Thought about your marketing approach lately? If you run a business, big or small, then the answer is undoubtedly — yes. At least we hope so. There is no business without a healthy dose of customers. You’re probably placing a good chunk of your efforts in bringing in new clients and nurturing existing ones.
Marketing in 2021 is not the same as it was even a few years ago. Whether you’re running an online eCommerce operation or a brick and mortar store — digital marketing is no longer an option. That’s just how the marketing cookie has crumbled. Luckily changing times have brought easy solutions.
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Enter: Marketing Automation.
Automation in business isn’t a new concept and to be honest neither is marketing automation. So, where are you implementing these tools in your business? Better yet, why would you use marketing automation in the first place?
These are all great questions you have [hopefully] been asking yourself.
And we’ve got the answers.
What is marketing automation?
Marketing automation is a blanket term for any marketing tactic that is set to be done automatically — without any manual effort.
This can translate into software, new technology or service. And while you may not necessarily need all of the above, some form of marketing automation is required if you want to get ahead of your competition (who you can be sure is already on board — nine out of ten marketers use more than one marketing tech tool on a regular basis).
Benefits of marketing automation.
You know the what, but how about the why? Why bother investing in marketing automation tools in the first place?
- Saves you and your employees time.
- Prevents any potential clients from slipping through the cracks.
- An easy approach to achieving a goal.
- Retain customers with better service.
- Attract, nurture, and convert more sales.
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A huge time saver.
Out of all the benefits, 74% of auto marketers said that the technology’s ability to save them time was its largest benefit. And at the end of the day, we totally get it. Spending hours upon hours sending out emails, creating report spreadsheets or writing out handwritten notes in 2021 is an inefficient use of time. You and your employees could be spending those hours connecting with clients in more personable ways (or as personable as Zoom meetings allow) and building out a business development plan to take your company to the next level.
However you break it down, saving time is the greatest benefit of them all.
Prevents anyone from slipping through the cracks.
When you automate your marketing, you can rest easy knowing every single one of your new leads will be followed. Never miss an opportunity to reach out to your newest clients by automating the entire onboarding process.
If some of your basic interactions are automated — like sending a handwritten Happy Anniversary card to your most loyal and long-lived clients — there’s no chance that a client relationship will get overlooked.
Achieve your goals.
Automating your marketing makes it easier for you to set goals and actually attain them. Marketing automation drives a 14.5% increase in sales productivity and a 12.2% reduction in marketing overhead.
Want to make sure all of your newest clients see your company as a warm and welcoming group of people? Done. Set up marketing automation for your onboarding series.
Want to follow up with every single one of your highest buyers? Done. Set up automation to follow up after a big purchase is made.
Whatever your goals may be — it’s a lot easier to actually make them happen when you can easily set up actions right then and there.
Retain customers with better service.
Customer retention is the name of the game. It costs 5 times as much to attract a new customer than it is to keep an existing one.
This is why customer retention is so incredibly important!
Keep your existing customers happy with exceptional service through automated sales, thank you notes, and even birthday cards. They’ll feel appreciated and your brand loyalty will soar!
Attract, nurture, and convert more sales.
Well, this one is kind of a no brainer. This is any company’s ultimate goal, right?
Make more sales.
By automating your marketing you’ll be able to attract more customers (you can only post so many social media updates manually) into your business, nurture them with enticing offers and convert them with your stellar customer service and personal touches (through automated marketing like follow up thank you notes).
How to decide what’s right for your business?
First, figure out what your unique needs are. Each business is different and has different needs and budgets.
- Research your own business. Find out what’s working, what’s not, and where you can be putting more attention.
- Figure out your budget — be honest in coming up with these numbers and don’t forget to figure in your ROI.
- Research your own industry. Are there any industry-specific tools that your competitors are using? On the other hand, are there tools that are not being used in your industry that could help you stand out?
Marketing automation tools you can use for your business.
Here’s a short list of some top marketing auto tools to help you get started. Make sure to research each one in more detail to see what may or may not fit your needs.
Mailchimp
Email marketing is kind of a no brainer in 2021. It’s the easiest way to quickly get in touch with your customer base and has been shown to be a high driver of conversions. If you’ve started email marketing then chances are, you’re already using Mailchimp. With various options available for all different types of budgets, you can set up onboarding series, sales blasts, monthly newsletters, and reports.
Postable
One stop shop for your business snail mail solutions. While email and digital ads are needed, a personal touch simply can’t be replaced or overlooked. In order to build real relationships, you have to be able to create personal touch points with your customers. And given the endless Zoom meetings and online presence, we’d argue it’s never been quite so important to connect with clients outside of the digital realm.
This is where Postable comes in.
We help you create personal snail mail at scale. Automate all of your employee birthday cards and set your holiday cards to go out all at once without spending hours writing them out by hand. You can even send a quick thank you note to follow up without ever leaving your computer. Your clients get personal cards that look handwritten and you’ve maximized your time to be allocated to some other task. Win-win.
Marketo
If you’re looking for a one-stop shop solution for cross functional marketing — this will be the tool for you. Everything from email marketing to content creation and data analytics, Marketo has a solution. Good for companies looking to consolidate multiple tools into one.
AdRoll
Adroll is a good place to go if you’re looking to automate your ads. They work with dozens of other online sources to make sure your ads appear and work seamlessly with one another across the board.
How to get started for your own business?
What’s stopping you from getting started with your own marketing automation set up? According to Liana Technologies, the lack of human resources (48.1 %) is one of the most common reasons why companies are not using marketing automation.
Pro tip: Setting up your automation on Postable means having a real live human being to help hold your hand every step of the way (IF that’s your preference).
Start sending personal mail at scale here.
Automate really nice business greeting cards in minutes. Postable will print, address, and mail them for you.
