SUCCESSFUL

MARKETING
AUTOMATION

“A strategy delineates a territory in

which a company seeks to be unique”
- Michael Porter

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01 OVERVIEW
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Marketing Automation has gained
steady traction in the priorities of IT’S HARDLY
Marketing Decision makers. While
there are numerous facts and
SURPRISING
figures that extol the virtues and TO SEE THAT
success of marketing turnarounds
enabled through automation, this MARKETING
whitepaper brings to fore the
importance of automation done
AUTOMATION
right. HAS BECOME
Marketing Automation can lead to PIVOTAL TO
successful turnarounds if done right,
and this whitepaper aims to
THE SUCCESS
highlight how Marketing Automation OF CRM
INITIATIVES.
is subject to multiple points of
vulnerability and what needs should
be addressed when considering
automation.

we believe a major reason for this is

the inability of the brands to
successfully automate the marketing
function based on the CRM
Eloqua

HubSpot
Manticore Technology Manticore Technology
Unica
Eloqua Signal Action LeadLife initiatives.
Silverpop
HubSpot Manticore Technology HubSpot Unica
HubSpot Silverpop

Signal Unica Silverpop Eloqua HubSpot

TeraData

Marketing Automation done right is

Action Unica Signal TeraData
Manticore Technology a continuous and overarching
process that spans across the
various customer life-stages from
consideration to usage and beyond.

Given below are the key benefits

Typically, Marketing Automation is
that are expected from any
the last mile in any CRM
marketing automation project:
implementation. The term Marketing
Automation itself has been ● Ability to increase marketing
misinterpreted to mean email velocity facilitated by
automation. And the web is full of multi-channel, multi-wave
references on Marketing lights out campaigns
Automation being synonymous with
email automation; by definition this ● Ability to segment audience

is too narrow and not correct. and reach out to the right
audience with right offer at the
Email automation may be right time through the right
considered as marketing channel
automation for brands that do single
● Ability to understand
outbound channel (i.e.) email. True
customer responses and build
marketing automation is about
predictive response systems
multi-channels and silos within
to improve campaign
single channels being automated.
efficiency
The term marketing automation as
used in this whitepaper connotes ● Ability to enable the marketing
such multi-channel automation resources to focus on strategic
initiatives. issues rather than
concentrating on operational
Marketing automation complements challenges
CRM initiatives and helps mechanize
the logistics for base marketing Having embarked on marketing
campaigns. It’s hardly surprising to automation, marketers face 3 broad
see that marketing automation has phases:
become pivotal to the success of
● Identification
CRM initiatives.
● Implementation and
A recent study by Merkle reveals Configuration
that 63% of CRM initiatives fail and ● Stability and scale

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02 IDENTIFICATION
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THE RIGHT
Regardless of the vertical, marketing
goals and technologies being
considered, an extensive due
diligence and identification of the
PARTNER
automation platform is critical. BRINGS NOT
Choice of the marketing platform
should take into consideration an JUST
understanding of the marketing
A SINGLE
PLATFORM
goals to be achieved, understanding
of existing systems in house, the
type of data that is generated and
the compatibility between the
EXPERIENCE
existing system and the new BUT HAS THE
COMPETENCE
systems for a seamless integration
without any disruptions to business
continuity.
TO SPAN THE
CATEGORY
AND HAS
DEMONSTRATED
COMPETENCE
WITH
WORKAROUNDS
While organizations go above and
beyond in identifying functions and
IN THE PAST.
mapping them to the business goals,
but choices made solely on these
capabilities fail to achieve the
desired outcomes due to technology
mismatches and the expensive
downtimes that occur due to
unforeseen upgrades and
maintenance.

Drawing from Xerago’s experience, a

major Internet brand in India had
invested significantly in a leading
enterprise level marketing the issue by tooling at the
automation suite after months of configuration level, rather than a
due diligence against the best of database migration. The key takeout
breed competing alternates. As part here for organizations is to
of the roadmap at the acknowledge that a large enterprise
pre-implementation stage, database wide marketing automation project
migration was identified. Given the has the potential to spring surprises,
business continuity and cost/time and plan for mitigation of such
sync the business case for surprises by working with the right
automation was under threat owing partner or vendor. he right partner
to the database migration. brings not just a single platform
experience but has the competence
The inability of the Marketing
to span the category and has
Automation platform to integrate
demonstrated competence with
with the existing database led to the
workarounds in the past.
logjam. Thankfully, Xerago resolved

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03 IMPLEMENTATION
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AND CONFIGURATION
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The marketing automation

implementation process itself ORGANIZATIO
requires a credible partner whose
strong expertise in enterprise class
NS MUST
implementations is a key CHOOSE
determinant of project success.
Organizations must choose IMPLEMENTAT
implementation partners based on
criteria that would justify their
ION
presence in projects of such scale. PARTNERS
A classic case of partner-client BASED ON
mismatch occurred at a major Asian
bank which chose a vendor with little
CRITERIA
experience in enterprise wide THAT WOULD
JUSTIFY THEIR
implementation of complex
automation tools. The result was a
failed implementation with a test
server instance of the marketing
PRESENCE IN
automation platform. For an PROJECTS OF
SUCH SCALE.
extended amount of time, the
marketing team at the bank was not
able to use the marketing
automation platform.
investment in the marketing
Xerago’s appointment as a automation platform and sought
marketing partner for the bank was some recovery. Xerago not just got it
primarily aimed at getting a Go Live to work but also ensured a stable
status on the incurred marketing working model leveraging all the
capex. The CxO team at the helm of features of the marketing
the bank had almost written off the automation platform.

Hence, to make the marketing automation project a huge success, organizations

must look out for the following while choosing marketing automation
implementation partner.

● TECHNOLOGY
EXPERIENCE
The partner should have a strong
knowledge on tools, process,
marketing automation technologies
and project management. A partner
with hands on experience in
implementing and managing the
marketing automation for several
brands would be an indispensable
guide during implementation.

● DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE

The partner should possess a strong

knowledge of the client’s vertical and
understand the various intricacies
and dynamics to ensure the
investment on marketing
automation is completely leveraged.
A partner who understands the
client’s vertical would be able to
understand various sources where
customer data gets generated,
which could well be used for
analytics post completing the
implementation.

● MARKETING KNOWLEDGE

Though the implementation partner

should be strong in technology,
understanding of marketing
customer lifecycle is key for
marketing automation success. An
implementation partner with strong
marketing background would be
able to foresee various marketing
campaigns that may be planned in
the future and would ensure the
marketing automation software is
implemented properly to ensure
everything is configured properly
and integration of various sources is
complete to provide required inputs
for future campaigns.

● Analytics Experience

A partner with extensive

multi-channel campaign
management experience and strong
expertise in marketing analytics
would help brands successfully
continue the momentum post
implementation.

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04 STABILITY AND SCALE

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A common misconception among
organizations considering or even in A MARKETING
the midst of an automation
implementation is that project AUTOMATION
success is defined by the go live or
production state timelines. While the
INITIATIVE
time to go live can be considered as SHOULD BE
an indicator of software
implementation phase success, it is CONSIDERED
not indicative of the marketing
automation platform initiative
A FAILURE IF
success. It is not enough that the THE INTENDED
tools and technologies are in place
but an ability to leverage the MARKETING
automation platform and derive
maximum value is the true hallmark
GOALS ARE
of success. NOT
A marketing automation initiative ACHIEVED.
should be considered a failure if the
intended marketing goals are not
achieved. Typically improving In our experience spanning over a
marketing velocity by x% or an ability decade we have seen that every
to execute closed loop automated automation initiative brings about a
campaigns is considered as end change. At times the change is
state. Unfortunately most of such radical and sometimes it is not so
failures are contributed by factors radical, nevertheless change is
outside actual implementation of imminent.
the marketing automation solution.

Given below are the key aspects where one witness change

● PROCESS

Right from planning to execution

and monitoring of marketing
activities the process undergoes
change. With the introduction of the
automation platform the workflow,
methodologies and activities need
change. It is probably the best time
for organizations to usher in global
best practices and streamline the
marketing process flows.

For example, a major Asian telco had best practices. Post Xerago
successfully implemented a campaign intervention, the client was able to
automation platform to run scale up its marketing velocity by more
multi-channel campaigns. Despite the than 2X. By re-engineering their
campaign automation platform being processes and introducing best
available, the client was not able to practices, Xerago helped the Telco
increase the velocity beyond a point. major realize the untapped potential of
This was due to non-standardized its campaign automation platform.
campaign processes and ignorance to

● CULTURE

Automation by definition improves

the operational efficiency quotient,
and is ongoing and continuous.
Organizations that embrace
marketing automation are culturally
oriented towards a change led
improvement culture. Entities
culturally resisting change find it
hard to make marketing automation
work, since poor adoption directly
impacts the success or failure of
marketing automation initiatives.

● ROLES

As a logical offshoot of process

change, the roles and
responsibilities of people within the
marketing ecosystem undergo a
change. Primarily this is essential to
ensure a working automation
platform.

● CHART / STRUCTURE

At an organization structure level

changes are imminent as they
provide the executive sanction for
stable and continuing automation
initiatives. Every line and staff
function within the marketing
ecosystem experiences change
that brings about parity in
authority and responsibility which
is essential for the

Best practices on using the

marketing automation solution
should be communicated to the
end users of the solution and this
important asset would be
possessed by vendors and
consultants who have worked
across generations of marketing
automation solutions.

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05 CONCLUSION
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In conclusion we believe that
marketing automation is not about
buying fancy software or tools. It’s an
enterprise wide impacting revenue
maximizer which done right leads to
remarkable results. And at each
phase Identification, Implementation
and Configuration and Stability and
Scale have their own set of
challenges which needs to navigate
for organizations to truly benefit.

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06 ABOUT XERAGO
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Xerago is a Customer Value Maximization company that helps its customers
maximizes the value they derive from their customers. We help marketers leverage
investments in technology, creative and existing marketing assets. Xerago touches
over 500 Million customers every day with its marketing interventions.

CHENNAI MUMBAI SINGAPORE USA

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