The manufacturing industry is not the same as what it used to be a few years back. That said, the 4th revolution in the manufacturing sector is moving forward and is keeping customer experience at its essence.
As Alan Watts has rightly said, “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
So in this era of I.T. + Customer Experience = Industry 4.0, a manufacturer must embrace change.
The shift in the manufacturing industry has influenced marketing efforts as well. Most marketers agree that marketing automation tools like Pardot have helped them streamline and optimize their marketing.
While Pardot and other marketing automation tools can do a lot for you, most companies are not able to take its full advantage.
So, let’s go through the 4 main reasons why some manufacturers fail to make the most of Pardot:
1. Pardot Automation + No Defined Process = 1st Failure
As a manufacturer, you know how vital it is to define your process. The same holds true for Pardot. Whether you are creating content or running a campaign, there should be a well-defined process in place to make any marketing automation platform run smooth.
Wondering how you can make that happen?
In the ideal scenario, we want to automate the customer life cycle, right after a prospect engages with your website, From Awareness to Advocating, the strategy may differ from industry to industry, so you need to take time out to design a workflow that makes you win your customer.
You should make these a standard part of your process:
- Create Targeted List
- Execute the Campaign
- Measure Email/Website Activity
- Segment Based on Activity
- Segment Based on Lead Score
- Route Qualified Leads to CRM
- Move Warm Leads to the Nurture Cycle
2. Pardot Adoption + Skill Gap = 2nd Failure
Implementing a new technology is always challenging for those who will get affected by it in the organization—IT team, Marketing, Sales, and even HR.
So here designing a communication strategy at each stage will minimize resistance and will be a win-win for all.
This is where adequate training comes in! To reap the maximum benefit of Pardot, you must invest in post-launch training your employees.
3. Pardot Implementation + No Defined Ownership = 3rd Failure
Ownership is critical for implementing Pardot. That’s why you need to ensure that the activities you want to perform first on a project are always determined by the project scope.
- Define Scope
- Formulate Responsibility
- Add Activity Sequence
This practice will answer most of the questions that may arise from your team. Defining what activities need to be done, who will be responsible for them, and in what sequence they will be performed, will help successfully accomplish your objectives.
4. Pardot + No integrations = 4th Failure
The reason why integrations play an important role is that they help run campaigns effectively when synced with other channels.
You can unlock the full potential of Pardot and automate your work by integrating it with multiple apps like WordPress, Salesforce, Google Analytics, LinkedIn, Twitter etc.
Bottom Line:
Pardot is a powerful marketing automation platform that can truly help manufacturers skyrocket their marketing efforts. If you are looking to implement Pardot, remember to define your marketing automation process, train stakeholders, define ownership, and integrate your Pardot instance.
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