Automated marketing platforms need fine-tuned content to get results

Automated marketing platforms such as Hubspot, Marketo, Pardot and Act-On that help companies attract customers, convert leads and close sales can seem like a magic bullet for busy marketing managers.

What’s not to love about an intelligent system that knows if the person reading your latest campaign has already bought from you in the past? Or what they might be considering buying next based on what they’ve browsed on your website? Using this data, the platform automatically sends out your next piece of marketing collateral, precisely tailored to each reader’s buyer profile, making it much more likely that the interaction will end in a purchase.

Content challenges

But using an automated system isn’t without its challenges – especially when it comes to content planning and creation, which is why working with content experts like ours here at Padua Communications can help.

“Making the move to automated marketing can be a great idea, but don’t think you sign up and the job is done,” says Nicky Rudd, managing director at Padua Communications. “The kind of content you’ll need is so much more than just sales material. You’ve got to have content in place to feed your campaigns from day one, which makes content planning even more necessary as it involves getting your head around the exact messages that will fit your buyer personas and buyer-journey stages before you even start.

“This takes time, thought and a proper understanding of your customer and the information they need at each stage of the customer journey, which is where Padua Communications can help. We challenge the organisations we work with to think differently, and work with them to create meaningful and engaging content that is more informative, thought provoking and entertaining.”

Increased workloads

Marketing manager Bridget Mason and her team at NT CADCAM – one of the UK’s most respected elite resellers of SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD engineering software – have been working with automated marketing and sales platform HubSpot to improve inbound lead generation.

The team has only been using the platform for a few months and it has already increased their productivity, but this comes with its own challenges. Feeding the system takes time, which is why working with Padua Communications on planning and generating the right kind of content has been key, according to Bridget.

Campaign experts

“We are able to generate more campaigns even faster than before, and all without having to increase our headcount”, Bridget explains, “but we don’t have the time or expertise in-house to plan and create the content on our own – which is where working with Padua Communications is invaluable to us.

“Padua Communications has got its ear to the ground when it comes to trends, and the best places to get our messages out, so we meet up every quarter to plan our campaigns,” she says. “They help us identify what our customers will find interesting – from thought leadership pieces to case studies and even webinars – and create content to target them through the multimedia channels we use.

“There is no doubt that automated sales and marketing platforms are a fantastic tool for business, but without the strategic content planning and creation input from Padua Communications we’d end up with a black hole of content and a system that simply wouldn’t work effectively. Being able to plug Padua Communications in as part of our team like this frees us up to focus on doing our job and gets us the results we need.”

If you are thinking of using an automated marketing system but don’t know where to start or how to manage your content planning, then we’d love to hear from you. To find out how we can help, email [email protected] or call 0203 282 7570.