Unfortunately, you have a business to run. It would be impossible to focus only on your marketing efforts.

To help you through the marketing process, you need to use marketing automation tools.

What is Marketing Automation?

Automating your marketing means that you use certain software and programs that allows your marketing processes to run on their own. Instead of needing to hit “send” on every email message or post, you can schedule sending times into the software and let it go.

Through automating your marketing, you can move buyers through your sales funnel more easily. Without the hassle of needing to send out every email or push your audience directly to every landing page, you can see better results in less time.

Using Email Automation

One of the most common ways to automate your marketing is through email automation. With automation programs for your email, you can set up email campaigns to run on their own. You can also use programs that target certain individuals, particular behaviors, or customers who are at different levels of the sales funnel.

An automated email campaign may look something like this:

1. A website visitor enters their contact information and email address in a newsletter sign up.
2. You send a welcome message to this new contact and push them to download a free ebook.
3. If they download the free ebook, you send them a thank you note.
4. After a few days have passed and the user has had an opportunity to read the ebook, you send them a follow up email with another educational download related to the ebook topic.
5. If the individual downloads the second freebie, you will receive a notification.
6. The contact information for this individual can be moved to the sales department or can be transferred to another sales funnel, encouraging them to make a purchase.

Each of these steps provides valuable information for the individual without adding another item to your to-do list. Through automating your email marketing, you can set up programs like this to move customers towards making a purchase. When you have dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of individuals moving through your sales funnel, automation can save you time and effort.

Automation in your email marketing can also help you create customized and personalized messages. While there are many programs out there that allow businesses to send mass messages to everyone on their list, not every individual will be interested in that content. For some, it is too far down the sales funnel while others may have already made that purchase.

When you have automation software that can classify each individual by their behavior and their interests, you can create more targeted campaigns.

Using Landing Pages

When creating a place for website visitors to sign up for more information, landing pages can be one of the best tools for gathering the customer details you need for automation.

Landing pages are used to capture customer information related to a product or service they are interested in. Because they are expressing interest in a certain offer, you can use this information to create better targeted email campaigns and messages.

Creating highly targeted campaigns and messages can help you push your audience down the right sales funnel. Instead of sending the same content over and over hoping that something will stick, you can create perfectly-crafted content that speaks directly to their needs and helps them find the information they’re looking for.

Is Marketing Automation Necessary?

Our audience wants to feel like they’re special. Instead of just being one of our many customers, they want to feel like they’re the one and only. If we’re constantly sending generic messages or alerts, they’re going to grow sick of it very quickly.

But to create special messages for each client and customer is time consuming. If you’re able to do this, great!  If you need to tend to other areas of the business, your time is likely minimal to send special messages every day.

Through automation tools, you can give the personalized feeling of a specially crafted email without spending your entire week drafting messages. The right tools will help you monitor your customer’s behaviors and actions, find the right message to share with them at that point in time, and encourage them to take the next step in the sales funnel.

When you use automation tools for your marketing, you can start seeing better results, more sales, and happier customers. When customers and clients feel like they’re well taken care of, they will come back for more.

Have questions on marketing automation or the tools?  Let us know – we’re here to help!