If it’s time for anything, it’s time for automation. Living in a time of rapid technological development, one can hardly resist the charm of automation. From AI-powered tools to robotic process automation, every business wants to automate operations and ramp up productivity. However, as Richard Mechaly so aptly puts it, “You cannot shortcut something until you do it well.”
The Pitfalls of Automating Too Soon
The most omnipresent mistake happening in the B2B marketing industry these days is automating things before they have been optimized. Marketers, keen to stay ahead of the curve, often rush to implement AI-driven tools without first establishing a solid foundation of manual processes. This will give rise to a host of other issues, such as the following:
- Lower Quality: Automating an ill-defined or inefficient process can be done at the cost of quality. For example, poor email content or irrelevant lead scoring models.
- Higher Costs: Automation tool implementation has a cost, and if tools are employed ineffectively, they may just drive up costs.
- Lower Effectiveness: Automation too early can lead to lower effectiveness since the automated tasks may not fall in line with your greater marketing strategy.
- Missed Opportunities: In understanding automation, marketers may not strive for new ways to enhance their manual processes by cutting out inefficient pieces, thus increasing their speed.
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Automation VS Human Intuition in Lead Generation Strategy
While automation can certainly go a long way in facilitating efficiency, it becomes very important to take into account the genius of human intuition and creativity. For instance, writing effective email copy is one of various B2B marketing tasks that always require a human touch. Other tasks involve managing customized marketing campaigns and relations with clients.
The key to successful automation then has much to do with striking a balance between technology and human know-how. Following are some of the strategies:
First Things First
Be sure the process behind the task you aim to automate is well-defined, efficient, and consistently carried out.
Identify the Right Tasks
Not all tasks can be automated. Prioritize a task that is repetitive and time-consuming, as well as error-prone. This shall help in making a process that could save employee frustration and end-user experience.
Train Your Team
You should invest in training your team with how to use automation tools effectively. It will really allow them to adapt to new technologies and make the most out of it.
Monitor and Optimize
Continuous check on the performance of automated processes and make adjustments wherever required.
Human Centric B2B Marketing Approach
As AI and automation continue to change and evolve, let us not forget—technology is just a tool and it will never replace human ingenuity. Imagine the results to be expected by B2B businesses when the prowess of automation is combined with the creativity and strategic thinking powers of human marketers. That is going human-centric, not rushing into automation, and essentially giving the marketer that much-needed face time with customers, driving better leads to them, simply down-to-earth, long-term growth.