Top 7 Marketing Automation Business Strategies

About half of all businesses are leveraging at least some marketing automation strategies today, and more than half say they plan to increase automation spend next year, according to the latest Forrester report. However, many initiatives stall out due to lack of planning, issues getting the right people in place to implement, or not having the resources you need to succeed.?

This article will cover the basics of marketing automation and the best tools and strategies to help you implement them.

Marketing Automation: What is it and How Does it Work?

Marketing automation allows companies to automate repetitive tasks and promote on multiple channels more effectively.

Automated Marketing Tools

There are many tools available today that can automate marketing processes. Some tools cover many areas, while others focus on a particular medium or channel.

For example, most people are familiar with HubSpot or Salesforce. These platforms house many tools such as CRM, forms, and landing pages. They also allow you to automate tasks within each hub.

MailChimp, Constant Contact, and other options can help you automate, but they are primarily focused on email automation.

You’ll also find that specialty software can be used to help with advertising, social media, forms, and SMS marketing.

Instructions (Workflows)

After you have selected the marketing tool you want, you can start programming it to perform tasks for you. It will need to be given detailed instructions in the form of "workflows." This is a way to tell it what to do and when it should be done.

You might connect your forms to the CRM to ensure that all leads are automatically imported. Your "trigger" in this instance is the submission of a lead form. The action is to import the data into your CRM.

The next step is to assign leads to a specific sales rep . For example, you might use an if/then statement. “If the product is a widget, then assign the lead to the widget sales specialist.”

You can have a simple workflow or one that is complex. A workflow could also be used to segment leads and place them on a mailing list. Then, it would send a series of emails. Automating can be used to alter the course of a contact's behavior, such as clicking on a link or removing them from a mailing list after they make a purchase.

Once you get your feet in the automation pool, you'll be amazed at the number of tasks and processes that you can automate. You can also add automation to every stage of the buyer’s journey to enhance your sales and marketing efforts.

Why Do Businesses Use Marketing Automation?

You may already be excited by the possibilities made available through marketing automation, but it’s not just bells and whistles. There’s an enormous business case for it too.

Efficiency

The volume and maturity of your automation strategy will determine the amount of time you save. Automating automation to add leads to its CRM can save a company minutes or hours each day, depending on the volume of leads. Automation of hundreds of processes and emails can save a lot more time than using automation to add leads to the CRM.

Lead Qualification

Sometimes, a human touch can be crucial to closing a deal. An automation strategy that monitors leads across all channels will score them so that reps can concentrate on the ones most likely to convert.

Conversion and Nurturing

Without a nurturing program, leads can become cold. After all, human reps are limited in their ability to make as many calls and send as many emails per day. Businesses automate follow-ups in order to move leads through the sales funnel and convert them. Automation can also be used to segment leads to create customized journeys that increase conversions.

Monitoring and Improving Results

Businesses can gain a detailed overview of their leads with the right tools and processes. This will allow them to identify potential leaks in their funnels, and then make improvements. Automation can be combined with A/B testing to increase results.

This data can also be used to demonstrate the value that the marketing team brings to an organization and to prove its effectiveness.

Boosting Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI)

Data-driven marketing empowers businesses and boosts efficiency. Consequently, the return on marketing investment (ROMI), naturally, improves. According to Salesforce data, businesses that leverage marketing automation experience a 14.5 percent rise in sales productivity and a 12.2 percent decrease in marketing overhead. It can also increase sales opportunities by 20 percent and boost qualified leads by 451 percent, according to their research.

The 7 Best Marketing Automation Strategies for Visible ROI

There are many ways to harness automation, but which marketing automation strategies should businesses use first? Here are seven proven strategies that would be good starting points.?

Strategy #1: Engage Customers with Relevant and Dynamic Content

Imagine a visitor journey. Now imagine you are searching for business loan solutions. In the search bar, type "business loan options," and you will be taken to a page listing many ways your company can raise capital. This static content is useful and engaging. You will also notice the sidebar that mentions your location and lists loan packages or lenders that may be available to meet your needs. It is easy to see how sidebar content can push you to take action. This is dynamic content.

According to Search Engine Journal , eight in ten customers are more inclined to do business with companies that offer personalized experiences. According to their research, 52 percent of customers want personalized offers. Emails with personalized subject lines are 26 percent more likely to get opened.

Strategy #2: Recover Revenue With Abandoned Cart Emails & eCommerce Automation

If you have ever shopped online at any major retailer, then you probably have some experience with eCommerce automation. Dynamic content is one of the most popular strategies, as we have seen. You might look at boots online and then find them everywhere else online. Or you might get emails showcasing similar products.

Emails that have been abandoned work in the same way. You can remind the customer to check their cart or offer a discount, or even free shipping.

Moosend research shows that around half of the abandoned cart emails are opened. Half of the emails that are opened are clicked on, and half of those clicks lead to purchases. If you don't leverage abandoned cart emails, you're wasting money.

Strategy #3: Re-Engage Old Leads

Generating leads is expensive, so make sure each one receives the attention it deserves. This can be done with marketing automation software that allows for time delays. You might set up an email that will go out 30 days after the lead has not taken action. If a lead's deal remains at a particular stage for a set period of time, your CRM can fire off a task to a sales representative.

Strategy #4: Automate Chat on Your Website

According to Customer Think research, seven in ten customers would rather solve customer service problems on their own. Seven out of ten customers also say they use a chatbot or intelligent assistant at least once per month. Chatbots can reduce friction in customer journeys and move people through your funnel. They also make it easier for sales and support staff to work more efficiently.

Strategy #5: Leverage Marketing Automation for List Segmentation

A tailored content strategy will improve the performance of your campaigns. This can be achieved by using list segmentation in your email programs.

• Engagement: When someone takes a certain action, your email program can automatically place them on a list. Lead scoring allows you to send different messages depending on the level of interest to people.
• Status: If you have a subscription-based company, it is a good idea for your clients to be separated from inactive or previous customers. Segmentation can also be based on subscription tier or purchase volume.
• Persona or Role: B2B companies need to be particularly careful about segmenting by role. You will often be selling to someone who isn't a decision-maker and needs a different message from someone who can give final approval. Segmenting your audience by persona is a good idea. Different people have different needs and concerns.
• Industry: This allows you to send more targeted content to your audience rather than general-interest pieces. It will also keep them more engaged.
• Interest: Segment based on their interest in receiving information specific to the products or services you offer.
• Location: Businesses often overlook the importance of segmenting by geography, especially if they offer similar products in a large area. Segmenting by location can help you capitalize on what's going on locally, whether it be new legislation, competition, or other events.

Strategy #6: Set Up a Drip Campaign

Although drip campaigns and nurturing campaigns can be used interchangeably, they serve different purposes and have different goals.

• Drip campaigns are time-based. Your contact will receive a certain number of emails, regardless of what they do. Unsubscribed contacts will not be able to leave drips.
• Nurturing campaigns are behavior-based. A series of emails are sent to your contact based on actions like link clicks and form fills. Page views, webinar signups, etc. If a contact does not complete an action, they can unsubscribe from a nurturing campaign.

You can use drip campaigns to promote a new product or service. Drips can be used to help clients get the most from your products or services and to onboard new clients. Take this example:

• Day 1: Welcome!
• Day 2: Getting Started Resources
• Day 4: Product FAQs
• Day 7: Tips and Tricks
• Day 10: Let us Know How You're Doing
• Day 20: Advanced Resources

Strategy #7: Create Automatic Nurture Campaigns

It is a good idea to pair drip campaigns with nurturing campaigns. Nurturing campaigns are based on user behavior, so two contacts might have different experiences depending upon what they do.

There are several triggers that could be used to initiate nurturing campaigns:

• Complete a form on your site.
• Complete a purchase.
• Visit a page on your site.
• Chatbot engagement.
• Downloading content.
• Registering for or attending a virtual event.

You might use lead scoring in these situations to move someone to a new workflow or to send them a completely different email, depending on whether or not they opened the previous one. This allows you to guide people through your funnel and adapt the content to their needs.

Get Help with Your Marketing Automation Strategies

I build automation into everything I do as a digital marketing consultant. It helps improve the effectiveness of campaigns and boosts ROMI. Plus, it helps teams work more effectively and allows them to focus more on the people and tasks that need their attention the most. If you’re not automating yet or aren’t sure you’re leveraging marketing automation to its full potential, I can help. Contact me for a complimentary consultation .

You can also read this article on my website, Top 7 Marketing Automation Strategies for Your Business .?

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