Many people underestimate the value of marketing automation services. They think they can only automate lead generation, distribution and their email campaigns. However, marketing automation software can work across the board to simplify much of your business.
It’s also one of the best ways to nurture customers. From the time a lead enters the funnel until the time they become a loyal customer, good marketing automation helps you ensure that you constantly provide excellent customer service that is personalized to their needs.
You’ve got the option to engage your customers with chat, email, messages, notifications and more. In a study by the Annuitas Group, businesses that included marketing automation experienced an average of a 451% increase in qualified leads. Naturally, these results are only possible when marketing teams nurture prospects optimally with marketing automation tools.
The importance of marketing automation in 2020 and beyond
Still not convinced that marketing automation is worth the investment? Let’s get into why it is crucial in 2020 and beyond.
Deliver the right message at the right time
Marketing automation is the perfect tool to resolve the inquiries of customers. Automate messages, emails, and notifications to help customers make their purchasing decision. There are even solutions that let companies use live chat driven by AI and machine learning (we’re sure you’ve seen these in action yourself)!
Automated communication helps customers with the right information, right when they need it. For instance, teams can set up live chat or chatbot to answer the most common questions about products. Live chat sends a message to your team member right when the lead sends it, and a chatbot can reply with specifics like product price, color, size, and more details based on trigger words.
For example, a healthcare provider could use marketing automation to send auto-reminders about appointments and procedures. Their customers could even be mailed a home care tips email after they are done with the appointment. They could also use B2B marketing automation to order new products or contact people to work with them.
Enterprises can stay in touch with customers and keep them engaged without lifting their fingers. Everything can be scheduled and programmed to save effort and expenses. Automated messages and emails can nurture every prospect at every step of the buyer’s journey until they become a paying customer. Even after conversion, automation tools can generate additional business with automated messages.
Personalize for a better connection
Personalization is a big trend in a world where customers are the king. Personalized marketing efforts result in a 20% increase in sales, as shown by Instasales.
Even customers demand it. Forbes shows that 59% of consumers feel personalization to be a key factor in influencing purchasing decisions. Without a personalized approach, customers may simply leave and go for competitors.
Personalization can take up many forms in a digital marketing scenario. Messages, offers, content – all can be optimized to meet the customers’ needs and move them further down the funnel.
Additionally, enterprises can automate personalization to put everything on autopilot. For instance, someone who is browsing a product page can be offered with relevant offers on checkout. A person who looks at a toothbrush can be automatically pushed with a toothpaste recommendation. Someone who subscribes to your blog can get weekly emails that refer to them and are customized to their needs. The possibilities are endless! Marketing automation solution does the whole job by itself, after determining what is best based on individual preferences.
Consider this graph for an example of what a personalized email drip could look like for you.
Figure 1. Source: Marketing Insider Group
Incorporate your CRM and marketing automation system
The best way to reap the most advantages is to integrate your marketing automation systems with business CRM. Access vital data from a single interface and keep track of all customer interactions.
Companies can view the entire customer journey and activities from their CRM, including data on each interaction your customers have had with your brand. As a result, nurturing becomes more efficient when organizations provide a context-based service.
For example, Managed Maintenance Inc. integrated their CRM and marketing automation systems. Before integration, both the solutions used to work independently and didn’t bring in expected results.
The company went ahead and integrated the systems into their marketing plan. As a result, they were able to gain full visibility into their buyers’ journeys, including all of their interactions with the company. The company used the data to focus on lead nurturing and lead scoring.
Needless to say, the results had a major impact for the business. Managed Maintenance Inc. was able to increase leads by 75% and add to their revenue and profit.
How to make the most of marketing automation
Here we will present some useful tips to derive the best results from your marketing automation tools. Keep the following in mind:
Don’t overdo it
Nurturing is a gentle art. Don’t be too pushy as it might discourage conversion. Always create a standard nurturing plan for all leads that come through the funnel. A standardized process makes sure your sales representatives don’t miss out on anything or overdo the efforts.
Luckily, a marketing automation tool will help nurture leads without appearing salesy. There are several techniques that can help enterprises do the job successfully:
- Use the automation platform to sort leads and create buyer personas. Develop a database of targeted content aligned with the most common buyer personas. Use the tool to release the targeted content to the right customers.
- Take the help of multichannel lead nurturing. Use emails, blogs, ads, and anything that is suitable to your brand. Personalize the content and make it relevant to your target audience.
- Automate lead follow-up. Sometimes it’s hard to tell when it’s time to contact a lead or send a reminder. The whole process can also be automated to save time and effort.
- Make the most of email marketing. It’s still one of the best ways to nurture and engage customers. Automate email drips with proper personalization using marketing automation solutions.
- Keep track of all customer interactions. This will help determine where the leads are in the funnel. Accordingly, refine communication for better results.
Stick to the plan and follow a set nurturing strategy for the best results.
Make the experience consistent
Consistency is the key to a great nurturing and growth marketing strategy. Everything should be done to ensure your marketing messages don’t confuse your audience.
We like it when everything plays out according to our expectations. The same applies to customers, and they expect consistency in any form of nurturing.
For example, a company sends emails to prospects every Friday. Experts suggest to continue to follow the plan and send communication only on Fridays. Otherwise, customers will not know what to expect.
Don’t send them a message on Friday the first week and shift to Wednesday on the next. Always stick to Fridays. The same applies to any effort taken for nurturing. If someone publishes 2 blogs per week, stick to the plan. Don’t make it 3 blogs or 1 blog each week. This messes up the customers’ expectations and leaves a bad taste in his mouth.
Marketing automation tools make it easy to maintain consistency. Schedule interactions beforehand and keep prospects nurtured even if you are on vacation.
Consistency should be maintained in all aspects of nurturing. If companies choose to communicate with customers via text, they should stick to it. If they use emails, they should continue to do so. Don’t change channels in between. It might make the customer confused, and they may never even get the message.
Always be consistent, no matter what!
Make personalization count
Using a customer’s name in the email is not counted as personalization anymore. The term has grown to become a full-fledged strategy encompassing various marketing activities.
Personalization needs time and research. Companies can personalize their approach only when they know something personal about their customers.
Spend time and use data to know customers. Learn about user preferences and create buyer personas based on demographic data generated by automation platforms. Personalization is possible only when companies have a complete understanding of its customers.
Netflix is a great example of personalized marketing. The platform suggests content based on the personal preferences and past activities of the user. Now the company is using the same tactics to show personalized artwork to subscribers.
Naturally, the efforts paid off significantly and helped Netflix earn 30% more revenues.
Personalization needs to make customers feel brands understand and value them. Use the data from marketing automation systems to fuel personalized nurturing approaches for more conversions.
Nurturing has become an integral part of lead conversion. Marketing automation tools help automate nurturing and provide personalized service. However, setting up a marketing automation system and integrating it with other applications is not easy. Enterprises need the top marketing automation experts to guide them to the path of success.
Growth Marketing Genie is the right marketing automation agency that helps your business make the most of automation. We help you optimize your strategies and processes to get more leads and conversions. You can also aim to offer a fully personalized experience to your customers
Need more info? Let’s chat today about how we can make the most of your marketing opportunities.
Book in a Free Consultation