I manage a LinkedIn group (B2B Marketing and Sales Optimization Group) and last week referenced a blog post by Jep Castelein  – LeadSloth: 7 Reasons why Marketing Automation Projects Fail and I would be remiss by not also specifically bringing it to the attention of this audience as well.

Jep highlights some important considerations when looking at integrating a marketing automation solution:

1. Unclear Prospect Profile(s) – know exactly who are involved in the sale
2. No Interesting Content – don’t rely on product-centric communications, nor on discounts (“this week 10% off!”) for b2b campaigns
3. Not Enough Leads – Marketing Automation system does not generate inquiries (or “raw leads”), it develops inquiries into sales opportunities
4. Sales & Marketing Don’t Get Along – if Sales doesn’t believe in the benefits of Marketing Automation, that can kill the project
5. Lack of Expertise – getting the most out of a Marketing Automation system is hard, and if you don’t have people on your staff who’ve done it before, you may want to hire some expertise to avoid failure or unmet expectations
6. Bad Business Model – if growth has stalled because you’re selling the wrong products to the wrong people, Marketing Automation will not help
7. Selling Simple Products – Marketing Automation is ideal for long sales cycles involving many different people

Commenters offered additional suggestions, which all companies should consider.  Marketing Automation is no ‘silver bullet’ and so if you’re automating either #8 – ‘a broken process’,  or #9 –  ‘an undocumented process’, don’t think that implementing a marketing automation solution will solve the bigger problem.