Dark Side of the Moon

Marketing automation is all the rage...  Big data is the way...  Fill your pipeline with hundreds of qualified leads...


This too will change.

I have answered your call.  "Three Tips to Increase Your PPC ROI by 1500% in Three Minutes!"  Click here to download now....  

I know what is coming.  "First we are going to need your name.  And email address.  Company name.  Number of employees.  Title.    Marketing budget."

"Now please select the reason you are downloading this article."  

• Immediate Action!
• Acting in the Next 3 Months.
• 3 to 6 months.
• Planning for next year.

What is frequently missing is "I just wanted to read the article."

Now I am in your Marketing Automation System and the cogs start turning.

Don't get me wrong I am a big proponent of marketing automation (MA) when done right.  There is nothing wrong with automating monotonous, repetitive tasks.

But I am concerned about the sophistication (or lack of...) of some systems.  I am starting to think that MA systems are becoming a crutch, rather than a tool.  Are we (sales people) becoming lazy and a little too dependent on these systems?  

There is software to monitor everything we do today.  And somewhere along the line we have decided that simply being active is a good thing.  If you have enough in "your pipeline", sales will follow.

But what if the "leads" in your pipeline aren't really leads?  

I am inquisitive.  I enjoy reading about the latest trends in digital marketing, so when I see an article about the latest in PPC, I will take the time to "download the white paper".  (And as many of you know, if I do have an interest, I will hunt you down...)

But now I am in their MA system and I realize that I will receive their automated messages for the foreseeable future.  Today I received one of my favorites...

I saw you downloaded a whitepaper titled, "Performance Marketing 2.0", awhile ago. Awesome! I'm sure it's been valuable to you.

Actually it was not valuable to me.  I haven't even had time to read it. 

Followed by "Are you the person responsible for...."

Sorry.  I rarely "self prospect" by answering these automated emails (especially if I have no interest).  

If their marketing automation system offered the "No Thank You, Just Reading" option, my inbox would not be filling up with their messages that have zero chance of being read.  Hang on, my phone is ringing...  "Jeff - it's Justin from ABC Amazing Marketing and I noticed you downloaded our paper...."

Perhaps I would have received a single email.  "Jeff, I hope you enjoyed the article.  I see that you have no immediate needs, you are simply inquisitive.  If you ever have any questions about ABC Amazing Marketing, please don't hesitate to contact me.  In the meantime I will send you a Linked In invitation.  If you would like to stay in touch, please accept it..."

I have always believed that "people do business with people, not businesses".   

When you are online hunting for prospects and designing your questions for white papers - remember some of us are simply curious.  Allow us an out so you don't waste resources tracking a "prospect" that never existed.

I thank you.