Marketing automation refers to software technology that gives organizations the ability to simplify and automate marketing tasks, especially repetitive tasks such as sending out emails, updating social media, and managing landing page sign-ups. By automating such tasks, organizations can increase the efficiency with which they operate and accelerate their revenue growth.
According to CRM Magazine assistant editor Sam Del Rowe, “The goal of marketing automation is to make automated communication feel like a personalized experience for potential and existing customers.”
Today’s most effective and productive companies rely on marketing automation to engage with clients, consistently deliver value and stay ahead of the competition. Statistics show that marketing automation truly works and is now used successfully by the majority of marketers to generate positive results for their organizations. Take a look at the numbers below:
• 67% of leading marketers use marketing automation (Salesforce)
• 91% of marketers say automation is very important to their effectiveness (Marketo)
• Nearly 90% of marketers say their marketing automation strategies have been successful (SharpSpring)
• 77% of marketers say automation has increased conversions (VentureBeat)
• 74% of marketers say automation saves time — which enables them to focus on other mission-critical tasks (Adestra)
Here are three marketing automation solutions that will help your business grow:
(1) Automate welcome emails. If you have a subscriber list for your website, not every email you send out will be automated. But your welcome email is one that should be. It makes no sense to individually send out a welcome email every time a new contact is added to your list.
If you gain 50 new subscribers in one day or even one week, you simply don’t have the time to send each one a personalized message with all the other responsibilities that you have. Each new subscriber, however, should receive a welcome email so they are assured that they have been added to the list. According to Vertical Response, “You want to make sure that new contacts receive a welcome email shortly after they sign up for your email list, while their interest is still peaked.”
While your automated welcome email cannot be personalized to each subscriber, it can be useful. It should thank users for subscribing, tell them how to get started with your organization and outline the benefits of receiving messages from you.
(2) Automate social media posts. With all the social media platforms that are in existence now, it is highly likely that your organization makes use of more than one. It can be a challenge to keep one social media platform updated, let alone three or four. But automation makes such as task easy and much less stressful.
There are several social media management tools that can help you automate your posts (e.g., eClincher, Buffer, Sprout Social or Hootsuite). Such tools not only allow you to post the same message across several social media platforms at once, but also allow you to schedule posts days in advance.
According to Robly, one study says that marketers who use social media automation are able to reclaim six hours each week. Six hours which they can use to accomplish other important work.
(3) Automate workflow tasks. If you feel like your organizational processes are inefficient and you’re constantly losing time by manually repeating the same tedious tasks, then it’s time you make use of workflow automation. According to Tallyfy’s Jamie Johnson, workflow automation is “used to improve everyday business processes because when your work flows, you can concentrate on getting more done and focusing on the things that matter. It allows teams to spend more time on the actual work itself and less time on the processes that support them.”
Organizations that engage workflow automation are more efficient, reduce mistakes and experience more growth.
