How To Master Marketing Automation For Your Business
“Consider marketing automation as the next great addition to your team; an addition that can be inexpensive and can scale as needed, allowing your business unlimited growth.”
The most common feedback I have received regarding marketing automation from small business owners (or those looking to launch a new business), is that it is just one more thing for them to worry about. Another task added to their plate (most of which are already at capacity). They just don’t have the time to invest in or see the value of this new addition to their toolbox. While others are wary of losing control, over their business or communication with their clients and prospects.
My response to them has been: “Imagine having a sales manager, customer service coordinator and personal assistant all in one; who is eager for your direction and is focussed on your needs. Their sole purpose is to grow your business by increasing your revenue, managing your clients, and freeing up your time, so you can focus on, what it is you do best.” Instead of viewing marketing automation as another task on an endless list of things to do, you should be viewing it as the next great addition to your team, an addition that can be inexpensive and can scale as needed, allowing your business, unlimited growth.
Sounds pretty perfect when you look at it like that, but you may be wondering how one piece of software can possibly accomplish all of these things? Through this series, we will take an in-depth look at the most commonly found functionalities in marketing automation platforms and how they can be adapted to fit your growing business needs.
Here is a brief overview of the functionalities that we will explore through this series:
3 Ways to Increase Your Revenue With Email Marketing – allow prospects and customers to qualify and move through your buying process in real-time, on a scalable level, through a personalized experience. Marketing automation platforms enable you to build email marketing campaigns that nurture leads (or prospects) based on their continued engagement or with defined time parameters; these emails are set up to deploy automatically once a user has completed the desired web-based behavior or the defined period of time has occurred. These campaigns can be set it and forget (with optimization and refreshes needed down the road of course) allowing your marketing efforts to work for you 24-7.
Lead Generation: How To Romance Your Way To Success – ensure both outbound and inbound prospects are secured within your database through lead generation forms; making the most of your marketing dollars and maximizing your opportunities with organic prospects that fate (or successful SEO – it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference) has bestowed upon your site. A marketing automation platform can enroll these leads right into a nurture campaign or an accelerated conversion campaign (or whatever campaign best fits the scenario), in real-time, allowing for a smooth transition that maintains the prospect’s engagement.
How To Convert Lost Leads: Retargeting’s place in the Mix – redirect lost sales back into your funnel, re-engage non-responsive audiences with new product launches or stay top of mind and remind your prospects of your unique values while they run through a product/service comparison with your top competitors.
Reveal Your Hidden Treasure with Lead Scoring – take the guesswork out of your sales process; allow your team to strike while the iron is hot. Or simply unveil who your most engaged customers are and introduce them to a referral program. These are possible through the analytics tracked by your marketing automation platform and can be set up to initiate in real-time, automatically.
Have You Mastered The Fine Art Of The Pop-up? – master the elusive skill of successful pop-up box ads; utilizing them to reach prospects, and progress them through your buying process strategically. Marketing automation platforms allow you to construct a user journey consisting of multiple touch points; this is where these ads have the highest impact.
How To Demystify Social Media Marketing For Your Business – demystify the “who, what, where, how and when” of social media marketing, while providing your target audiences, a seamless and engaging experience from one digital channel to the next, all with the help of your marketing automation platform.
Website Tracking Codes: How To Unlock Your Top Conversion Paths – sit back and allow your potential or current customers to “qualify” themselves within your buying process – telling you; what is of greatest interest to them at this moment, how interested they really are, and how close they are to making a purchase. Your website just became the greatest sales tool ever.
Audience Segmentation: How To Build A Foundation of Success – tackle broadcasting your marketing messages with the precision of a sniper by segmenting your target audience. These segmentations can be based on engagement levels, website or email based behaviors, demographic, geographic or firmographic targets or time periods between engagement or behaviors. A marketing automation platform allows users to flow between segments as their interests or information changes, while also allowing you to interact with them on-demand, all in real-time – the future is now.
“Your website becomes the personal shopper they never knew they needed, but now, can no longer live without.”
What is Personalization Code & How To Use It – show your prospects and customers that you not only understand them and their needs but can tailor their online experience with your business in real-time. Personalization code, allows you to take your user journey to next level, by customizing what each user sees based on behaviors or interests they have expressed on your website in the past. Your website becomes the personal shopper they never knew they needed, but now, can no longer live without.
These basic functionalities only scratch the surface; the possibilities that marketing automation offers are truly boundless. The most important step is structuring your business around an approach that will allow technology, and in this case, a marketing automation platform, to not only support your long-term goals but play a crucial role in helping you to achieve them.
Check out the second part of this series here: 3 Ways to Increase Your Revenue With Email Marketing
