Marketing automation

Marketing automation involves uses software to streamline and automate some aspects of themarketing process. This method of increasing productivity and making these jobs easier is typicallyused with those tasks that are repetitive such as social media, emails and other actions performedon websites.

Marketing Automation Nurtures Prospects

Using marketing automation enables a business to provide useful content -- that is also highlypersonalized -- to consumers that will convert them into customers. Like all marketing strategiesand technologies, marketing automation is an investment. Fortunately, adopting marketingautomation tends to result in significant revenue for the companies that use it. It's a process thatallows a business to nurture potential leads so they convert into customers who pay for theirservices and/or products. It is these two phases of the process -- the conversion of leads intocustomers and the closure of a paying deal -- that are most impacted by marketing automation.

Marketing Automation = A Personal Approach

Using marketing automation enables a company to send out an email blast to a targeted group ofrecipients. The first email could contain an ebook or white paper that addresses a pain point forthat audience. That could be followed up by a "thank you" email that is sent a few days later tothose people who downloaded this information.

The third point of contact via email could consist of another free resource, such as a case study,that directly relates to the topic at hand. By the time a potential buyer downloads this case study,it's likely that they are a great deal closer to making a purchase. This signals that the sales team cancontact the consumer to follow up personally.

Effective Marketing Automation

One of the primary purposes of marketing automation is to make it easier for a business to provideconsumers with a personalised experience. Developing clear goals -- and revisiting them often -- isa crucial step in marketing automation. While automating all the elements that encompass aparticular marketing strategy could work with one audience segment, a closely-related group ofconsumers could respond better to a mix of techniques.