The 6 Most Common Myths (2019)On today’s episode, we have Mike Ferranti, Founder and CEO of Endai. Damian and Mike cover omni channel marketing automation and automation considerations along the entire customer journey. Damian also asks Mike to debunk the most common marketing automation myths. To wrap up, Mike shares a story about when marketing automation went badly for a large retailer.Mike begins by answering the question, “What is Marketing Automation?” He starts with a high-level overview and breaks it down into the steps that every business needs to take to successfully implement an omni channel approach to marketing automation.Mike and Damien then debate the strategic value of Marketing Automation. Mike drills home the fact that companies need to identify their goals and structure their strategy around them. Mike pinpoints efficiency as the most common value created by marketing automation. He then highlights a few marketing touches that are more or less impossible without automation, such as cart abandonment emails.In response to Damian’s query, “How do you Get Started?” Mike responds with a rule he lives by: “Start anywhere, go everywhere.”Damian then asks Mike to debunk each of these myths:* Marketing automation is only for email.* Automation is not as good as a personal touch. “It is the lazy and ineffective way out.”* Automation is too impersonal.* It’s “one and done.”* It’s only for sales and prospect nurturing.* Marketers should automate everything.The episode ends with an example from Mike on how marketing automation can go wrong.What follows is a lightly edited transcript of Episode 6 of the Inevitable Success Podcast with Damian Bergamaschi and special guest Mike Ferranti.What is Marketing Automation?Mike: You can’t talk about marketing automation anymore without talking about omni channel marketing automation. I think about two years ago now is when we first really began to hear the increasing need—particularly for brands that had a “brick and click” presence—to begin to unify the customer experience, the communication across those channels. And the reason is logical.You go into a store, you make a purchase, and then you try to engage online. Customers must now go over to a whole different channel, and it takes longer. Oftentimes folks don’t even know what you’re talking about. The bigger brands were on this early—I would say the Gap companies did a great job early. I think they were among the first that allowed you to make a purchase online and then walk into the store and return it. Now that is an experience that is very pro-consumer. Could that have some impact on or costs for the retailer, the marketer? Sure, it could.When you make it easy for the customer to engage with you, you make it easier to have a better relationship with them. At the end of the day, managing and growing that customer relationship is really the end-driver. That’s the goal behind omni channel marketing initiatives and automating those steps, those communications, across channels. That obviously makes for a better experience for the individual as well. So it’s a very timely subject, and marketing automation, of course, isn’t new, but doing it across channels is a little bit newer for a lot of brands.The Steps of Marketing AutomationMike: If you take a high-level view, you’re really thinking about, What is the customer experience or the customer journey? A good way to think about it is, before they’re a customer they’re a prospect, and they may express interest. They see your display advertising, or maybe they receive your catalog because they were on a prospect list, but they take some action. Of course the best way to measure that action is still online. That is why most catalog sales today will drive you to the Websi...