How to decide on the suitable advertising and marketing automation company
What would you see when you visit the Salesforce, Marketo, HubSpot, and other top marketing automation tools websites?
Lofty promises to increase sales, get more leads, and make your prospects happier.
I wish it was so simple.
These tools have a lot of power, but nobody gets that benefit right after signing up. Getting these tools up and running properly takes a lot of work.
With the right agency, you can use this power to set up a lead generation machine for your company.
Choosing the right partner for a marketing automation agency will save you a lot of time and get a lot more leads.
That's exactly what I'm going to show you in this article.
How do you know if a marketing automation agency is a good idea?
Know your goals and desired results
One of the best ways to avoid mistakes in marketing automation is to plan ahead.
What do you want to achieve with marketing automation?
If you set yourself a good goal, it will be much easier for you to choose the right agency. And they will be more successful.
Let's examine a few examples.
Example 1: Bring the right content to the right people
Imagine for a moment that you visit the pricing page of a software product after clicking your way through an item of content that you received via email.
Five minutes later, you're scrolling through the different pricing tiers, unsure of what buying plan you have.
Still confused and undecided, you decide to say goodbye. But just as you were about to leave the page, a popup covers the pricing page.
It has a message that reads:
"Not sure which plan to choose? Read our FREE guide to what each plan will bring you."
You open the guide, read it, and finally decide which plan to choose. However, other events take their time and you forget to complete your purchase at that time.
The next day you will receive an email notification from this company. It is reading:
“Hey (enter your name), are you ready to choose a plan now? See how (a competitor in the same industry) used our tool to increase sales by 31%. "
You loved what you read and then you finally made this purchase.
This is an example of marketing automation that uses great content to pull people into the funnel instead of pushing them.
With every step, the right content hits the prospect at exactly the right time. And it happens automatically without anyone on your team triggering it.
Setting up campaigns like this can have a dramatic impact on shifting potential customers into your funnel.
Example 2: Keep your data clean to ensure consistent follow-up
Let's say your business continues to grow.
Now you can get leads from anywhere. Phone calls, email, demo request forms, social media, events, partners, it goes on and on.
Worse, leads from the same company arrive in different places.
Without the right tool and data management, different salespeople will contact different people. This is a recipe for losing a business unless your team stays coordinated.
The right marketing automation tool with the right setup will keep you in control. This is the only way to keep your closing prices high.
But even if you know what to look for, you will still find dozens of agencies vying for your business.
Which properties should you pay attention to when choosing?
6 Traits That Make a Great Marketing Automation Agency
1. Do you have a specialty?
Outstanding marketing automation agencies usually have a specialty.
As you saw in the second example above, some only work with companies to install, implement, or tweak automation in Marketo Cloud, Salesforce, and others.
Others can hack together various tech stacks for businesses on a budget.
You will also find some who specialize in training and work closely with in-house marketing teams to meet the marketing automation goals set.
Who you work with depends on your needs. An essential characteristic is therefore whether the agency specializes in this area.
At Neil Patel Digital, for example, content marketing drives our automation programs.
We start by getting the engaging content to the right people at the right time.
2. Do you have in-house, diversified experts?
Marketing automation requires a ton of different skills in order to do the right thing.
At least you need:
- Deep experience with the tools themselves
- Lead generation
- Copywriting
- Content Marketing
- Specific channel expertise (social, events, paid, SEO, etc.)
- Sales knowledge for smooth handovers
- Funnel design
- Lead nurturing
And that is just the beginning. Make sure that all employees have adequate skills in all of these areas.
3. Do they offer relevant, related services?
Marketing automation is not the silver bullet.
It makes a great impression when it blends seamlessly with all other marketing channels and campaigns.
If you really need serious results for your marketing automation, I would look at agencies that have extensive experience beyond marketing automation.
Take, for example, my agency, Neil Patel Digital.
While we assist clients with marketing automation, we offer related services such as programmatic marketing, data analysis, and others. On top of the essential marketing services you would expect from a top online marketing agency.
Why is that helpful?
It's hugely important that your entire funnel and brand function consistently across every touchpoint.
4. Do you have customer portfolios?
This doesn't need an explanation.
All experienced marketing automation agencies have a large number of previous and existing customers in their portfolio.
Look for clients similar to you to help decide if the agency is a good fit for you.
5. Do you have real customer references?
What previous clients think about working with a marketing automation agency is an essential trait to look for before working with one.
And you can find that in the customer references.
You can check the testimonials and case studies on an agency's website to determine if they're worth the fee.
6. Do you have a great corporate culture?
Most companies omit this characteristic when ticking the criteria for selecting an agency of any kind.
You shouldn't!
It is important that you work with an agency whose corporate culture aligns with your business values, as most marketing automation partnerships are typically long-term.
This ensures that the marketing automation systems, funnels, and campaigns are aligned with your business. Then you don't have to tear everything out later.
When marketing agency projects really fail, it is usually a cultural mismatch with the client.
How to work with a marketing automation company
Let's take a look at the steps you can take to ensure a smooth working relationship with any agency of your choice.
1. Filling out an inquiry form
Filling out an inquiry form is usually the first step in expressing your interest in working with a marketing automation agency.
It is usually very easy to find on the agency's website.
2. Prepare for a discovery call
Expect the discovery call to be much more detailed than calls for other marketing projects.
Marketing automation serves as the backbone for your lead funnel. It affects every campaign, several departments in your company and is not easy to recognize from the outside.
Hence, any good marketing automation agency should spend a lot of time here understanding where you are right now.
Only then do they have a chance to help you achieve your future goals.
3. Expect unique strategic recommendations
Excellent marketing automation companies take what you told them when completing their inquiry form and about the discovery call as a basis for conducting further research.
The goal of this research is usually to clarify your needs and provide strategic marketing automation recommendations that are tailored to your needs.
Most companies would email these recommendations or make another phone call to discuss them with you.
4. A proposal or employment contract
Followed by the unique, strategic MA recommendations that you should expect when partnering with an agency, it is a proposal or contract.
This document describes how your company would work with them. It also provides the cost implications and other collaboration requirements.
5. Official customer onboarding
It takes a lot of mutual understanding to ensure you get the most out of working with a marketing automation agency.
You may need to invest in tech stacks, review your business and marketing strategy, or retrain your people.
To ensure that both parties are focused on the task at hand and the responsibilities each party must meet to make sure everything works well, prepare your team for an official customer onboarding.
What you get from a great marketing automation agency
When you choose a marketing automation agency, you will:
- Align your marketing processes with your marketing strategy
- Choose the Right Marketing Tech Stack
- Generate more leads and move leads down your funnel more efficiently
- Have the data you need to optimize your funnel for better conversions
The 5 best marketing automation companies
We've reviewed and profiled the top marketing automation companies based on their areas of expertise.
Neil Patel Digital # 1 – Best for Content Marketing Automation
A central goal of marketing automation is to deliver the right content to the right people exactly when it is needed, be it on social media or via email.
Regardless of your MA setup, content is the foundation for so many parts of your funnel. At each stage, buyers look for helpful content to help them make better decisions.
In addition to creating great content, you need to deliver the right content to the right person at the right time.
For my team at Neil Patel Digital, this is our specialty:
As you know, I practice what I preach.
I've built and managed huge content machines for countless companies over the years. And most of them have been automated. My team and I know exactly how to get the most out of any content at every step of a funnel.
AYou can talk to my team here about automating content marketing.
# 2 LeadMD – Best for Tech Stack Integration
In order for marketing automation to free you and your team from everyday tasks, you need to incorporate the right tech stack.
And this is an area where LeadMD comes highly recommended due to its expertise in setting up complicated marketing infrastructures and aligning them with your strategy.
.
LeadMD is one of the most renowned marketing automation companies. And clients like IBM and eBay have earned their integration skills.
# 3 CS2 Marketing – Best for Marketing Data Operations
Cs2 Marketing deserves its place on our top list of marketing automation based on its experience and harnesses the power of data to run important automated marketing campaigns.
Dozens of the top tech brands trust CS2 Marketing for their expertise and use data operations to drive automated marketing processes and business.
CS2 Marketing has pipeline sales of more than $ 1 billion for its clients.
# 4 Bluewolf – Best for Salesforce Automation
Bluewolf is our recommended marketing automation agency for marketing automation in Salesforce:
Marketing automation isn't just about your MA tool, everything has to work perfectly with your CRM. You need experts who know how to integrate the two.
Bluewolf's customers include T-Mobile, IBM, Autodesk and others.
# 5 Perkuto – Best for Marketo Automation
Perkuto is the leading agency for Marketo. If you want to be extra fancy with your Marketo implementation, get in touch.
Perkuto's team of over 50 automation strategists, marketers, and hardcore engineers helps companies get the most out of their Marketo implementation.
Contact specialists like Perkuto if:
- You have to implement an extremely complicated funnel
- Internal teams or agencies botched a previous installation that you need to untangle
- Other agencies have previously failed to argue your funnel
What's Most Important When Choosing a Marketing Automation Agency?
It depends on your needs.
Do you need help implementing or optimizing your marketing automation tech stack?
Choose an agency with experience working with the tech stack of your choice.
Do you have challenges understanding your marketing touchpoints?
Then go to a marketing automation agency that specializes in data operations.
Do you want to get the absolute best ROI with every dollar invested in marketing automation?
Then work with an agency that has extensive experience across all marketing channels, knows how the entire marketing funnel works, and uses marketing automation to accelerate marketing KPIs for your entire company.