Marketing automation is easy. Anyone can do it.
All you have to do is keep looking for an agency partner that has a deep understanding of what technical audiences need – but it’s not that simple.
That’s because many of the technical audiences you are trying to win over harbour an innate scepticism about automated marketing techniques, however refined they may be. Technical audiences, OK, engineers, value data-driven content and depth of detail. They expect intellectual rigour over what they perceive as pedestrian marketing fluff that they feel doesn’t consider their intellectual status. Basically, they resent the sense of being talked down to, almost to the point of being insulted, by some automated marketing campaigns they may already have been subjected to.
Sometimes such campaigns work. Usually, however, they don’t because they are seen by their target audience as lacking substance. A marketing plan that lacks the intellectual rigour expected by experienced engineers is not going to convince them to champion your proposal.
Unfortunately, this is where many B2B marketers in the technical sector fail. They tend to present a proposal for automated marketing in a way that smacks of modern alchemy rather than traditional marketing, which the engineers they are trying to convince mistrust already. Wrap that in strategies that rely more on consumer-style messaging that is not backed facts and it’s easy to see why technically minded audiences turn away.
However, these negative perceptions can be overcome. A prospective technical B2B agency stands a much better chance of having what it takes if it can demonstrably show that it meets a number of criteria that, frankly, aren’t difficult to achieve, but are too often overlooked.
The right blend of experience will convince a technical audience. When you pair in-house technical content creators who have the expertise to deliver accurate information with client-side marketing professionals who have an objective view of how marketing software technologies can be used, the result can be profoundly rewarding. That’s because the marketing campaign is based on a solid, data-driven strategy, i.e., using metrics that matter.
This isn’t a “pick three out of five” listing. A B2B marketing agency worthy of being shortlisted to implement an automated marketing campaign must tick all these boxes.
To shine some light into the shadowy corners that really show what a prospective agency partner is made of, you need to ask your version of direct questions, such as:
- In what ways do you adapt your lead-nurturing strategy to reach a highly technical, often equally sceptical audience?
- Can you show me examples of content you created that successfully generated leads from engineers?
- What metrics do you prioritise when measuring the success of a marketing automation campaign, specifically for products that have a long sales cycle?
- How would your team collaborate with our in-house experts to get the most useful information and most efficient results?
These are questions that most marketing executives should ask a prospective agency. This type of specialised B2B marketing work must ensure your questions are designed to reveal whether the candidate agency truly understands the engineering audience you want to reach or is just offering little more than generic marketing services dressed up in a colourful presentation stack. The questions you ask are not hard, but they can be difficult for those who do not know the answer.
So, to make sure you get the best from your new partner, here are some of our top tips for ensuring you don’t make a costly mistake.
You must avoid:
- Mistaking quantity for quality. A campaign approach that constantly bombards engineers with featherweight, low-value fluff emails will not win friends. Quality emails, carefully written and vetted for real meaning and genuine value, are what’s needed here.
- Gating top-of-funnel content. That content should be good enough to grab attention, build trust, and be easily accessible. Don’t hide it behind a gate. Most of your valued targets will not go to the trouble of climbing over your wall.
- Ignoring the human element. Automated marketing should, above all, be a fast track to genuine human interaction in a way that results in high-value leads.
There are large agencies like Gravity Global in the US, AMI in the UK, and many others, large and small, that specialise in B2B marketing automation for technical industries. However, when selecting an agency, regardless of size or reputation, it’s important to take a careful look at their experience with engineering audiences, the depth of their overall technical capabilities, and their familiarity with some of the best-known marketing automation platforms. For example, Napier has long been a power user of platforms like HubSpot, Marketo and Pardot, and is always keen to investigate the latest options that emerge, which is part of staying current in a fast-moving B2B marketing environment; but not everyone is. It’s also good practice to ask for case studies or references from projects similar to what you will be working on to be sure your choice will be a comfortable fit with your requirements.
Napier enjoys proving that yesterday’s marketing doesn’t work in today’s rapidly changing business-to-business and technology industries. We have a better approach, and the awards to prove it. Our knowledge of B2B technology audiences is deep and data-driven, and our specialist marketing automation team support some of the most innovative and fastest-growing B2B technology companies in the world.
If you want to speak to the experts who can truly make a difference, get in touch to set up a call.
