Exciting Time for Marketing Professionals
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this refrain from our prospects and customers: “Yes, we have a marketing automation solution. We’ve had it for about a year. All we use it for is one off emails, and managing names in the database. We’re not seeing any improvement in sales conversions, and we still don’t know how to determine ROI or impact to revenue.” Unfortunately, this is a common problem among marketing automation users.
Certainly, the lack of process is to blame (See what SiriusDecisions has to say about that). But there are other factors as well, one of which is the lack of training resources. In short, marketing practitioners today lack the skills and knowledge they need to be successful, especially when it comes to the application of marketing automation. This goes beyond the training needed to operate a marketing software system. Marketers today need to be educated on how to use this relatively new technology to enable their strategy.
This need among so many organizations is why The Annuitas Group is excited to be a part of the newly formed Marketing Automation Institute. The Marketing Automation Institute (MAI), which launched just this week, is focused on providing the education and skills that are needed for today’s marketer.
When you consider that, according to SiriusDecisions, 85% of marketers describe themselves as “self-taught”, it’s no wonder that they are struggling. If self teaching was effective, then we’d see way more that just 25% getting value from their marketing automation investment. We believe that the MAI will help improve on these statistics. The MAI will serve to help those individuals and companies that are looking to get more not just from marketing automation, but from their overall marketing strategy.
The Annuitas Group has always strongly believed in equipping marketers. Our involvement in the MAI will be a natural extension of that belief, and we’re honored to be part of it. Whether you’re a marketing rookie, a seasoned veteran, or somewhere in between, we hope you’ll take advantage of this new opportunity to develop the skills needed to succeed in a buyer driven 2.0 world.
