There's no denying the power of programmatic - but it isn't a magic formula that will instantly solve all your issues. Like any software, programmatic is only as good as the person using it.
Failing to properly implement and use programmatic will set marketers and planners up for frustration in the short term and failure in the long term.
With this in mind let's have a quick look at the Seven Deadly Sins of Programmatic relating specifically to Cadreon:
The "sins" are a combination of mistakes users might make, and process issues that may occur related to how some teams operate. These sins may not be as bad as the original deadly sins, but make no mistake about it; If you're guilty of even one of the below, you're leaving a lot to chance.
1. No documented strategy
Using Cadreon without a clear strategy is like wandering through the grocery store without a shopping list. You end up with a bunch of stuff you don't need and missing ingredients that are essential for dinner that evening.
Be sure your strategy is in line with the company's overall goals and with the tactics and activities you're going to be using. Cadreon is simply a means to execute the strategy - not the strategy itself.
2. Using Cadreon as a glorified email marketing tool
Email marketing can be incredibly effective, especially if the integrity of your email database is good. It means that people are engaged with your emails and have explicitly opted into them. Lists that you've purchased and dumped into your database don't count.
If you're using Cadreon as a glorified email service, you aren't harnessing the full power of the software. Cadreon has features that can assist with:
- Search engine optimisation
- Lead scoring
- Landing pages
- Metrics and reporting
3. Excluding other teams
Setting up an effective lead nurture campaign via Cadreon can't be done in a silo. You must talk to your counterparts in sales, content marketing and even customer relations. Getting better insight into your audience, leads and customers is essential for crafting campaigns that will ultimately convert visitors into customers.
4. Selling instead of nurturing
Stop selling, and start nurturing… most of the time.
Lead nurturing is one of the most powerful aspects of any programmatic tool and is designed to help move people along the sales journey to purchase. If they're in the early stages of the buyer journey, you can nurture these leads by sending them useful content about broad topics related to their interests that are aligned with your company's philosophy.
Though you don't want to bombard these "top of the funnel" leads with a heavy sales pitch, you should feel comfortable selling to people that you've identified as "bottom of the funnel" (or, in other words, people much further along in the buyer journey).
An effective programmatic tool will allow you to identify who needs to be nurtured versus those that may be ready for a more direct approach.
5. Not producing enough targeted content (creative)
Getting demand generation teams and content teams to work together is a key element of programmatic success. Too often, content teams live in isolation, without much interaction with their demand generation counterparts.
Ideally, the two teams should be working together to determine which content is working and what the content team should focus on in the future. Start by identifying a shared set of goals and purpose for your content. The content team members should be involved at each stage of the buyer journey, so that they can provide the demand-generation team with a steady stream of high-value content.
6. Tracking the wrong metrics
It's easy to get stuck in analysis paralysis, especially with the vast array of data you can get from Cadreon. But we often place far too much emphasis on the wrong metrics. We overvalue things like traffic and social shares while we don't properly track things like lead or customer conversion rates and overall content ROI.
At each stage of the funnel, identify the key metrics that matter. Initially, it might be email opens and click-through rates, but as people move deeper into your sales funnel, customer conversion is all that matters.
7. Running on autopilot
Despite the name, programmatic doesn't mean you can go on autopilot. Just like your leads need to be nurtured, so does Cadreon.
A good demand-generation strategy will focus on continually optimising everything from email marketing workflows to lead scoring and even landing page layouts. A good demand-generation marketer will also dig deeper into the database and uncover leads that need to be re-engaged or leads that should be passed along to the sales team.
Now that you've been forewarned, avoid the deadly sins of programmatic and make sure your digital strategist is on top of these things. Think of Cadreon as an extension of your team. Used wisely, it can help thread together a consistent marketing programme that can propel business growth.