Marketing Automation Tools

So, just what is a marketing automation tool?

A Marketing Automation platform is a tool that lets you design, execute and automate a time-bound marketing workflow.

HubSpot defines it thus: “Marketing automation is all about using software to automate marketing activities. Many marketing departments automate repetitive tasks such as email marketing, social media posting, and even ad campaigns -- not just for the sake of efficiency, but so they can provide a more personalized experience for their customers. The technology of marketing automation makes these tasks easier...

...At its best, marketing automation is a combination of software and strategy. It should allow you to nurture prospects with highly personalized, useful content that helps convert prospects to delighted customers. 

Think of effective marketing automation like growing a garden. You need fertile soil, ripe for growth. You need seeds to sow. And you need water and light to nurture those seeds into a lush, blooming plant. With good marketing automation, it's easier to nurture leads (the seedlings) well enough to produce paying customers (a lush, full-grown plant). 

But it doesn't end there. Customers are more than just the output of successful marketing automation. They should be at the center of everything you do, which means marketing automation should continue to play an important role in your relationship with them.”

How does it work?

Why is it necessary? Think greens!

Alyssa Rimmer (Director of Marketing at New Breed Marketing, an inbound marketing agency and HubSpot partner) demonstrates thus, in What is Marketing Automation? A Beginner's Guide:

“As an example, here is what a basic automated email workflow could look like: 

Step 1: You send an email invitation to download your latest ebook to a targeted list of contacts 

Step 2: You send a thank you note to all the people that downloaded the offer 

Step 3: A few days later, you send a follow-up email to the list of people who downloaded the ebook, offering them a case study relating to that topic 

Step 4: Finally, when someone downloads that case study, your sales team will get a notification so they can follow up with them (this person is now much more qualified and is likely farther down the buying process) 

Now, put yourself in your prospect’s shoes for a moment. If this was you, receiving information from a company about their products/services, wouldn’t you prefer to get emails like the ones above over blasts you can tell they’re sending to thousands of other people? It feels personalized. It feels tailored to you and how you are interacting with that company. It makes you much more likely to trust that company. And ultimately, more likely to buy, doesn’t it? 

There you go! Driving revenue for your company with an automated system. 

This is the foundation of marketing automation. To provide you, as a marketer, with the ability to target your contacts and send them content that is based on their behavior. You’re giving them the information they need when they want it. You’re easing their buying decision. And as a result, your conversion rates (and revenue) will increase.”

Find out more here.

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“What is the best marketing automation software?

Some platforms only offer email actions, drip sequences, and CRM updates. Others may help with lead scoring, sales lead rotation, SMS, and more.

A more niche product may be better for SMB and B2C environments, but B2B and enterprise may need a platform with wider capability. Here are some key areas to consider as you evaluate marketing automation software products to choose the one that's right for you:

Ease of Use

Automation isn't a simple thing to implement as it is, so make sure the interface of the software will work with you, not against you. See if you can find screenshots of the UX so you can determine if it looks simple and easy to navigate.

Analytics and Reporting

You'll want to be able to measure the success of any drip campaigns you have running, so your automation software should be keeping track of the metrics that matter most to you.

In B2B and enterprise environments with many stakeholders, you may also need advanced reporting abilities such as personalized dashboards or automatic reporting via email.

Support

"I wonder if my software has the capability to..."

As you explore the benefits of marketing automation, you will end up thinking this one day. Automation can be technical, so look for providers that have robust knowledge bases, tutorials, and other customer support options.

Limitations

Some automation software platforms may limit the number of actions in a month or the database size you're allowed.

Going into any evaluation, know how many contacts you have, how many emails you send on average, and what you want the software to accomplish. This will prevent you from underestimating the cost of your automation software.

Pricing and Scalability

If automation's benefits can be summed up with one statement, it's this: It will make you more efficient so you can focus on the tasks you enjoy and that have the highest return. With that in mind, you'll want to evaluate price as you consider capability.

For SMBs and B2C organizations focusing primarily on email, a scaled-down system might be sufficient. However, with more advanced needs, enterprise (and thus higher ticket) software is more cost-efficient in the long run.

Be sure to choose a provider that's reasonably priced but can also grow with you as your needs change. After all, reducing bloated operations is critical to scaling effectively.

Integrations

How well does the marketing automation software play with your existing stack? Integrations allow you to manage data and get more from your tools.” 

Which Inbound Marketing Tools you should try?

Napoleon once said: "We can recover the lost ground. Not the lost time". In the digital world that makes a lot of sense.  

Do you waste too much time and resources trying to keep all your business information organized, making use of conventional marketing tools and methods?

Then now is the time to help your marketing team optimize time and enhance conversion and return on investment.