The system that brings together data, messages, and salespeople
You already have an email marketing platform, a management system, and a spreadsheet containing the contacts you’ve collected over ten years of work.
They work, each on their own.
The sales representative calls the person who replied to the last email, while forty people who have visited the pricing page three times remain where they are.
It’s not that there’s one too many tools—what’s missing is the thread that ties them all together and determines who deserves attention, when, and with what message.
You should plan out that thread before buying it.
This page explains how, through what activities, and how long it takes to see if it’s working.
In the companies we visit, the problem is rarely a lack of technology.
It’s the gap between a piece of data and the action that should make it pay off: the lead that downloads a catalog stays in the lead management system, the repeat visit stays in the analytics, and the deal that’s been stalled for six months stays in the sales management system.
Three archives that tell the story of the same person yet don’t share a single line.
Marketing automation is the system that connects those databases and turns behavior into a relevant message.
It involves lead flows, scoring leads, nurturing those who aren’t ready yet, and connecting with salespeople.
Deciding which software to use and how to manage it is another matter entirely, and that topic is covered on the CRM marketing consulting page.
Here we’re talking about what gets built on top of it.
Automation is worthwhile when there is already something to automate.
Below a certain threshold for contacts and traffic, an attentive person outperforms any automated system.
You’ll recognize your company in at least three of these descriptions:
We work with FARO by Factory, the methodology we apply to every project. When it comes to automation, it’s especially useful in the early stages: most systems that don’t deliver started by building workflows before analyzing the data.
The process is the same: segmenting, timing, and measuring the response. What changes is who gives the go-ahead.
With direct mail, the calendar was sent out—the same for everyone; with an automated process, each person’s behavior is triggered.
For the entrepreneur, this means one thing: the customer sets the pace, and the plan is built around their cues.
Every project begins with workflow design, which is the foundational work that goes unseen: mapping out the paths, deciding on the entry and exit rules, and determining what happens when a person does not respond.
That process consists of five stages, which are activated one at a time.
A system is truly tested when it interacts with real people.
That’s why the first version will go live soon, even if it’s imperfect: it’s the only way to find out where the connections really end, rather than just guessing.
From there, we’ll make corrections and add features.
We start with the workflows we need, not by comparing software.
Four criteria are key: what integrations already exist with the current ERP system, how many active contacts are expected in two years, who will maintain the system within the company, and where the data is stored.
A feature-rich platform that no one will use costs more than a simple one that’s used effectively.
The investment is determined by the project, because two companies with the same number of employees may be in very different situations. Four factors determine it:
Regarding timelines: The first production run typically takes a few weeks, while the data needed to decide what to change becomes available after a couple of months of operation.
It includes reading the existing database, designing workflows, building them on the platform, scoring contacts, integrating with the CRM, and measuring results.
The content to be included in the streams will be agreed upon separately, based on the material that already exists.
The first data stream will go into production in a few weeks. The data needed to determine the corrections will be available after about two months of operation, because the sample size is too small at first to distinguish a signal from a coincidence.
Email marketing is all about the message and its effectiveness when sent to your own database.
Marketing automation refers to the system that determines who receives a message, when it is sent, and what happens next. The second system uses the first as one of its channels.
A CRM is helpful, but it’s not a prerequisite. You can start with workflows on a mailing platform and implement a CRM when the number of deals makes it necessary.
The wrong approach is the opposite: buying a CRM without knowing what data it will need to receive.
You need contacts with verifiable consent, a recognizable source, and at least one recorded action—a purchase, a download, or a request.
A list of addresses with no history can be used; however, the system starts out without any information and takes longer to become useful.
We look at three things: how many leads advance through the stages over time, how much the gap between the first contact and the start of negotiations narrows, and how much revenue comes from automated workflows.
Open rates and clicks are used to refine messages, not to evaluate the system.
They are removed from active flows and routed to a low-frequency path, or they are archived.
Keeping users who haven’t opened an email in a year on the list damages the domain’s reputation and makes messages sent to everyone else less effective.
Consent must be obtained for specific purposes and recorded with the date and source; individuals must be able to opt out at any time; and behavioral data must be handled with the same care as personal information.
We design the workflows based on these constraints, rather than adapting them afterward.
A one-hour conversation is all it takes to determine whether your database is ready and which workflow you should build first.
If the answer is that the time isn’t right yet, we’ll tell you: a system built on insufficient data is costly and doesn’t pay off.
At Factory Communication, we prefer to get started only when the conditions are right.
