Fixing Marketing Automation: The Fast Track

Marketing Automation has transformed the online marketing game. But like any other sophisticated tool, in the wrong hands, bad things happen. It’s like putting an inexperienced child on a pro surfboard. He might complain that he can’t catch waves very well. Or that he can’t balance very well on that surfboard. It’s not the board’s fault. It’s the inexperience of the child. 

Too many people have gotten their hands on marketing automation tools without first understanding the basics of marketing and solid conversion strategy. They end up using these tools to badger us all with their unwanted messages.

One of the most common mistakes people make, in an attempt to automate their funnel, is to put people in a timed sequence of events with no “intelligence” behind how it works.

I’ve being saying for a while now, you need to ensure three things when building automated campaigns:

  • You must provide a Fast Track
  • You must provide a Slow Track
  • You must make sure no one slips through the cracks

The slow track is your nurture marketing, staying in touch in personal ways to ensure you’re there when the timing is right.

Most people do this in mediocre ways and assume that’s all they have to do. Meanwhile they ignore the lowest hanging fruit?

What about the people who are ready to act now?

What if they need a solution now? But, they’re in a timed marketing sequence that will drip on them for the next week or so, and then it will promote a webinar, and then they might have an opportunity to buy.

What about those people?

They will leave and find a solution elsewhere.

They do not want to wait.

They could care less about your awesome drip sequence.

They need a solution NOW.

That’s where the Fast Track comes in.

You must always provide a way for the people who are ready to take action now. If not, you’re leaving easy money on the table and doing a disservice to people you could have helped.

The most common places marketing automation users miss the boat are:

  • Thank you pages
  • Indoctrination sequences
  • Nurture Sequences

The key is to provide fluid pathways between the Fast Track and the Slow Track. At any point a “warm” lead might turn “hot” and need to jump from the Slow Track to the Fast Track. And people on the Fast Track my cool off and need a slower path.

In both cases, if you don’t provide the pathways, you’ll lose the potential customer.

The person on the Fast Track who cools off will feel like you’re beating them over the head with sales messages if you keep them on the Fast Track. And the person who needs a solution now will get impatient if you keep them on the Slow Track.

So, be smart. Don’t just use automation for the sake of it. Don’t use automation to try and solve your own problems with time management. Use automation to provide a better experience for your customers. Put forth a little bit of extra effort to plan out how you can provide a Fast Track for those who need help now.

You’ll help more people, create lifelong fans, and make more money in the process.

About Tyler Garns

Tyler Garns is best known for his work as the Director and VP of Marketing at Infusionsoft, where he led the marketing efforts that produced massive results between 2007 and 2012. But he’s also been the “go-to” Infusionsoft guy for many of the top marketers and Infusionsoft users out there. His combination of technical skill, Infusionsoft expertise, and marketing experience make him one of the most reliable sources of business breakthroughs for Infusionsoft customers.

1 thought on “Fixing Marketing Automation: The Fast Track”

  1. Thanks for the tips. We’ve started using GetResponse for marketing automation, but first we had a plan as to what we want to use it for and integrated it with our overall marketing strategy.

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