Here are 3 Key Marketing Automation Strategies for Success

Automation is something that anyone can get into, but few can completely master. To the layman, the term “automation” itself can be so stigmatized that its mention can send shockwaves of repulsion down the spine of the listener. Only those masters of automation can turn what most consider spam emails into valued lead generation. Getting to that success requires a keen knowledge of your solution and a keener knowledge of automation strategy.

Here are a couple of best practices to become a titan of automation.

Have a Deep Understanding of Your Buyer’s Journey

Your buyer’s journey is the first, second, and third most important thing when fine-tuning your automation strategy. It’s cliche as it comes, but you need to be able to walk in your leads’ shoes. It’s the only way to avoid coming off as a robotic marketing machine. The best way to know what your buyers are doing? We’ll give you a hint.

Use your solution. 

Most solutions offer some sort of tracking of leads based on their activity. You should be constantly checking in on where they’re clicking on your web pages, monitoring the links they click in emails, and generally knowing when they’re ready to take the next step. Blindly swinging out at your leads without a knowledge of what they want or where they are in their journey is a great way to alienate them before you even get started. Basically, you use your solution to know how to use your solution. A little paradoxical, we know.

Make Sure Everyone’s on the Same Page

An automated solution is only as good as the people using it, and if the people using it don’t know what they’re doing, you’re going to have a bad time. That’s why upskilling/training your organization is so important. This is best done when you first start implementing the solution, but if you’re already waist-deep in a campaign, don’t panic. There’s still hope to make sure everyone using the software is a master in their own right.

We’d recommend getting certifications for as many team members as realistically possible. A high-level working knowledge works if that is outside the realm of feasibility. It may seem like a massive time sink, and at first, it will be. This training is a long-term investment in both the solution and your team. You won’t immediately get that sweet ROI for the software, but you’ll get it back later, and then some.

Loyalty Matters

Seasoned marketers know good customers are hard to come by and repeat customers are worth their weight in gold. As such, you need to hold onto those customers and show them your organization values their business. Loyalty rewards aren’t anything particularly new either. Enterprises in B2B and B2C environments have been doing it for years to varying levels of success.

We can’t tell you what to offer in terms of reward, only you can know what’s right for your best customers. What we can tell you is that automation mitigates the time-consuming nature of distributing those deals.

An automated marketing solution will send those special loyalty rewards out to customers. The exact dates and times are up to your discretion as much as the details of the deals themselves, but certain times are proven to work better than others. Birthdays are popular dates as are anniversaries of important interactions with the lead. Automation is a great way to save time and none of your contacts are going to turn down a free gift for their investment in your brand.