When it comes to successful lead generation, perhaps the most influential factors are time and effort. From initial contact, through to nurturing and honing a relevant list of prospects, it often feels like it would be useful to have a second pair of hands for many lead generation tasks. This is where automation has proven to be something of a game changer over the past decade. Now, even if your resources are fairly limited, you can still increase your lead generation to support business growth.
How does marketing automation work?
Currently, around 51% of companies are already using marketing automation and 58% plan to adopt marketing automation into their strategy in the near future. Marketing automation works by using software to automate many of the lead generation and general marketing tasks that would otherwise fall to you. Rules are created to establish the kind of content that is sent out and which actions trigger which types of content – this is called “automation workflow.” So, for example, if a customer makes a purchase from your brand you can add their name to a specific list and use marketing automation to follow up with content designed to encourage them to buy again or buy something bigger next time.
Why does marketing automation work?
It not only makes your marketing more effective when it comes to lead generation but also enables a marketing process that works in the background, continuously generating results with very little effort required.
What’s the simplest way to use marketing automation?
Investing in marketing automation software designed to deliver on a content-to-email workflow is often a simple first step for those who are new to this tool. This will help to nurture your recipients and is designed to use targeted content to qualify those recipients as prospects. A sample workflow might look like this:
• Attract people to your email list and encourage them to sign up – you might offer content giveaways in return for signing up
• Once someone has signed up then they automatically receive the promised content
• The next step is additional content – offering extra content will help you to identify those leads who are ready to take the step towards becoming a customer and those who aren’t really that interested. Marketing automation software can shift a person across lead lists when they show enough interest to download the additional content
• Marketing automation software can be used to notify the sales team of these new warmer leads when additional content is downloaded so that these can be followed up while interest is strong
• For colder leads, marketing automation is a good way to periodically deliver content that is useful and engaging and could lead to the switch to a warmer lead in the future.
There are many different ways to use marketing automation in your business – if you want to find out more about marketing automation, or to talk through the best options for your organisation, our specialists can help.