A Beginner's Guide to Automated Email Campaigns
As a marketer, have you ever wished sometimes, just sometimes, your marketing was all done for you? Especially on those days when we’ve had back-to-back meetings from 9 to 5, you’ve worked through your lunch and you still find yourself running around the office trying to get things done. We have all been there and know it can sometimes be impossible to get everything done.
Luckily, there is a solution for all you busy marketers out there who are stressed out, exhausted and burned out from handling too many tasks - and it’s going to make your marketing process much more efficient.
The answer: Marketing Automation.
What is Marketing Automation?
To summarise, Marketing Automation refers to software that automates your marketing for you. The software is designed to help you execute your marketing tasks efficiently and in a more streamlined way, whilst helping you to prioritise those all important tasks.
As a marketer, Marketing Automation isn’t something you should be fearful of; it should be something you should embrace, because unlike automating manufacturing processes, implementing an automation system means you can work smarter, not harder. It will help free up your time and it will help you reach your goals quicker.
So what does Marketing Automation do for you? Well, ultimately, it’s aim is for you to generate more revenue for your company. And to achieve this, you will need to drive traffic to your website, convert that traffic into leads and close those leads into customers.
How to use Marketing Automation
To leverage an effective marketing automation system, here is a simple example of what an automated email workflow would look like:
Step 1
You’ve just composed an email to send out to a targeted list of contacts with an invitation to download a new ebook.
Step 2
Once your targeted audience has received it, you can send a thank you note to those people who have downloaded your ebook.
Step 3
A few days later, you send a follow up email to those people who downloaded the ebook, offering them a case study related to that topic.
Step 4
Once you get a notification that someone has downloaded the ebook, your sales team will get a notification too to follow up with that person.
Overall, this process is much more focused to the customer, it feels more personalised and tailored and ultimately, they feel like they are interacting with your company. This method will make the customer more likely to buy from you.
Do’s and Don’t’s of Marketing Automation
Now you know the basics, here are our do’s and don’ts you should follow when implementing Marketing Automation:
DO integrate your Marketing Automation with your inbound marketing strategy
By providing valuable content for your audience that aligns with your customers needs and interests, Marketing Automation ensures you listen to your customers and you don’t fall back into bad habits.
DON’T just broadcast plain and generic messages
With Marketing Automation, there is no need to send generic messages to a broad contact list. This will look lazy and your audience will most likely not read it, or just delete it as it’ll feel irrelevant to them.
DO set up customer engagement campaigns
If you have regular customers who have bought off of you before, then it’s much easier to sell to them. Don’t forget about these customers; nurture them by building on those relationships with segmented and targeted content marketing that will make them want to come back for more.
DON’T forget about your customers
Companies are sometimes so focused on winning new customers that they forget about the loyal one’s they have already sustained. Remember: your existing customers are the ones that help you stay profitable.
To conclude
Marketing Automation is a life saver - simple!
Marketing Automation is about nurturing, not selling. Avoid hard-sell approaches and opt for content that is personalised, relevant and aligns with your business’ message and always remember to put yourself in your customers shoes.
By leveraging a Marketing Automation plan, you will bound to see some incredible results by exploring your options and finding a platform that gives you flexibility and a proven track record to help you reach your goals.