The opportunities of the modern market, with its eCommerce and multiplicity of brands, provide customers with a choice they never had before. So companies strive to evolve their marketing strategy in order to have a leading position in the race with their competitors. But how to place more ads and send messages to customers without scaring them off? And how to convert a doubting potential client into a loyal one?
This is possible with marketing automation software. Such software offers companies tools that help them set up a steady personalized communication with each of their contacts and thus, win their trust and make them regular buyers. How?
A marketing automation platform structures all the information about customers, using their personal data and preferences. The latter is tracked across social media, the websites visited by a person, the history of purchases, etc. Based on this, the system assesses the readiness of the prospect to make a particular purchase in a given time. Notifications are sent to sales representatives then, so they can contact the right person at the right moment.
In addition, the above technology automatically creates attractive personalized content that appeals to customers. Each of them receives messages exactly the way they want, whether by email, SMS, or via various apps. The ads appear in a non-intrusive way to catch the interest of the audience. This helps to generate new leads and nurture clients until they are ready to purchase.
Marketing automation solutions vary depending on the vendors and features. They can be on-premises or cloud-based. The latter solutions are easier to implement as they dont require a physical server and provide their users with remote access. Whatever the approach is, all platforms have the same basic tools. These refer to:
- email creating and sending;
- sending mobile messages and notifications;
- social media posting;
- launching ads.
The above processes run automatically. This frees the staff from repetitive time-demanding actions and gives them space to develop new strategies and take care of high-priority tasks. The technology works well not only for large enterprises with multiple workflows. It also helps small businesses to expand and do more with a limited budget and resources.
Another substantial advantage of marketing automation is its simplicity. The providers offer a user-friendly interface, so the required actions can be performed just in a few mouse clicks. Additionally, all the information about customers and their interaction with the brand is gathered in one place. This makes it easy for the marketing and sales departments to better organize their work.
To introduce marketing automation into your business processes, you need to take a few necessary steps.
Firstly, marketing, sales, and customer support teams should work together. If their managers dont cooperate while introducing the new technology, they wont use it later. So the departments need to develop a common strategy for the implementation of marketing automation.
Secondly, the application of the platforms tools should be carried out from the simple to the complex. Marketing automation has a lot to give to its users. Pursue just one objective for a start and gain pace along the way.
