The best marketing automation can set you up for success
Marketing automation is nothing short of mainstream in the digital age we live in, but for many who are concerned about the outlay of time and resources, we know it can be a bit daunting. Yet, as marketers evolve to working remotely, the need for innovative tools that can save you time has never been stronger.
The uptake of exclusively-digital communication has been one of the overwhelming changes prompted by COVID-19. For many, the crisis has motivated them to expand their use of technology for the first time, making it even more imperative for marketers to create ways to make communicating more accessible for their audiences.
For many organisations, managing and deploying their marketing efforts efficiently also means deploying their resources effectively. With cost-saving measures rampant right now, delivering the strongest ROI may require a greater dependence on marketing automation.
How will marketing automation benefit my business?
Shifting from reactive to proactive communications
The goal of any kind of automation is to improve efficiency. Marketing automated processes can take care of time-consuming, but important tasks such as managing database growth, customer segmentation, timely messaging delivery, lead nurturing, ongoing customer communication and content scheduling - just about any task that doesn’t require a human to activate in real-time.
With automation, teams can reduce time spent on repetitive tasks and instead focus on impactful strategy and opportunities that require unique expertise. With this saving, your business can reallocate the budget directly back into campaigns to see a greater return on investment.
Delivering messages on time, and on-brand
Automation is not only about saving time and money, but it can also ensure greater brand consistency and compliance. Often marketers are working towards the same goals, but are not speaking in harmony and can express the brand in their personal interpretations and voices.
By setting and consolidating all your messaging and standard responses, you can ensure that your tone of voice remains consistent and true to the brand. Also, most software allows you to set up easy-to-navigate templates so not only will all your communication be uniform in language, but also in design. Through the power of well-considered, structured automation sequences and workflows, the chances of human error will be heavily reduced.
If you need help pivoting your brand messaging to align with purpose - check out our tips here.
Providing valuable insight to enable smarter decisions
We all know the value of understanding which marketing initiatives work and which don’t, and nothing provides a clearer picture than a marketing automation solution with tracking capabilities, analytics and advanced tools for monitoring and measuring your campaign results.
The reporting from these auto-analytics allow you to capture and activate the insights that encourage seamless customer journeys. Brands can also benefit from automated A/B testing, which allows you to gain valuable feedback from the end-user and optimise content for maximum engagement.
Nurturing leads and customer experience
Strong customer relationships are grounded in timely and effective communication. When there’s pressure on resources, having precious resources devoted to replying to emails and messages that could easily be standardised, can start to become a hindrance to building efficient customer rapport.
Through marketing automation you can build intuitive communication through artificial intelligence that can do the work for you. Imagine if, when a visitor engages with your website, a sequence of well-timed emails with your brand’s tone of voice can be sent automatically to captivate that new lead without any additional input from you - set up the rules and associated responses once and your set!
Personalising interactions with customers
Well-personalised content is a key success factor in nurturing your leads.
Marketing automation tools present the right content to the right audience at the right time. You have the opportunity to create a unique and bespoke experience for each customer, thereby boosting relationships and increasing the likelihood of engagement and sales.
Starting with a customer journey map and well-established buyer personas, you can understand the ‘moments of truth’ in a service experience. This will determine the different customer touchpoints and guide your personalised, automated sequence of communication.
Our strategists used this approach when they built The Separation Guide. The anchor of the project was an interactive Q&A; a 5 minute, self-directed survey that aims to sensitively and respectfully gather insight into an individual’s circumstances so that resources and content can be tailored to meet that user’s needs at the relevant stages of their separation journey. This emphasis on customisation reflects the business’ desire to make the divorce process feel more personal, more relevant, and therefore, more human - traits that helped the website land a Webby Award 2020 nomination.
Enhancing your creative output
Many question whether technology hinders our creativity. The truth is that technology and creativity go hand in hand, providing marketers with additional time to be strategic and considered around how to use their creative resources and ideas.
Furthermore, smart technology also enables the creative components of any campaign to be adapted and enhanced if the circumstances happen to change, or in some cases, the creative can be programmed to adjust and adapt in real-time.
We recommend that you start with your research on the most suitable automation platform for you. It's not a decision to take lightly, so take your time to decide which options best fit your marketing communication needs. If you’re still not sure where to start take a look at our ultimate marketing automation software review and let us know if you have any questions!
Need help with your marketing strategy?
Our team of marketing and digital strategists specialise in scoping, implementing and managing marketing automation software. Whether you need a solid strategy to unlock the potential of your database or someone to take the stress of marketing away - our team will drive results for your business. Contact us today.
