At its core marketing automation is all about automating the lead generation and outreach part of your business, so you can focus on other areas. As a business owner time is something you can never seem to get enough of. Marketing automation may sound nice and easy, but the reality is that it’s much harder to actually get to the point of full automation than you may originally think.
In this post we’re going to look at the benefits of marketing automation, as well as how you can get going in the right direction.
What Is Marketing Automation?
Essentially, marking automation employs the use of certain strategies and softwares to help you keep track of your marketing campaigns, and adjust them to better suit your customers. Some of this software can be as simple as email autoresponders for new customers, while other software has more extensive tracking features which enable you to track multiple pathways that people may take when buying or interacting with you.
Marketing Automation allows you to better track user behavior, so you can market to them more effectively. Usually, people associate the word ‘automation’, with being cold and robot-like. However, in this sense marketing automation software allows you to send more personalized and targeted e-mails and other marketing content. So, it actually ends up being more warm and friendly.
Other forms of marketing automation include content marketing, the conversion process on your website, and even the design of your website. All of these factors, and a lot more, work together to construct a marketing system that you can analyze, improve, and adjust.
How Can I Employ This Marketing Strategy For Myself?
There are multiple means to actually begin the marketing automation process, and it will look different for every business. For instance, one method that a lot of businesses employ is inbound, or content marketing.
The reason inbound marketing is part of the marketing automation equation is because once a piece of content is live on your site, or another website it’s automatically working for you. You can also test and analyze each piece of content through different tracking softwares to determine what’s working and what isn’t.
Another common means of marketing automation that a lot of small businesses utilize is emailing marketing. This allows you to connect and follow up with potential leads in a way that doesn’t require your direct involvement.
Overall, the means to implement marketing automation methods are many and it can be helpful to connect with an online marketing expert to help craft a unique plan that’s going to work for you.
Are There Any Potential Drawbacks To This Style Of Marketing?
Just like any strategy, it might not always be right for every business. The implementation of this style of marketing requires a significant time investment to be effective. If you don’t invest the proper amount of time you could end up coming across as spammy or impersonal.
If you’re running a smaller business that truly depends on deeply personal interaction, then you might want to scale back your automation efforts and instead focus on building relationships with your visitors, subscribers and customers.
I hope you’ve found this post valuable and are on your way towards improving your marketing efforts. If you’re interested in speaking with us about your current online and offline marketing efforts, then why don’t you get in touch today. We love to help our local Jacksonville businesses.
by Calvin Bryant
Digital Marketing Geek
