Definition: Marketing Automation
Table of Contents
Marketing automation is the process of using software to automate marketing activities, from initial customer contact to post-sales support.
Marketing automation helps companies choose the most effective processes at each stage of the sales funnel based on a lead's data and how they interact with the company.
Watch the video below before reading the rest of the article. It gives you a brief overview of what marketing automation is and how it can benefit your sales processes .
What can you do with a marketing automation tool?
Marketing automation tools help you streamline your entire marketing process by automatically taking action at the right time. This allows you to generate more leads and close more deals while freeing up your marketing team for other tasks.
Marketing automation typically focuses on three areas:
Targeting individual customers with the most relevant marketing strategy
With marketing automation, you can deliver the most relevant content to each customer based on who they are and how they interact with your business. Thus, each lead receives the most appropriate content to overcome their personal "obstacles" that prevent them from making a purchase. This is far more effective than mass emailing your entire customer base.
In practice it can look something like this:
- A prospect visits your website and fills out a form to download your e-book.
- You automatically email them the e-book.
- The prospect clicks the link to download the e-book.
- He then clicks a link to your pricing information in the e-book, but doesn't buy anything.
- You automatically email them and ask if they want to speak to a sales rep.
- The interested party fills out a web form in which he states his desired date.
- One of your sales reps will be notified and will call the prospect at the agreed time.
Identify promising leads
Marketing automation software allows marketing teams to rank leads based on their likelihood to buy. With so-called lead scoring, a lead receives a certain number of points for each action taken. When it reaches a predefined total, it is handed over to the sales team.
For example, a person who has opened all of your emails, signed up for a webinar, and viewed your pricing information is a warm lead. Someone who only occasionally opens your email and never clicks through to your website is a cold lead.
Segment the customer base
Marketing automation platforms help you segment your customer base so you can target different audiences with the most relevant marketing strategy. Customers can be segmented based on their location, the pages they visit or their purchasing preferences, among other things.
For example, an accountancy firm that offers tax services, financial statements, and payroll services might segment its leads based on the pages their website is visited. If someone digs deep into payroll, the company can provide that lead with specific marketing information on the subject.
What are the advantages of a marketing automation system?
Marketing teams benefit from marketing automation in several ways. Here are some of the benefits:
Better Leads
Marketing automation helps you get better leads in two ways: First, using lead scoring methods, you can easily separate cold leads from warm leads and only route the latter to your sales team.
Second, lead tracking techniques give you insight into what your leads want and the challenges they face. When the sales team receives a lead, they know where it came from, what content it downloaded, and what emails have already been exchanged.
Better timing
When it comes to selling, timing is key. Without automated processes, you risk missing key moments in the sales cycle.
Let's say a café owner wants to install a new POS system. She gets to your website and downloads a case study, but still unsure what exactly your software offers, she chooses a competitor. By the time your sales team contacts you, it's already too late. Marketing automation takes the next step in this process automatically: for example, the system can send the prospect more information that can help them make a purchase decision, or ask them if they want to speak to a sales representative.
Always the right measure
Your marketing automation solution ensures you take the right action at every stage of the sales funnel. If you look at past transaction data before you close a deal, you can understand how that customer is interacting with your business. Based on this, the process can be made more effective so that you increase your sales success.
Who Uses Marketing Automation Tools?
Marketing automation tools are used by companies of all sizes and across all sectors. Among the customers of Act! include financial and healthcare providers, real estate agents, pharmaceutical companies and more. For many companies using marketing automation tools, the sales process consists of some or all of these elements:
- an inbound marketing process
- Email Marketing .
- Materials to be used in the sales process (already available or created by you)
- a sales process that takes place online
Read our customer testimonials to learn more about what types of businesses use a marketing automation solution.
How Can You Succeed With Marketing Automation?
Clearly define the sales process
How you use marketing automation depends on your sales process. Companies with a long sales cycle will benefit the most since every component of their complex process can be automated. However, marketing automation tools are also useful for shorter sales cycles. For example, you can send customers a reminder email if they left items in their shopping cart. The important thing is that you know how leads become customers in your sales process.
know customers well
With marketing automation, you need to tailor your sales funnel to how customers interact with your business. To do this, you need to know who your customers are and what they want from your business.
Define strategies clearly
Companies that successfully use marketing automation know which steps customers want to take at which stage of the sales funnel and can guide them towards these steps in a targeted manner. Before implementing your marketing automation strategy, make sure you know what your customers want.
Create necessary materials
For marketing automation, you need materials that your customers can interact with, such as blog articles, videos, or ebooks. If you already have these materials, you can incorporate them into your marketing automation strategy. If not, you need to create different types of content first.
Keep everyone updated
Successful marketing automation strategies are based on input from different teams in your company. The sales team should let marketing know what type of lead they're having the most success with so their marketing colleagues can factor that into their lead scoring system. At the same time, customer support can provide information to the marketing team about what types of problems customers are facing.
Test your strategy
After implementing your marketing strategy, the work is not over. Now you need to analyze and test your strategy to make sure all components are working optimally. Examine metrics like click-through rate, conversion rate, time spent on a web page, and open rate to identify "black holes" where you're losing customers disproportionately. A/B testing can be used to determine the most effective methods.
How do I find the right marketing automation solution for my business?
As with any investment, you need to be sure that the marketing automation tool you choose is right for your business. Here are some things to look out for:
functions
It's important that your marketing automation platform has all the features you want. Think about why you want to automate your marketing and make sure the solution of your choice supports those goals.
integrations
Your marketing automation software needs to integrate with your existing tools. Most solutions offer a range of integration options, but it's definitely worth checking before you buy.
training courses
Once you're comfortable with your marketing automation solution, it's dead easy to use. It takes learning, however, and the best software vendors will help you and your team get the most out of the solution—whether it's in the form of an extensive knowledge base, video tutorials, or workshops with a trainer.
customer support
In conjunction with the training opportunities, you should also scrutinize the customer support that is offered. When your chosen marketing automation tool offers a range of support options, you won't be left helpless if something doesn't quite work as you'd expect.
scalability
Are you planning to expand your business? Choose a marketing automation solution that can grow with him. Most tools allow you to upgrade to a different plan as you gain more clients.
Cost
The final deciding factor is cost. Is your budget sufficient for the range of functions you want? Or should you opt for a cheaper solution? Pay particular attention to hidden fees or introductory offers, where the price increases significantly after a while – when you can no longer part with the provider from a technical point of view.
Would you like to learn more about our solution? Here you can act! Get to know marketing automation better.
Conclusion
Let's recap what we discussed in this article on marketing automation:
- What is Marketing Automation? Marketing automation is the process of automating marketing activities using software.
- What can you do with marketing automation? Marketing automation makes lead nurturing , segmentation, and lead scoring easier. In this way, you can guide potential customers through the sales funnel and to the point of purchase as effectively as possible.
- Marketing Automation Benefits: Marketing automation tools help companies create and execute the most effective marketing strategy possible. This can drive sales and help the marketing team focus on the big picture.
- Who Uses Marketing Automation Tools? Marketing automation tools are suitable for companies of all sizes and from all industries; in both the B2B and B2C sectors.
- How Can You Succeed With Marketing Automation? To use marketing automation to your advantage, you need a well-defined strategy and a deep understanding of your product and customers. In addition, you should continuously test and adapt your processes.
- How do I find the right marketing automation solution? Think about what features you want your marketing automation solution to have and where you see your business going in the future. Then choose a solution that suits you and your budget.