This document provides guidance on preparing for marketing automation by ensuring key foundations are in place first. It emphasizes that marketing automation will magnify both efficiency and inefficiency, so the focus should be on transforming marketing, not just automating tasks. The document outlines important areas to assess and align prior to implementation, including management buy-in, processes, data, skills, personas and content. It stresses the importance of having a clear strategic plan and understanding how marketing automation can help achieve sales objectives.

1. Preparing for Marketing Automation:
Don’t Get the Cart before the Horse
Charles Besondy, President
Besondy Consulting & Interim Management LLC
& Certified MathMarketing Funnel Coach
www.BesondyLLC.com 1

2. Today’s Agenda
1. Are you ready for a MAP?
2. Building a foundation for MAP
3. What processes to align first
4. Data quality
5. Content & personas
6. People
7. Management expectations
8. Building the blue print for a MAP decision
9. Questions, access to resources
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Thanks to the following companies and people for contributing insight for this webinar: Marketo,
ActOn, Steve Gershik and Joseph Zuccaro.

3. Warning #1
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“An organization is a system perfectly designed to
produce the results it is producing.
If you want to change the results, you have to
change the design!” -Richard Eppel

4. Warning #2
“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation
applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency.
The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will
magnify the inefficiency.” – Bill Gates
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5. Can you achieve fast time to value?
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Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, 1992
You want the
truth? You
can’t handle
the truth!

6. CLICK FOR NARRATED VERSION, OR
CONTINUE TO NEXT SLIDE
http://www.besondyllc.com/marketing-automation/
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7. How to know you’re not ready for a MAP
1. Buyer’s journey???
2. Who’s our target, really?
3. “Processes? We don’t need
any stinking processes?”
4. We haven’t updated our
contact list in over a year
5. Love that spray and pray
email strategy
6. A few big deals a year –
that’s all we need
7. Our IT department totally
controls the website
8. What content?
9. Who’s going to drive this
thing?
10. Does the boss know?
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You’re company isn’t mature enough yet to
benefit fully. Any one of these points could
cause significant delay in time to value for a
MAP.

8. Marketing maturity
Marketo Benchmark to Revenue Study
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9. How to know you’re ready
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Push me!

10. How to know you’re ready
1. You and the sales manager know
the ABCs of your MQLs and SLAs
2. Processes are aligned to the buyer’s
journey
3. You’ve been conducting integrated
email and web marketing programs
4. Your DB is accurate and can be
segmented
5. Content exists and resources are
available to create more
6. You can create a landing page
without needing a note from your
mother
7. Sales welcomes integration with
their CRM
8. Top management is on the bus
9. There is a resource for MA Admin,
or Marketing Ops (inside,
contractor, agency)
10. Campaign planning and data
analysis skills are in-house or a
phone call away
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Your company is mature enough to
realize a fast time to value with a MAP if
most of these situations are present

11. A platform for the platform
Management Buy-in
Aligned Processes
Content Persona
Skills
Data
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12. Managing expectations
• Transforming the
marketing function,
not applying a
technology
• Building an engine for
revenue growth, not
automating marketing
• You must have a
champion in the
C-suite
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13. Time to value
• Most companies take
over 7 months to reach
ROI for MA
• More than half say
they haven’t achieved
“best value possible”
even if ROI objectives
have been achieved
• Only 15% of marketers
believe they are using
their MAP to its fullest
potential - SiriusDecisions
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14. The platform for the platform
Management Buy-in
Aligned Processes
Content Persona
Skills
Data
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15. Processes
• Sales and marketing
alignment
– Buyer’s journey
– Integration with CRM
– Lead scoring
– Lead definition
– SLA
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16. Buyer’s journey / Sales journey
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Unknown and unaware
Positioned in category
Interest
Problem - MQL
Need to solve - SAL
Offer understood
Preference
formed
Decision
Contract
Sales stage 1, 2
Sales stage 3
Sales stage 4, 5
Sales stage 6
Sales stage 7
Sales stage 8

17. The platform for the platform
Management Buy-in
Aligned Processes
Content Persona
Skills
Data
www.BesondyLLC.com 17

18. People
• Not your father’s
marketing department
– Marketing ops
– Data analyst
– Content
– Creative
– Campaign strategy
– Data manager
– Social media
– Digital media
– Traditional media
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19. The platform for the platform
Management Buy-in
Aligned Processes
Content Persona
Skills
Data
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20. Data
• Contact list accuracy
• Comprehensive
• Quantity
• Building vs. existing
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21. The platform for the platform
Management Buy-in
Aligned Processes
Content Persona
Skills
Data
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22. Personas & segments
• Knowing your buyer
intimately is a sign of
marketing maturity
• Customized and
personalized
messages/offers produce
higher conversion rates
• MA enables highly
personalized nurturing
campaigns
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23. The platform for the platform
Management Buy-in
Aligned Processes
Content Persona
Skills
Data
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24. Content
• Content is both bait and
fuel for engagement
• Align to buyers journey
stages and persona
• Start simple
• Quality (value) vs.
quantity
• Build a stable and a war
chest
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25. Content
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Unknown and unaware
Positioned in category
Interest
Problem
Need to solve
Offer understood
Preference
formed
Decision
Contract

26. Keep the goal in focus
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“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an
efficient operation will magnify the efficiency.
The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the
inefficiency.” – Bill Gates
You are building an engine for revenue growth, not automating marketing

27. Building a blue print for MAP,
the FunnelPlan™
• Sales objectives
• Strategy
– What
– To whom
– Through whom
– Against whom
• Stages of buyer’s journey
– Lead definition and hand-off
• Funnel math / model
• Tactics to produce required
results and velocity
• ID gaps in resources
• ID where MA is required to
make the plan happen
• Prioritize the required MA
functionality
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Three days that will put your company on the right
course for a successful MAP implementation

28. Contact
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Charles Besondy
cbesondy@BesondyLLC.com
1-512-692-9642
www.BesondyLLC.com
@CharlesBesondy
Tips, tools, info and programs for
pre-Marketing Automation planning
www.BesondyLLC.com/pre-MAP-help