Marketing Automation
Automated programmes built on a process that already works: triggered by behaviour, tested against a holdout, and small enough that someone still understands it in a year.
Overview
Marketing automation platforms are usually bought before anyone has decided what to automate. A year later there are forty workflows, several of which contradict each other, nobody knows which are running, and a customer can receive three emails in a morning from programmes that do not know about one another.
Good automation is smaller than that. A handful of programmes triggered by things people actually do, with clear rules about which one wins when two apply, and a holdout group so you can tell whether any of it is working.
Who this is for
- Companies paying for a platform they use as an email sender
- Teams with workflows nobody can safely turn off
- Businesses whose customers receive overlapping automated messages
How we approach marketing automation
The specific pieces of work a typical engagement covers. Scope is agreed up front — nothing here is a surprise line item later.
Programme design
A small number of programmes tied to real behaviour, each with a stated purpose and an owner.
Trigger and suppression logic
What starts a programme, and what stops someone receiving three at once. The suppression rules are the part everyone omits.
Segmentation
Segments built from behaviour rather than from a list someone uploaded, so they stay current without maintenance.
Lead scoring
Scoring calibrated against what actually predicted a sale, and reviewed, since scoring models drift quietly.
Workflow audit and consolidation
Finding what is currently running, retiring what is not needed, and documenting what remains.
Holdout measurement
A group that receives nothing, so the programme's effect can be measured rather than assumed.
From first call to measured result
The same sequence every time, so you always know what happens next.
Audit
Inventory every active workflow and what triggers it. Most clients are surprised by what they find running.
Simplify
Retire what does not earn its place, and resolve the programmes that overlap.
Build
Implement the core programmes with suppression rules and a holdout from the start.
Measure and extend
Read the holdout, keep what works, and add programmes one at a time rather than in batches.
Outcomes, not deliverables
A pile of artefacts isn't progress. These are the changes the work is meant to produce — and what we report against.
Fewer, better programmes
Consolidation usually improves results while reducing the number of things that can go wrong.
Customers stop being over-messaged
Suppression rules end the pattern that makes people unsubscribe from everything at once.
Proof it works
A holdout turns automation from an article of faith into a measured contribution.
A system someone understands
Documented, owned programmes can be changed safely instead of being left alone out of fear.
Common questions about Marketing Automation
The things people ask before they get in touch. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Which marketing automation platform should we use?
Usually the one that integrates best with your CRM, because the integration is where the pain is. For most mid-sized companies HubSpot or a similar all-in-one is sufficient; enterprise platforms are frequently bought for capability that never gets used.
How many automated programmes should we have?
Fewer than you expect. A handful of well-built programmes covering onboarding, nurture and reactivation outperforms forty overlapping ones, and can actually be maintained.
Why is nobody using our automation platform?
Commonly because the initial build was done by a consultant, never documented, and is now too opaque to change safely. The fix is an audit and simplification rather than more training.
How do we know automation is adding anything?
Hold back a random share of the audience from each programme and compare. Without a holdout you are measuring what people who were going to convert did next, which is not the same thing.
Thinking about Marketing Automation?
Tell us what you are trying to change. If we are not the right fit we will say so, and point you somewhere better.
Looking at the wider picture?
Marketing Automation usually sits alongside other work in Automation, MarTech & AI. Browse the full area to see what it connects to.