Marketing AI Skill

Marketing Automation

Set up and manage marketing automation workflows including lead nurturing, scoring, segmentation, drip campaigns, trigger-based emails, A/B testing, and automation platform management. Use when building email workflows, setting up lead scoring, automating c...

Marketing Automation

Design and execute automated marketing workflows to nurture leads, score prospects, and drive conversions at scale.

Workflow

1. Platform Setup & Foundation

Marketing automation platform selection:

Platform evaluation (HubSpot, Marketo, Eloqua, Pardot, ActiveCampaign)
Feature requirement mapping (email, workflow, scoring, segmentation)
Integration capability assessment (CRM, web, analytics)
Scalability and performance evaluation
Total cost of ownership analysis

Data model and architecture:

Contact and lead data model design
Field definition and data hygiene standard
List and segmentation architecture
Custom object and relationship setup
Data synchronization strategy (bi-directional CRM sync)

Email infrastructure configuration:

Domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Sending domain and IP warmup strategy
Email template library and design system
Preference center and unsubscribe management
Deliverability monitoring and inbox placement

2. Lead Management & Scoring

Lead scoring model development:

Explicit scoring (job title, company size, industry, budget, timeline)
Implicit scoring (page visits, email opens, content downloads, event attendance)
Negative scoring (unsubscribe, spam complaint, irrelevant engagement)
Score threshold definition (MQL, SQL, disqualification)
Score decay and recency factor

Lead routing and notification:

MQL definition and handoff criteria
Lead routing rules (territory, vertical, product interest)
Real-time notification to sales team
Lead response time SLA tracking
Lead recycling and re-engagement

Lead lifecycle management:

Lead status definition and transition logic
Lead source attribution and tracking
Duplicate detection and merge strategy
Lead re-engagement and re-activation
Lead lifecycle reporting and dashboard

3. Nurture Campaign Development

Nurture track design:

Buyer journey mapping and stage alignment
Content mapping to nurture journey
Segment-specific nurture track development
Frequency and cadence optimization
Multi-channel nurture integration (email, ads, social)

Drip campaign creation:

Welcome series for new subscribers
Educational nurture for awareness-stage leads
Consideration-stage comparison and proof content
Decision-stage case study and demo request
Re-engagement series for dormant leads

Trigger-based automation:

Behavior-triggered email (page visit, content download, demo request)
Lifecycle-triggered email (status change, score threshold, event)
Event-triggered email (webinar registration, event attendance)
Time-based trigger (anniversary, contract renewal, follow-up)
Multi-step trigger workflow design

4. Segmentation & Personalization

Audience segmentation strategy:

Demographic and firmographic segmentation
Behavioral and engagement-based segmentation
Buyer persona alignment
Account-based segmentation (for B2B)
Dynamic vs static list management

Personalization implementation:

Dynamic content blocks by segment
Personalization token usage (name, company, role)
Behavioral personalization (product interest, content preference)
Send time optimization by individual
A/B test personalization approach

Journey orchestration:

Cross-channel journey design (email, web, ads, social)
Journey branching and conditional logic
Frequency capping and contact fatigue management
Journey analytics and optimization
Multi-touch attribution within journey

5. Optimization & Governance

Performance testing and optimization:

A/B testing framework (subject line, content, CTA, send time)
Multivariate testing for advanced optimization
Statistical significance and test duration
Winning variation implementation and learning
Continuous testing calendar

Deliverability and compliance:

Inbox placement monitoring and optimization
Spam trigger identification and avoidance
CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CASL compliance
Consent management and preference center
List hygiene and suppression list management

Reporting and ROI measurement:

Campaign performance reporting
Nurture program effectiveness analysis
Revenue attribution and pipeline influence
Cost per lead and cost per acquisition
Automation ROI calculation

Templates & Frameworks

Lead Scoring Model

LEAD SCORING MODEL
====================

EXPLICIT SCORING (DEMOGRAPHIC/FIRMOGRAPHIC):
  Job Title:
    C-Level: +20 points
    VP/Director: +15 points
    Manager: +10 points
    Individual Contributor: +5 points
    Student/Unemployed: -20 points

  Company Size:
    1000+ employees: +15 points
    200-999 employees: +10 points
    50-199 employees: +5 points
    <50 employees: 0 points

  Industry:
    Target industry: +10 points
    Adjacent industry: +5 points
    Non-target industry: -10 points

  Geography:
    Target region: +5 points
    Non-target region: -5 points

  Budget signals:
    Budget indicated: +15 points
    Timeline indicated: +10 points

IMPLICIT SCORING (BEHAVIORAL):
  Website:
    Visited pricing page: +15 points
    Visited demo/trial page: +12 points
    Visited comparison page: +10 points
    Downloaded whitepaper: +8 points
    Attended webinar: +12 points
    Multiple page views (same session): +5 points

  Email Engagement:
    Email open: +2 points
    Email click: +5 points
    Link click (high intent): +8 points

  Content Engagement:
    Case study download: +10 points
    Product guide download: +8 points
    Blog post read: +3 points
    Video watched (>50%): +5 points

  Social Engagement:
    LinkedIn profile view: +3 points
    Social content engagement: +2 points

NEGATIVE SCORING:
  Unsubscribed: -50 points (automatic disqualification)
  Spam complaint: -50 points (automatic suppression)
  Bounced email (hard): -30 points
  Inactive > 90 days: -15 points
  Job title mismatch: -20 points

SCORING THRESHOLDS:
  Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL): ≥ 40 points
  Sales Accepted Lead (SAL): MQL + sales acceptance
  Sales Qualified Lead (SQL): SAL + qualification call completed
  Disqualified: ≤ 10 points OR negative score trigger
  Recycle back to nurture: < 40 points after 30 days

SCORE DECAY:
  Monthly decay: -10% of total score
  Max score after decay: Prevent negative floor at 0
  Recency boost: Recent activity (+5 points within 7 days)

Nurture Campaign Framework

NURTURE CAMPAIGN FRAMEWORK
===========================

WELCOME SERIES (NEW SUBSCRIBER):
  Email 1 (Day 0): Welcome + primary value proposition + brand story
  Email 2 (Day 2): How-to guide + getting started content
  Email 3 (Day 5): Customer success story + social proof
  Email 4 (Day 8): Product feature spotlight + use case
  Email 5 (Day 12): Call to action (demo/trial/consultation)

EDUCATIONAL NURTURE (AWARENESS STAGE):
  Cadence: 2 emails per week for 8 weeks
  Week 1-2: Industry insight and thought leadership
  Week 3-4: Problem identification and education
  Week 5-6: Solution overview and comparison framework
  Week 7-8: Social proof, case studies, next step CTA

CONSIDERATION NURTURE (EVALUATING SOLUTIONS):
  Cadence: 3 emails per week for 4 weeks
  Week 1: Product deep-dive and feature benefit
  Week 2: Competitive differentiation and ROI case
  Week 3: Implementation and onboarding overview
  Week 4: Offer and urgency (limited-time incentive)

RE-ENGAGEMENT NURTURE (DORMANT LEADS):
  Trigger: No engagement in 60+ days
  Email 1: "We miss you" + content refresh
  Email 2: New feature/product announcement
  Email 3: Exclusive offer + last-chance CTA
  Email 4: Unsubscribe reminder (clean list if no response)

MULTI-CHANNEL INTEGRATION:
  Email: Primary nurture channel
  Ads: Retargeting based on email engagement
  Web: Personalization based on nurture stage
  Social: Lookalike audience expansion
  Direct mail: High-value account escalation

Integration Points

Marketing automation platforms (HubSpot, Marketo, Eloqua, Pardot): Core automation engine
CRM platforms (Salesforce, HubSpot CRM): Lead and opportunity sync
Web analytics (Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics): Behavior tracking
Email delivery services (SendGrid, Mailchimp, Amazon SES): Email delivery
CDP platforms (Segment, Tealium): Customer data unification
Advertising platforms (Google Ads, LinkedIn): Retargeting and audience sync
Webinar platforms (Zoom, Demio, GoToWebinar): Event tracking
Survey platforms: Feedback integration for scoring

Edge Cases

Complex B2B buying committees: Multi-thread nurture by role; account-based nurture; committee-level scoring; champion advocacy program
Data quality challenges: Regular data hygiene cadence; deduplication process; field validation; enrichment integration; data stewardship
Global multi-region campaigns: Time zone and local time sending; language and content localization; regional compliance (GDPR, CCPA); regional preference center
Platform migration: Data migration strategy; workflow recreation testing; sending domain transition; user training; parallel run period
Over-automation leading to impersonal experience: Human touchpoint integration; personalization depth; feedback loop; manual outreach for key accounts

Output

Marketing Automation Dashboard

MARKETING AUTOMATION DASHBOARD — April 2025
=============================================

CAMPAIGN PERFORMANCE:
  Active campaigns: 47
  Contacts engaged: 89,400
  Emails sent: 234,700
  Open rate: 28.4% (↑ 1.2% ✓)
  Click-through rate: 4.8% (↑ 0.3% ✓)
  Conversion rate: 2.1% (→ no change)
  Unsubscribe rate: 0.3% (within threshold ✓)

LEAD PIPELINE:
  New leads (this month): 2,340
  Marketing Qualified Leads: 847 (36.2%)
  Sales Accepted Leads: 612 (72.3% of MQL) ✓
  SQLs generated: 234
  Opportunities created: 156
  Pipeline influenced: $4.2M
  Closed revenue attributed: $890K

NURTURE PERFORMANCE:
  Active nurture programs: 12
  Contacts in nurture: 45,600
  Nurture conversion rate: 8.7%
  Avg nurture duration to MQL: 23 days
  Nurture revenue influence: $2.1M

LEAD SCORING:
  Avg lead score at MQL: 52
  Lead score accuracy (SAL conversion): 72.3%
  Score threshold adjustment: None needed
  Disqualified leads: 456 (19.5%)
  Recycled leads: 234

DELIVERABILITY:
  Inbox placement rate: 96.8% ✓
  Spam complaint rate: 0.05% ✓
  Hard bounce rate: 1.2% ✓
  Domain reputation: Good ✓
  Sending volume trend: On pace ✓

REVENUE IMPACT:
  Marketing sourced pipeline: $8.7M
  Marketing influenced pipeline: $14.2M
  Cost per lead: $18.50
  Cost per MQL: $51.10
  Cost per SQL: $148.20
  Marketing ROI: 3.4x

Trigger Phrases

"marketing automation", "lead nurturing", "drip campaign", "lead scoring", "workflow automation", "trigger email", "nurture track", "email sequence", "automation platform", "MAP", "MQL", "lead routing", "journey orchestration", "A/B testing", "deliverability"