Marketing automation is a powerful tool for businesses looking to streamline their marketing efforts, improve the customer experience, and ultimately drive more sales. HubSpot and ActiveCampaign are two of the most popular marketing automation platforms, with robust features and integrations that allow businesses to automate various marketing tasks, such as email campaigns, lead nurturing, social media scheduling, and more.

However, implementing a sound marketing automation strategy, setting up a CRM or marketing automation platform and executing day to day tasks within these tools can be daunting for companies that don’t have a dedicated marketing automation team in house. 

This is why it’s important to consider hiring a marketing automation consultant to help define sales and marketing automation strategy and get you set up on your CRM and Marketing Automation platform of choice. 

In this blog post, we’ll discuss how to hire the best marketing automation consultant agency.

Clearly Define Your Goals

The first step in engaging the services of a marketing automation consultancy agency is to define your goals. The agency needs to understand what you hope to achieve with your automation campaign so that they can develop a customized strategy tailored to your specific needs. It would be best to set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals that will help evaluate the success of your automation campaign.

Clearly Define Your Requirements

Based on your goals, you should now fully document your requirements. This should begin with assessing your current marketing strategy and identifying the areas where marketing automation can have the greatest impact. Determine what types of campaigns you want to run, such as email campaigns, social media campaigns, or lead nurturing. Part of this determination should include mapping your entire sales and marketing funnel to look for opportunities where marketing automation could help close more deals or accelerate sales processes. 

Here are a few other requirements to consider:

 

• • Create a list of features: Develop a list of must-have features for your marketing automation platform, such as lead scoring, email tracking, and campaign analytics.

• • Define your workflows: Define the workflows you want to create for your marketing campaigns. Workflows are the steps a lead goes through from initial contact to conversion.

• • Establish your reporting requirements: Be clear about the types of reports and analytics you need to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

• • Determine your integration requirements: Be clear about the systems and tools that need to be integrated with your marketing automation platform, such as your CRM, CMS, and social media accounts. Also think about if you require a direct integration or if you can leverage a tool like Zapier. 

Determine Your Budget

Marketing automation consultancy agencies offer varying pricing levels, so it’s essential to know your budget. The agency needs to understand your budget to recommend services that match your financial capabilities. Be upfront about your budget and avoid hiring an agency that will leave you in debt or charge exorbitant fees. Also keep in mind that most agencies work on either a project or monthly retainer basis. Think about your preferences before engaging with a potential agency partner.

Schedule Consultation Meetings

Once you have narrowed down potential marketing automation consultancy agencies, schedule meetings with them. These meetings offer an opportunity to discuss your goals and budget, ask questions, and assess their expertise and experience levels. You can ask questions such as:

 

• • What is your experience in the marketing automation industry?

• • What are the primary challenges you have encountered in previous automation projects?

• • How do you evaluate the success of your automation campaigns?

Look for Industry Specific Experience

Every business is unique and industry specific experience is essential when hiring a marketing automation agency. Look for an agency that has experience working with clients in your industry or within your niche, and they should have a better understanding of your customers’ needs and preferences, industry trends, and competition.

Evaluate the Team’s Expertise

Marketing automation is complex and requires expertise in various areas, including strategy development, technology, data analysis, and content creation. It’s crucial to evaluate the marketing automation consultancy agency team’s expertise. Look for an agency that has a diverse team with expertise in different areas that has been operating for some time.

Check the Agency’s Technology Stack

Marketing automation relies on a variety of technology tools and platforms. When hiring a marketing automation consultancy agency, it’s essential to check their technology stack. Look for an agency that has expertise in the tools and platforms you use or the ones they recommend. The agency should also be up-to-date with the latest technology trends and developments.

Evaluate their Communication Skills

Effective communication is crucial when working with a marketing automation consultancy agency. The agency should have the ability to explain complex processes and concepts in simple terms that you can understand. They should also be responsive to your queries and concerns. Look for an agency with a reputation for excellent communication skills.

Request a Proposal

After evaluating potential marketing automation consultancy agencies, request a proposal. The proposal should outline the agency’s approach to your automation campaign, timelines, deliverables, and costs. Review the proposals and choose an agency that offers the best value for money.

Conclusion

Hiring the best marketing automation consultancy agency is critical for the success of your automation campaign. Define your goals, determine your budget, research, evaluate the team’s expertise, check their technology stack, assess their communication skills, consider their culture, and request a proposal. With the right marketing automation consultancy agency, you can streamline your marketing tasks, save time and money, and achieve your marketing goals.

About The Automation Strategy Group

Since 2015, the Automation Strategy Group has helped tech, healthcare and B2B service businesses maximize the return on their marketing investment through marketing automation.

Our team of marketing automation experts achieves this by implementing and optimizing tools like ActiveCampaign, Hubspot and Eloqua.

We understand that every business is different, and we work closely with each client to create a unique strategy tailored specifically to their needs. Schedule a marketing automation strategy consultation call to learn more.