Using marketing automation tools to gain leverage with customers (as detailed in Part 2) is an excellent example of an off-label use of marketing automation. But perhaps the most intriguing story I’ve heard yet is of a marketing automation specialist who lost a client to a competitor. Making use of the keen sleuthing capabilities of their marketing automation tools, the vendor was able to see that shortly after the client left, they started visiting the vendor’s website again. The vendor reached out to the ex-client with an innocuous inquiry as to how their new implementation with the competitor’s product was going, casually mentioning that they’d noticed the ex-customer’s recent visits to the site. As it turns out, the competitor’s product leaves much to be desired, and the ex-client is very dissatisfied. Several months of nurturing later, the original vendor has set up a demo with the old customer, and the prospects of winning them back look very good.
Remember: Marketing automation works great when used as prescribed, but you can maximize your ROI if you get creative with off-label uses of marketing automation tools.
