a much more holistic view – considering both the reputation of your domain and the quality of the communications that are being sent.

For Mautic users, this is not just another update to gloss over. These changes will affect how your emails are delivered and interacted with, impacting everything from open rates to click-throughs. So let’s dive in and explore what these new rules mean for your Mautic campaigns.

Ask yourself

• Are you familiar with how to handle email deliverability issues, such as spam filtering?
• What is your current strategy for dealing with email service providers’ varying spam rules?
• How crucial is Gmail for your email marketing strategy compared to other service providers?

Gmail and Yahoo’s New Spam Protections

Gmail and Yahoo are introducing new rules for senders that will impact a lot of people using Mautic to send emails (transactional as well as marketing) to Gmail or Yahoo inboxes.

Bulk Senders Requirements

They are cracking down on bulk senders. If you’re sending more than 5,000 messages to Gmail addresses in a single day, you now fall under a special category with new requirements. For Mautic users, especially those with larger campaigns, this is a pivotal update. Ignoring these changes could result in your emails landing in the spam folder, or worse, not getting delivered at all.

Focus on Email Validation

Email validation is no longer optional; it’s a necessity. Gmail and Yahoo have both emphasized that emails sent to their addresses must be authenticated. This helps in filtering out spam and malicious content. 

For Mautic instances, it means that implementing and monitoring authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is imperative. Not doing so could see your emails sidelined, affecting your campaign metrics.

Enable Easy Unsubscription

Gmail and Yahoo are making it easier for users to opt out of emails they no longer want to receive. Bulk senders are now required to include a one-click unsubscribe feature which is compliant with RFC 8058 and RFC 2369. This was included in Mautic 5.0 and there’s also a backport released in Mautic 4.4.11. 

Threshold for Spam Rate

Another major update is the introduction of a clear spam rate threshold. Gmail and Yahoo haven’t specified the exact rate, but crossing this line means your emails could be flagged as spam. For Mautic users, this requires constant monitoring of campaign metrics. Falling foul of this rule will not only affect your Gmail and Yahoo recipients but could have broader implications for your entire email marketing strategy ad other mailbox providers are sure to follow this lead.

By adapting to these new rules, Mautic users can ensure that their email campaigns continue to reach inboxes, engage audiences, and drive conversions.

Ask yourself

• How are you currently monitoring your spam rates in your Mautic campaigns?
• Do your existing Mautic email templates include a one-click unsubscribe feature?
• Are you familiar with email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and have you implemented them in your Mautic settings?

Actionable Steps for Mautic Users

There are some essential and recommended actions you can and should take to ensure email deliverability stays high for you when sending to Gmail and Yahoo.

Setting Up Main Email Authentication Protocols for Mautic Users

Email authentication is non-negotiable, especially with Gmail ramping up its spam protection features. Let’s dive into the big three: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and see how you can set them up for better email deliverability.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

• Identify Your Sending Domain: Your SPF record will be a TXT record in your domain’s DNS settings. So start by logging into your DNS provider’s dashboard.
• Create or Edit TXT Record: Add a new TXT record or edit an existing one to include your mail server’s details. A basic SPF record might look like v=spf1 a mx include:yourserver.com ~all.
• Test: Use SPF validation tools to verify the record’s accuracy.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

• Generate a Pair of Keys: You’ll need a public and a private key. Your public key will go into your DNS, and the private key stays in your mail server (Mautic in this case).
• Update DNS Record: Add a TXT record for the DKIM key, it usually looks like k=rsa; p=YourPublicKeyHere.
• Activate and Test: Once added, turn on the DKIM signing in your mail server and test the setup using DKIM validation tools.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance)

• Start Small: Create a TXT record in your DNS settings for DMARC, start with a ‘none’ policy to collect data first, like v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:reports@yourdomain.com.
• Review Reports: DMARC will send XML reports to the specified email. Review these for issues.
• Tighten Policy: Once confident, you can change the policy from ‘none‘ to ‘quarantine‘ or ‘reject‘ for stricter controls.

Final Thoughts

Regularly check the setup using different validation tools. And be ready to tweak settings as email providers update their algorithms.

Ask yourself

• Have you set up these authentication protocols for your Mautic email campaigns?
• How often do you verify the status of your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records?
• Have you noticed any changes in your email deliverability after implementing these protocols?

Implementing Easy Unsubscription

Mautic gives you the flexibility to customize your email templates, so make use of it. Head over to the “Emails” tab, and within your templates, ensure that you include an unsubscribe link that’s easily visible. Ideally this should be connected with a Preference Centre in Mautic, which allows the user to set their preferences or completely unsubscribe.

Mautic automatically takes care of the one-click unsubscribe if you’re on the latest version.

Monitoring for Spam Rates: Leverage External Tools

While Mautic offers robust analytics, it’s prudent to expand your monitoring arsenal with external tools specifically designed to gauge your sending reputation. Remember, different mailbox providers have different ways to evaluate your email reputation. It’s not only Gmail.

Utilize these third-party tools to get a multi-faceted view.

Here are some vital tools you could consider integrating to get a more holistic understanding of your email performance:

• Sender Score by Validity: Think of this as your email credit score. A higher score generally indicates better email deliverability. This tool uses a rolling 30-day average to gauge where your IP address ranks among others.
• Barracuda Central: This tool offers real-time IP and domain reputation lookups. Use it to check whether your emails are being flagged as spam or passing the legitimate test.
• Customer URL Ticketing System by McAfee: This system allows you to dig deep into various data points such as domain history, associations, DNS, and mail server reputation.
• Google’s Postmaster Tools: If you’re sending a high volume of emails to Gmail users, this tool will provide insights into your IP and domain reputation, as well as any specific delivery errors you need to be aware of. Use this if you’re sending a lot to Gmail.
• Microsoft SNDS: Much like Google’s Postmaster Tools, SNDS provides data on your spam complaint rate and IP sending reputation when sending emails to Microsoft’s email platforms. If you’re sending it to Microsoft, use it.

Using these tools in combination can give you a more nuanced understanding of your email reputation. If Gmail or Microsoft flags your emails, it’s likely other providers will too. So stay vigilant, and keep an eye on these metrics to remain in Gmail’s good graces.

Ask yourself

• Are you currently using any third-party tools to monitor your email-sending reputation?
• How often do you check these external tools for insights into your email deliverability?
• Have you noticed any correlation between the metrics from these third-party tools and Mautic’s own analytics?

Don’t let these changes catch you off guard. Adapt, optimize, and keep your Mautic campaigns running smoothly.

Conclusions

Alright, let’s wrap this up. Email marketing is a cornerstone for businesses, and Gmail and Yahoo are too big a proportion of email users to ignore. Gmail and Yahoo’s updated spam protection mechanisms are levelling up the email game, demanding higher standards for authentication, validation, and user experience.

If you’re using Mautic, you need to get your house in order — fast.

The clock is ticking. Adapt your Mautic templates and implement the latest best practices in email authentication, like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Fine-tune your settings to align with Gmail and Yahoo’s expectations, and keep an eye on your spam rates. Numerous tools are out there to help you gauge your sender reputation, and use them to your advantage.

Don’t sleep on this. Make sure you’re ahead of the game. Stay compliant, stay in the inbox.

Ask yourself

• What specific steps will you take immediately to align your Mautic settings with Gmail’s new spam protections?
• How will you monitor the impact of these changes on your email deliverability and overall campaign performance?
• Do you have a plan for continuous improvement and adaptation as email providers continue to evolve their algorithms and user protections?
• Have you verified your DNS settings after setting up email authentication protocols?

Read more about the difference between email marketing and marketing automation, and how both marketing tactics can earn value for your business.

Email marketing has been around for over 40 years and continues to be one of the most effective forms of marketing. In 1978, the first email marketing blast was sent to 400 recipients and it generated $13 million in sales — that’s equivalent to $78 million today! The revenue generated from email marketing in comparison to the investment continues to be significant. Campaign Monitor notes that every $1 investment in email marketing can give a return of $44 in revenue.

Email is a powerful marketing tool and as technology continues to evolve, email marketing is becoming more automated. Let’s look at how that change has happened over time and what it means for traditional email marketing.

Although email marketing started in the late 70s, it wasn’t until the 90s that it really started gaining traction. If you remember the 90s, that’s when the Internet was born. The first smartphone was introduced and Hotmail launched its first web-based service. For marketers, this was known as the decade of “spray and pray” email marketing.

For those not familiar with the term, “spray and pray”, also known as “batch and blast”, refers to sending the same generic email message to many people via a static contact list. The “spray and pray” approach required minimal effort because there’s little strategy involved and no targeting. The message is generic and the distribution list is static, so you create one email and send it to everyone. This approach is equated to yelling “Hey, Bob” in the middle of a crowded place and expecting that someone in the crowd will be named “Bob” — that is, you “pray” that your message will hit the mark with some customers but in reality it falls short for most. Instead of shouting into a random crowd, knowing what they look like and where they’re likely to be at a certain time means they’re more likely to respond — and you’re more likely to be getting the right person, rather than just some random person who happens to share the same name.

This type of batch emailing quickly became coined as “spam” and anti-spam laws were introduced in the US by 2003, forcing marketers to rethink their email marketing approach and get more targeted. In the early 2000s, marketers started creating their own email databases, allowing them to create targeted email lists based on basic information they knew about their contacts.

These targeted distribution lists helped marketers get away from the “spay and pray” approach, but the emails were still generic and the strategy focused on a single campaign. Marketers would create an offer, schedule out the campaign and then blast emails to their own distribution lists. Although those lists may have been more targeted, they still leveraged a one-size-fits-all approach to email marketing.

The marketing landscape began to drastically change with the explosion of digital channels, devices and touchpoints beyond the web.The number of channels marketers now had to manage divided their time and made it necessary to automate manual processes, including email marketing. And as the number of marketing channels increased, so did the demand for a cross-channel marketing strategy.

That’s when marketing automation was born.

Benefits of multichannel marketing automation

Marketing automation is the process of automating repetitive marketing activities across multiple channels. In 2006, marketing automation software was introduced. Essentially, these were tools designed to help automate marketing tasks such as email marketing, social media posting and ad campaigns. But the marketing automation vendor landscape really picked up between 2010-2015 with revenue going from $225 million in 2010 to $1.65 billion by 2015.

Marketing automation leverages technology to turn manual processes and campaigns into automated workflows. And these tools aren’t just used for email marketing, they can target customers with automated messages across email, social media, web and mobile to orchestrate the omnichannel experiences that customers demand by delivering the right message, at the right time, through the right channel.

Key features for marketing automation

Marketing automation tools introduced a lot of new features that allowed marketers to do more with their marketing campaigns in less time. They required an investment of time to set the campaign and workflows up initially, but then they would run automatically based on the parameters or triggers established. Here are some common business requirements of marketing automation:

• Dynamic segments: In the past, marketers could segment their databases manually. With marketing automation, rules could be set to move contacts from one email distribution list to another based on actions they take. One example is moving contacts through various steps in the sales funnel. If a contact clicked on a link to request a demo, a trigger could be established to move them to the next stage of the funnel.
• Auto-response for email and text: Marketers can establish rules for when contacts should be sent an auto-response based on specific actions. For example, if a customer puts an item in their cart but never checks out, an email can be automatically sent to remind the customer of the items they still have in their cart. Or if a contact booked an appointment, a text message could be set up to send an appointment reminder 1-2 days prior to the appointment.
• Drip campaigns: A drip campaign allows marketers to establish a series of actions to take place over a period of time for a targeted group. For example, a marketer can create a series of lead nurture emails that would be sent out to prospects in a given timeframe. To create the drip campaign, the marketer needs to establish what actions should happen, the order of those actions and the triggers that would cause the next in the series to be sent. Then the drip campaign runs automatically for all contacts in the targeted list.

Marketing automation tools allow marketers to move beyond a one-size-fits-all mindset, and begin to put the customers at the center of all campaigns. With these marketing automation tools, it’s easier than ever to provide consistent messaging from email and social to the website and text messaging. And with the rise of personalization, marketers are able to provide not just consistent experiences across channels, but very targeted and personalized experiences as well.

Marketing automation tools are just the software that helps automate the process. It’s still up to the marketer to define the strategy and create the campaigns. This requires marketers to understand their customers better by collecting valuable data, identifying key insights, building customer profiles, and evaluating what’s working and what’s not. It’s still up to the marketer to identify the key touchpoints and design the connected experience for their customers.

Equipped with the right tools and a data-driven strategy, marketing automation can help businesses design customer-centric experiences that support their specific goals and drive marketing ROI.

Theresa Anderson is a Senior Digital Experience Strategist at Acquia and has kindly authorised that we reproduce this post, originally posted at the Acquia blog.

This problem isn’t new. For over a decade, marketers have been trying to determine how to make our content stand apart. We’ve written from different perspectives, we’ve wrapped it in creative call-to-actions and tried to engage our audience explaining why our content is more unique and valuable than the other guys. So how do we stand apart? How does our content rise above the rest?

We need to think differently. We need to start being human. Let’s imagine that all the web’s content is represented by a city. What brings that city to life? It’s people. When we think of our hometown, we think in context of our personal relationships and experiences. We don’t think of the data (i.e. population or square miles). We think of the high school we went to and the crushes we had. We think of our first job and how tough the manager was. These stories provide the context for the city.

Principles to Humanize Marketing Automation

If we recognize that storytelling humanizes us and is a vital ingredient to our marketing efforts, how do we incorporate it into our marketing automation processes?

• Become a farmer: Many of the expectations placed on sales and marketing teams is about quantity vs. quality. Skills are often based on the ability to convert or win. These terms immediately describe an “us vs. them” mentality. This is not how we build relationships. In a post written by Sean Jackson, he describes the value of thinking like a farmer vs. a salesperson.
  

  “But the farmer has a major advantage over the hunter. While the hunters must go into new territories each day to stalk their prey, farmers stay in one place, planting new seeds and reaping the fruits of their efforts on the same ground they have toiled over already. In return, the land they till becomes infinitely more valuable because it can consistently reap a harvest without the hits and misses of hunting.”

  You’ve likely heard the phrase lead nurturing? It’s marketing speak for building relationships. It’s staying in one place, listening to your customers and adding value by meeting their needs at each stage of the buying journey. But we can’t accomplish this by trying to “hunt for sales”, this must be done by building trust over time, adding value at each step.

• The power of empathy: Many articles have been written about the power of empathy in business. To think like a customer means that we have walked in their shoes. This goes beyond understanding the buying journey or the customer need. When we have walked in our customers shoes, we connect with them on a personal level. We are far more understanding of their needs when we understand their story. Michael Hinshaw states this about the customer experience:
  

  “Several studies back up the fact that no matter who your customers are (B2B or B2C), there’s a high price to pay for delivering a poor customer experience. The thing is, customer experience is really based on how your customers feel. And one of the best ways to make them feel better about the experience is to listen them, understand their concerns, and deliver empathetic service across multiple touchpoints.”

  So delivering a positive customer experience is more than simply knowing what kind of product they use. It’s having knowledge about how and why they use it. If you sell shampoo, you need to know what kind of hair they have, why they chose the shampoo, then deliver value around the entire experience. What do they need before, during and after they shampoo their hair? This information helps create customer empathy. When we deliver this kind of content via our automation processes, it will show that we have listened and seek to provide real value along the way.

• Getting personal: In his latest book X: The Experience When Business Meets Design, Brian Solis outlines the importance of the customer experience. It’s going beyond the data. It’s about getting personal.
  

  “Big data provides great information about customers’ interests, personal and professional networks, location, and many other characteristics. But creating meaningful experiences requires us to get more personal than just mining data. One of my least favorite expressions is, “It’s not personal; it’s only business.”

  This is where the rubber meets the road. Data gives us a limited view of our customers. It shows us open rates, but doesn’t reveal intent. It shows us downloads, but doesn’t indicate purpose. We must take the additional step to “micro-mine” the data. How do we do that? We must be curious. We must gather valuable insights. What are your customers interests, values and opinions? “Data storytellers” (or analysts) have the unique ability to reveal information that do reveal incredibly accurate stories about our audience. Gathering and listening to these stories will help us further humanize our content and create experiences that are meaningful and personal.

The Tactics of Humanization

In order to humanize our marketing automation efforts we must critically look at each interaction during the customer experience as it relates to our communications and determine how we humanize it. Here are a few thoughts to get you started.

• Be Relational: This goes without saying. Create an experience where your customer sees you as a real live person, not a large organization or automated system. Use the proper tags (first name, etc.) from your automation system to relate to your audience. If your customers all have a specific kind of goldfish, then tell them that you are running a special for that kind of goldfish. Speak in an authentic personal tone. Business speak will get you a one way ticket to Irrelevant-ville.
• Segmentation: Another way to humanize our marketing automation is to use one of the most powerful tools in our automation toolbox, segmentation. When we cast a broad net with our marketing and communication, it robs us of our ability to be relevant. Take the time to segment your audience into very specific groups. This will allow you to create communications that are personal and relevant. When we can provide very targeted messages that relate to our customers on a personal level, it will feel human.
• Logical Campaign Flow: This can be tricky. Now that we have this shiny new automation system, it’s tempting to automate our every interaction. But proceed with caution. Remember what it feels like to be the customer. If they don’t answer your email, then sending them another one the next day, is not good relationship building practice. Step back and consider the buying journey. At what steps are decisions being made? When does it make sense to re-engage your audience? Take time to ask some of your existing customers about their journey.
• Consider the Entire Customer Experience: The best way to add value and relate to your customer is to acknowledge them not only before and during the sale, but after it as well. Too often our marketing efforts stop at the cash register. Don’t allow the dollar signs to get in the way of delivering exceptionally personal experience by following up. Are there other areas of the customer experience you can add value to? How did their experience with your product or service go? Were they satisfied?

This is not an easy task. It takes an immense amount of time to walk in the shoes of your customer. From the moment they discover the need, all the way through the moment their need is met, and beyond. But just as any relationship takes time to develop, so does automating your marketing. Marketing Automation is still relatively new. While the systems are vast, there is a simple philosophy that your team should adhere to before generating the campaigns, emails and landing pages that will capture your audience’s attention. It’s the philosophy of making every interaction human.

Undeliverable Email

But is our email marketing campaign being received? So many articles (like this) have been written to help us get our emails where they need to go. Unfortunately reaching the inbox is now more challenging than it has ever been. According to Return Path;

Regardless of the reason, declining inbox placement rates represent a serious concern for marketers. With one out of every five emails failing to land in the inbox, brands are missing out on a full 20% of their opportunities to connect with customers and earn their business.

There are many factors that impact whether our information/offer will get to our intended audience. SendGrid outlines four key components to determine if your email marketing campaign will be delivered. They are;

• Message Infrastructure Health
• Message Content
• Sender History and Filtering
• Receiving System’s Availability

Interestingly enough, you can impact 3/4 of these factors. Can you guess which ones? The only item that is truly out of your control is the receiving system’s availability. All other elements you have the ability to impact or control. It’s not by manipulating spam filters or blasting out 5 times as many emails in one week to gain a better return.

Greater Email Marketing Campaign Returns

So how do we capitalize on the missing 20% and maximize the existing 80%? I’m glad you asked. There are many tactics that will help you achieve this end. But this post is not your typical how-to. I’d like to step back a moment and look at an approach that will guide your email marketing strategy.

The 2015 Deliverability Benchmark Report produced by Return Path, states that the greatest email delivery rate was achieved by industries that relied the heaviest on customer relationships. Think about that for a moment. The greatest returns are not achieved by the best technology, the most creative campaigns, or the highest budget. These results were due to the development of deep customer relationships.

So if the key to getting your email marketing campaign delivered is deep customer relationships, how do we foster them? As we connect with our customers and influence our buyers via email, we must consider the following elements to effectively reach them.

• Trust: We know that all relationships are built on trust. Why is it so difficult to realize? Because trust is developed over time and requires many interactions. It requires patience. Industries like retail, health & beauty and apparel achieve stronger placement because they are typically high-touch environments. Real interactions with real people provide greater levels of trust. If you want to connect with your audience, humanize your interactions. Make it personal. Understand the need in the context of their environment, and deliver value in a meaningful way. John Kottcamp says it best;
  

  Companies that excel at delivering rich, personalized online experiences not only produce more loyal customers but also outperform their competition on the stock market, according to a recent five-year study conducted by Forrester Research. (source: MarketingProfs)

  Personalized means more than tagging a first name in the greeting. It means gaining a deeper understanding of where they have visited, what their interests are, and connecting your value to that information in an authentic, meaningful way.

• Analysis: Developing trust in a relationship is like strengthening a bridge between you and your customer. It starts on shaky ground and then begins to gain strength as you continue to provide value according to their need in the moment. As you interact with your customer, it is important that you never stop listening. Listening or analyzing the feedback they provide in the form of interactions with you and your brand. This requires time and talent. The proper analysis of traffic and customer data will further ensure that you are a trusted provider. Data is a double-edged sword. It can make you a relevant star, or it can make your brand feel disconnected and irrelevant. Which leads us to our final point.
• Relevance: I was at the local coffee shop the other day, chatting with a friend. We were having a discussion about how many vacationers were stopping in. A gentleman overheard our conversation and tried to make a joke, but it turned out to be an awkward moment as we didn’t understand what he was referring to. This was not about his joke, but about the fact that in that moment we could not relate what he was saying to our conversation. This made his joke awkward and irrelevant. The point is, if you want to develop trust with your audience, you must be able to relate to them in the proper context.
  

  “Achieving such personalization requires knowing deep context: not just a customer’s demographic data but also the time and location she accessed content, the search terms she used to find it, the referring site that directed her toward it, and—most important—her behavior before, during, and after consuming it…” (source: John Kottenkamp)

This approach works. Maximizing each email marketing campaign begins with content that builds trust, is built on proper analysis and is relevant to the customer.

Relevancy is the marketer’s secret weapon, and the fastest path to revenue. Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened and marketers have found a 760% increase in email revenue from segmented campaigns. (source: Campaign Source)

In summary, the ability to deliver your email marketing campaign is not based on whether you can sidestep spam filters. It is in your ability to develop trust with your customers. If you can not do this with confidence, take the time you need to develop your marketing and communication strategy with these important elements at the helm.

These recommendations are simply the tip of the iceberg. What are other ways you’ve discovered help your email marketing campaign get delivered? Share them in the comments below!

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.

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

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.

Well that depends. Before we go too far down that track, we’d like to offer some guidance. No, we’re not trying to sell you anything. We’re here to give it away.

In full transparency, we’ve been working tirelessly on a marketing automation solution that is top shelf. It’s open source, filled with flexibility, plays nice with others and is, well…free. At the core of who we are, we want to make marketing tools available to every organization that needs it. But what is a valuable solution without the instructions? This goes beyond documentation and how-to’s. It is strategic. We’d like to share an approach that we trust will help you understand the marketing automation landscape and determine how all these solutions fit together for your organization.

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, we’d like to offer our thoughts on how to assess your current state, further understand your customer buying cycle and develop a plan for implementation. All in an effort to help you customize your own unique approach to marketing automation.

The Touchpoint

In today’s post we want to highlight the value of the customer touchpoint. So many organizations today think that a few simple email campaigns will unlock the door to endless customer engagement and profits. This is simply not true. For your company to be truly successful you must learn that marketing automation is about understanding the big picture of your customer.

It’s critical in today’s marketplace, that you not only understand what customer need you’re meeting, but understand each touchpoint you have with them. During the buying cycle, there will be many times that you have an opportunity to create a meaningful, value-filled connection.

Step 1 of understanding how marketing automation fits within your business, begins with laying out your purchase/sales process and evaluating each customer touchpoint. We would like to provide you with a few thoughts to help get you started;

• First, write down the steps in your sales process from left to right. (Tip: This process should be cyclical. You never want to end the process with a sale.
• After you have identified your sales process, under every step, write down all the different touch points where the customer is involved/connected with that step. Does it involve contact with an associate? When do customers interact with your product or service? List all of them out. Even ones you think are outliers.
• Now you’ve written down each touch point your customer has with you and your product or service. There are a couple of additional questions that will take this exercise to the next level. Evaluate each touch point. Are you being proactive or reactive? What value can you bring the customer at each step that would delight them?

We’ve provided a high-level example of a sales process to get you started. Keep in mind this is a 50,000 foot view. If your process is more complex, there are likely many additional channels under each step that will require further evaluation.

Don’t Go It Alone

You should not lay out this process or answer these questions alone. Each and every function in your business likely has a touch point and channel they are responsible for. Whether it is the cashier or the accountant, the salesperson or the receptionist, these touch points will provide you with a holistic picture for the areas where you can add over-the-top value to your customer, with the ultimate goal of developing a long-term relationship. To start you off, there is an HBR presentation that could assist you in beginning to see and understand the cumulative customer journey.

But outlining these customer touch points is just the beginning. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the opportunities to connect with your customer will continue to grow. So it’s important to make each and every connection count.

Understanding the big picture of your customer buying journey, and the touch points that impact them, will help you assess the areas you need to improve. But before you invest in a marketing automation solution, it is important to realize that automation will not increase your sales, creating meaningful customer experiences will.

Stayed tuned for the next installment of the Big Picture of marketing automation where we will discuss how to outline your goals. The blueprint for your marketing automation efforts.

Pointless because you drive people away, obnoxious because you make your organization something people don’t just passively ignore but actively dislike; and obviously this is extremely harmful to your future success. This is not marketing automation. This is not marketing done right. This is applying old techniques to new technology. Your marketing automation is much more than a one-way blasting of information. You should not organize your marketing campaign to be constantly shouting at your audience. You must do more with your marketing automation software.

Marketing automation when done correctly can be a tool to engage and interact with your potential customers. You can encourage, support, and respond to their needs based on their action or even inaction. “But how?” you ask. Here are three quick suggestions to make sure you do marketing automation right.

1. Send Future Emails Based on Previous Interest

One of the most common mistakes when organizations start to use marketing automation is the ability to send unlimited emails automatically to potential customers. This is a bit like handing the keys to a high-end sports car to a first-time driver. The sheer power and awesomeness of this shiny new toy is too much to handle and things can quickly get out of control. Sending repeated emails based on too sensitive of triggers is the main and most obvious way that marketing automation gets abused. This is talking without listening epitomized. This behavior is obnoxious and potentially harmful. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t use marketing automation effectively and even for email delivery.

Properly sent and timely emails based on well-defined triggers are critical parts of a good marketing campaign. Just be sure to listen and build your campaigns based on user interaction. Did they open the previous email you sent? Did the click a link you shared in the email? Use these triggers as ways to determine interest for future emails. Be smart in your marketing.

2. Be Consistent Without Being Obnoxious

The second problem that can frequently arise with new marketing automation users is the over usage of lead touch points. This means contacting your leads to frequently. Don’t inundate your new leads with too much information too quickly. Remember that you want to implement a drip campaign not a flood campaign. If you bury your new leads in a torrential amount of welcome emails, request for feedback, product suggestions and more you will drown your potential customer. Don’t be obnoxious.

Instead be timely and be consistent. Set a marketing plan that properly touches your leads and shares information at appropriate times. This might mean a monthly newsletter with relevant information, or maybe this means a bi-weekly email with completely different content each time. This is consistent, friendly interactions instead of obnoxious and overbearing information dumps. This step also requires that you listen to your potential leads. (See Suggestion 1 above)

3. Don’t Hover

The last suggestion for building a successful marketing automation campaign involves trust. You need to trust your campaign workflows, you need to trust your personas you’ve built, you need to trust the process. If you don’t trust in what you’ve built and organized you will find yourself hovering over every potential lead and new site visitor. You’ll find yourself obsessing on what they are doing, and jumping in to provide more information and push a decision. This is the used-car-salesman approach to marketing and it’s ugly. No one likes to be hard sold like this; your marketing automation prevents you from doing this…if you trust what you’ve created. Listen to what comes back.

Marketing automation when done right will bring your best leads to the surface when they are ready to be contacted. They will be nurtured by your marketing funnel; adding points, giving weight, improving their readiness, until the time comes when they are turned over to you for direct engagement. Your marketing should handle everything else so you don’t need to hover.

These three suggestions will help you cut through the marketing automation madness and help you build a powerful marketing campaign strategy that will keep you from sabotaging your own progress. Be smart, Be consistent, Be trusting. And watch your marketing automation do what you intend for it to do.

Mautic is an open source marketing automation platform built for you. Mautic will help you organize your marketing campaigns, build successful marketing strategies, and nurture your leads effectively. Mautic helps you listen to your customers.

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice Viral Marketing Continues On LexCorp Website

An important aspect of viral marketing is making fans feel like they are taking part in the world of the film that’s being hyped, and so, WB has chosen to portray LexCorp as an actual entity, and it’s made for some entertaining moments and reveals. For one, there was the faux interview with Fortune that revealed that Jesse Eisenberg is, in fact, playing Lex Luthor Jr. in the upcoming blockbuster. This undeservedly caused quite a stir, as many fanboys did not realize that pre-New 52 Luthor was technically Lex Luthor Jr.

Read the full story: http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/batman-superman-dawn-justice-lexcorp-viral-marketing-continues/

How Arby’s Broke Its Marketing Slump and Became One of Today’s Beefiest Brands

The brand’s turning point arrived about two years ago. It was either going to crash and burn or rise to the challenge of its teetering brand. The difficulty was figuring out what made the brand special and what it stood for.

The team came to a consensus on what was at the core of the Arby’s brand: meat.

“We’ve done that through creating engagement with our customers where the brand can fit into cultural events. We jump in where we think we have a right to jump in. We don’t push content and ads through our social media channels. We listen,” said Arby’s Restaurant Group brand president and CMO Robert Lynch.

Read the full story: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-arbys-broke-its-marketing-slump-and-became-one-todays-beefiest-brands-167625

How Lego’s Marketing Vp Led the Awesome Team that Stole the Oscars

Though The Lego Movie, a fan favorite and $468 million blockbuster, earned not a single nomination in the animated feature category, the 83-year-old Danish toy company proved it didn’t need one. During a two-and-a-half-minute rendition of “Everything Is Awesome,” dancers fanned out through the audience to hand yellow Oscar statuettes (made from Lego bricks, naturally) to the likes of Meryl Streep, Clint Eastwood and, most memorably, Oprah Winfrey, whose look of surprise and delight reached 35 million viewers. In fact, according to data crunched by Amobee Brand Intelligence, Lego dominated the night with close to 47,000 social mentions and 44 percent of the real-time discussion. That little Oscar trick handed the toy brand some $7.5 million of free advertising. Not a bad night for a loser.

Read the full story: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-lego-s-marketing-vp-led-awesome-team-stole-oscars-167467

Email Deliverability 2015: Are Messages Reaching Inboxes?

Only 79% of legitimate marketing messages sent by brands are arriving in consumers’ inboxes, with the rest ending up in spam folders or getting lost, according to a recent report from Return Path.

The report was based on an analysis of 357 million marketing messages sent by recognized brands to subscribers. Inbox placement statistics were based on performance across more than 150 mailbox providers in North America, South America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

This year’s 79% email deliverability rate is down from 83% in 2014, the analysis found.

Read the full story: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2015/28649/email-deliverability-2015-are-messages-reaching-inboxes

1. Think like your audience

You know your product. You know what you are working on or the services providing. In fact, you have been eating, sleeping, and breathing your business longer than anyone else. As a result of your personal involvement you have come to identify with certain terms, keywords, and a distinct way of thinking about your business, your product, and the needs your solution meets. This is the first problem you will face. Rather than thinking as the person who has created this amazing business you must think like your audience. When you think like your audience this affects your entire marketing strategy. Everything from the keywords you use in your content marketing to the flow of your campaign workflows within your marketing automation will be affected by the thinking of your target audience.

2. Go where they go

But let’s step back even further. Before you can think like our target audience you need to go where they go. You need to find those locations online (and on social) where your potential customers like to visit. There are several reasons why this step is important. First, by finding and visiting those places where your audience lives you will learn what interests and motivates them. Second, this will help you think like them (see the first point above). When you live a day in someone else’s shoes you have a much better understanding what they are going through, and what they are thinking. You must go where they go. And be mindful that this is not the same for every business. You may find a great audience for your business on Twitter while someone else may find that LinkedIn is their ideal social network hangout.

3. What does tomorrow hold

As a business owner and someone who knows their product and potential market you must do more than just create something your target audience wants today you must create what they will need in the future. You must identify how your market will evolve and do more than just provide a feature set or product that meets their needs today. You have to anticipate what the future holds. Henry Ford has been credited with saying something along these lines:

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
More details via HBR

The veracity of the quote aside, the sentiment is true. Often your target audience is unaware of what they will desire in 6 months, 12 months, the future. Your job is to find your target, identify their future desires, and market towards this goal. Obviously this is a challenging task. While you cannot predict the future you should be consistently innovating and pushing the boundaries in anticipation for what will be required in the future.

4. How big is your audience

One of the most important questions you should ask as you seek out your target audience should be how big the potential market is. If you incorrectly identify your audience, if you overestimate the potential you will find your business is producing more than the demand and you’ll fail to be successful. You should look to well-known and respected sources regarding the potential market. As a business owner or marketer you are undoubtedly optimistic. You believe your product is needed by everyone everywhere. This is not the truth. Remember, you can’t be too cautious about believing your own stories. Do the digging, look at the cold hard facts. There are numerous reports and surveys carried out on most potential markets. Some of these reports may require you to purchase them. Do so. It cannot be stressed enough that you understand the true size of your potential market. Failure to accurately identify this metric will leave you standing in an empty room, alone, with an amazing but unneeded product.

5. How big is the room

In addition to the audience but somewhat related, you should also do digging into the size of the room. This means looking beyond the existing audience but the empty space where your audience may expand. This point ties the previous two points nicely together. You need to seek out what the future for your target looks like as well as how big that audience currently is. Then once you have this two metrics you can massage them to forecast the potential future market and ultimately the size of the “room”. In this case you’re looking at the negative space. Where will your product be able to expand and grow and add market share. Within different verticals where are the walls (or ceilings) what are the limiting factors for your audience? Don’t fall into the trap of believing your target is too perfect and beyond the constraints of any room – every business, every product has limitations and boundaries. Identify these early.

6. What does your competition see

If you are in a market where your competitors existed first you have a distinct advantage. Dig into their marketing strategy, their keyword targeting, their landing pages and their email marketing campaigns. Don’t blindly attempt to reinvent the wheel. Look around and see what’s been done already. You can gain an infinite amount of wisdom by learning from the mistakes of others. Just because you are doing something different, something revolutionary, or something never seen before does not mean there is no value in what others have done previously. Learn from what your competitors see. What have they identified as the potential target audience or what leads have the most potential. This is smart marketing. This is smart lead generation. Use the countless hours of others to better find and market to your target audience.

7. Plan smart marketing

This step is listed last because you should complete the first 6 steps first. While you should put a first priority on finding and relating with your target audience this last step is quite important. Once you have found your target audience you need to create a plan to market to them. This smart marketing involves how you create your marketing landing pages, the format and structure of your email marketing campaigns, and the keywords you should focus on when crafting your content marketing strategy. When you know your target audience you will be fully equipped to prepare a marketing plan that meets your potential leads where they live. Mautic has a powerful marketing automation platform capable of organizing multiple campaigns based on your target audience, but perhaps an even greater feature exists. Mautic allows you to test landing pages, keyword strategies, form conversions, and as a result better identify your potential leads. You should be marketing smarter. Mautic helps.

The act of finding and marketing to your target audience is a fundamental building block for a successful business. Following the above 7 steps will help you to have a clear picture regarding your potential audience. Clarity on this aspect of your business will give you unmatched opportunity for growth. Armed with this knowledge you will be able to make informed decisions on future strategies, advanced marketing opportunities, and more. You’ll make the most of your marketing dollars and you’ll be fully equipped for growth and success.