How automated is your Marketing Automation?

We are all familiar with the customer journey and sending (advertising) messages at the right time to the right channel. But what if you combine this customer journey with the right content for customers and prospects, with simultaneous content automation? The case of the AB, a Brussels-based concert hall, shows what is possible, based on a Sparklink project with Salesforce.

Journey Automation: re-experience yesterday's concert today

Ask a hundred people "What does a marketing automation application do?" and the majority will tell you it’s a solution that allows you to extensively automate the sending of marketing messages through various channels.

These tools are therefore often used in a flow or journey builder that helps you determine who should get which message when and through which channel. That way, you can design customer journeys to help send a cascade of messages depending on the recipient’s desired or undesired behaviour. An example of this is an automated reminder by e-mail if someone has not viewed your first e-mail after three days. "AB also uses these kinds of customer journeys. They send a fan alert as soon as the concert of a specific artist is announced. And if you have a ticket to a concert, you receive an e-mail with practical information the day before, and an e-mail the day after so you can re-experience the concert."

Content Automation at AB: 835,000 unique e-mails

Not that big of a deal. But what makes it really interesting is that, in addition to timing and channels, AB also personalises the content of its emails. As a result, none of the 835,000 e-mail addresses of (potential) customers they have receive the same emails. "While many companies have a lot of data available, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it is being used," says Sparklink's Mike Verledens. "We combined all the available information for the marketing automation at AB, from transactional info, such as previous tickets people bought, their preferences on the AB website with the my AB account, your click behaviour on the AB site, as well as a link to your Spotify account," he says. "We also only combine this information if customers consent to this."

At AB, about half of the 800,000+ e-mail addresses belong to active customers, with 200,000 customers linking their Spotify account to their AB account. This definitely helps to fine-tune things. "In the old days, if the AB announced 15 new concerts during a given period, customers would be notified about all 15, even though they are not interested in all of them. At AB, they have defined nine genres of music, but customers are usually only interested in one to three of them."

Smart Dynamic Content Blocks: content makes the difference

At AB, use is based on the principle of dynamic content blocks, developed within the marketing cloud on the Salesforce platform. "This system relies on a library of smart content blocks, which is relevant for many companies and marketing departments. In most cases, this includes information about your products and services such as photos, videos or product sheets, as well as blog posts, news items, or flash items. Ninety per cent of the content at AB is centralised in Salesforce's central business software."

By combining Journey Automation and Content Automation, you can go much further in terms of marketing automation, making your marketing efforts more efficient. The current technology can already do this. AB uses a marketing automation tool that used to span various applications, such as a CRM system or a content management system. "For Ancienne Belgique, we created a headless CMS system in Salesforce. Well before the concept of a headless CMS system was known or established. This means your outbound content and your content system are separate entities. In practice, this means it is disconnected from the party developing your website. Because your content is far too valuable to be distributed aimlessly through one single channel."