Our regular readers will know we mention marketing automation for SMEs making online B2B and B2C sales. However, one of the most daunting factors is what businesses see as the learning curve of using a platform.
After cost, this is usually the most intimidating factor. However, we are happy to inform you that this should not be a barrier, as learning how to automate marketing will build on existing skills, and it is easy to fill existing knowledge gaps.
Here is a guide on how to learn how to automate marketing to overcome this obstacle.
What is marketing automation?
Marketing automation is a knowledge that allows companies to centrally orchestrate and manage interactions with their customers, automatically managing marketing campaigns and processes across multiple platforms. Use software to plan and complete routine marketing tasks.
Some of the tasks that can be automated include sending emails, posting to social media, A/B testing, lead scoring, and ad retargeting. Good software integrates with other platforms, such as a CRM, uniting marketing and sales.
What does marketing automation do for your business?
Marketing automation eliminates some of the most tedious tasks and allows your teams to focus more on customer relationships. tools will help your team save time and work more efficiently.
This technology helps your teams better inform and make smarter decisions by extracting data using analytics tools.
It helps you collect data and create customer profiles for audience segmentation. Marketing automation simplifies daily tasks and helps your teams spend more time providing customers with personalized experiences across multiple platforms.
How marketing automation works
Now that we’ve explained marketing automation, let’s explore how it works.
Marketing automation works by assembling information from potential and existing customers. This information may include which pages they visited on your website, what objects they added to their cart or purchased, whether they unlocked an email, how they cooperated with your social media profile, and more.
Tools can also test how your target audience receives your message and adjust accordingly to ensure you deliver winning content.
These tools will send triggered content to customers, meaning your marketing team will also be in close contact with customers and always top of mind. As priorities change, you can schedule content later if necessary.
The benefits of marketing automation
By using marketing automation, your teams can provide exceptional, personalized service to your customers, and your business can stay ahead of the competition.
Here are some of the benefits of marketing automation:
This saves time. Handles responsibilities your team would otherwise do manually, freeing up their time to do higher-level work. Your team can spend less time researching prospects and more time interacting with them.
This saves money. Teams can do the same work with scarcer resources as automation handles tedious tasks. Your company can also intensify its marketing efforts without snowballing the number of people or time spent at work.
Supports customization. A/B challenging, customer segmentation, and content retargeting help deliver personalized messages in personalized time frames for a better customer experience. With this, your business can expect greater brand loyalty.
This helps teams prioritize their best content. A/B testing allows teams to gather data on what content works best and what needs to be familiar. Marketing automation helps your team quickly change content priorities to maintain a loyal customer base.
How it impacts customers
Overall, marketing automation helps businesses deliver exceptional customer experiences. Implementing in your company can impact customers by:
- Deliver a better omnichannel experience. Your business can track which messages customers will see and offer different content on different channels. You can help customers through their journey more efficiently by providing new, relevant material instead of duplicating content.
- Break down silos between teams. Good tools can pull data from different sources and share that information across teams. This provides a better view of the customer journey and supports constant communication as customers move from marketing to sales.
- Offer relevant and authentic experiences. Shoppers want personalized experiences and want to feel like the brand understands them. Research has shown that 71% of consumers expect personalized experiences from businesses. Using insights from shoppers’ interactions with your brand, you can anticipate what a customer wants and then deliver content that matches it.
Be consistent with branding.
You will be less recognizable to potential customers without consistent branding across all channels. A strong brand is one of the cornerstones of marketing success, and using to your advantage will allow you to maintain consistency across the board.
Marketing automation tools effectively maintain a specific style with images, content, and communications across all key marketing channels, which will help you build your brand’s reputation in a crowded digital space.
Marketing automation tools & platforms
Now that we know the benefits, let’s look at various platforms. These marketing automation software are designed to improve visibility and efficiency, leading to progressively better promotional results.