14-Day Framework for Onboarding Non-Technical Marketers to Automation Tools
Q&A: How to Onboard Non-Technical Marketers to Automation in Two Weeks
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Marketing automation software enables the team to focus on customer-centric tasks that require a human touch, without being bogged down by repetitive processes that consume the workday.
HubSpot Marketing Automation software uses AI to streamline marketing activities, helping marketers increase the effectiveness and quantity of campaigns. Key capabilities include:
Automated lead generation through powerful email and forms features that turn website visitors into customers.
Forms that use CRM data to remember returning visitors and adapt based on their behavior.
Email triggers and sequences automatically follow up on form submissions to welcome new subscribers, nurture leads with relevant content, or re-engage inactive contacts.
onboard non-technical marketers to automation tools, hubspot automation
The best automation tools can be used by non-technical marketers. Whether you're building simple follow-up campaigns or complex multi-step journeys, HubSpot Marketing Automation’s user-friendly interface helps teams scale their efforts while maintaining a personal touch.
Marketing Automation Onboarding Challenges
If marketing automation tools have a simple interface and robust training materials, teams can avoid onboarding challenges. HubSpot Marketing Automation’s visual workflow builder is intuitive and designed for non-technical users. Beyond that, marketers have access to HubSpot Academy courses and knowledge base articles that make onboarding easy.
But, when training materials are missing, onboarding challenges arise. Without the right foundation, marketers may not have the right language and skill set to make the most of their tech stack. Common onboarding challenges include:
Fear of breaking things in the system.
Imposter syndrome in marketing tech.
Resistance to change and jargon overload.
I’ve seen these challenges firsthand. The first time I sat in a meeting to discuss marketing automation, I swear I could read the thought bubbles over the heads of the non-technical marketers on my team. Those bubbles read, “I just don’t want to break anything.”
I get it. As a former non-technical marketer, I understand how new technology can leave you feeling uncertain. I’ve also learned that when onboarding lags and software becomes frustrating to use, it’s not really because the team “can’t” learn a new tool. Usually, it’s because the onboard process unintentionally fuels anxiety.
When this happens, these patterns consistently show up.
onboard non-technical marketers to automation tools, challenges
1. Fear of Breaking Things in the System
Many marketers worry that a single click could send an equatorial guinea telemarketing database email to the entire database or overwrite essential CRM fields. While these things rarely happen, 37% of CRM adopters feel they lack the internal knowledge needed to make the best use of their chosen platforms.
I asked Vassilena Valchanova, Digital Strategist, if she sees tech anxiety when onboarding teams to a new tool. She has, and it’s more common than you think.
She told me, “In my experience, there‘s this fear among non-marketing people that if they start working with a new tool, they might ‘break it.’ Usually, when people see a new platform they haven’t worked with, they're uncertain about where to start and what their actions might lead to.”
While the easiest way to fix this is to be curious and experiment, these hesitations often derail entire campaigns.
Pro tip: HubSpot Marketing Automation addresses the confidence gap by designing marketing automation tools that prioritize user confidence and ease of use. The platform's visual workflow builder eliminates the need for technical expertise, allowing marketers to create targeted workflows through an intuitive drag-and-drop interface.
What’s Worked for the Experts
The easiest way to help non-technical marketers learn new software is to give them a sandbox to play in. A sandbox is a dedicated space for testing features, sending test campaigns, and learning workflows.
Create a test environment — complete with mock customer data — for training purposes. When users feel more comfortable with their tools, they’re more likely to adopt them into their workflows appropriately.
Valchanova uses this approach, too. As she said, “The worst that can happen is spamming colleagues’ emails, not thousands of unintended recipients.”
2. Imposter Syndrome in Marketing Tech
Imposter syndrome can show up in even the most skilled marketers. For non-technical marketers, it can prevent them from fully adopting their tech stacks. In fact, 32% of CRM users say a lack of tech expertise is the biggest hurdle to feeling confident enough to embrace it. These fears are common, but if not squashed early on, they can set the entire team back.
Aaron Whittaker, VP of Demand Generation at Thrive, said he’s noticed this with his team. He told me, “When I rolled out marketing automation to the non-technical team, the main concern they had was the fear of revealing that they didn’t know how to do something. Many of them were anxious that automation meant complicated processes or being put out of work by technology they didn’t really understand.”
What’s Worked for the Experts
Pushing teams toward early wins is one of the most effective ways to eliminate imposter syndrome. Create role‑based starting points, side‑by‑side build sessions, or a five‑minute “you already do this” demo. This helps empower marketing teams to flex their existing knowledge while learning new skills.
Whittaker has used this approach with his team. He says, “One of the early ‘wins’ in transforming that fear to confidence was what I now refer to as a ‘customer journey playback.”
He explains it like this: “We mapped a basic end-to-end campaign from a lead’s point of view and depicted what they would see and go through at each stage of engagement--the goal was to ensure that the team sees and understands that automation allowed us to hyper-personalize at scale.”