2016 was the year of marketing automation. And, it has proved that it is here to stay. It is the talk of the town. Even if you try hard to ignore it, you cannot. There is a shroud of mystery that surrounds marketing automation that makes it even more enigmatic.
It is a robust solution for marketers no doubt, and it helps automate marketing tasks but it is no robot. It is not a luxury either. With rising digital demands, marketers do not have an option but to adopt digital marketing solutions. And, when it comes to digital marketing, marketing automation is king.
2017 is here, and you cannot ignore marketing automation anymore. You either adopt it, or see your competitors fly by.
Dynamic Content is No Longer a Luxury
Dynamic content or smart content is a type of adaptive text that appears on websites and changes according to the preferences of a visitor. A good example to explain this would be the Amazon homepage.
Visit the website without logging in. Then login and see the change in the homepage for yourself. What do you see? The content has changed. Not only has it changed but it reflects the things that you usually browse or buy and the things that you might be interested in.
It does not show you anything that you do not like or do not need. It adapts itself to show what you want to see. That’s dynamic content at play for you.
Consumers like this. They are drawn towards it because it eliminates unnecessary or repetitive content that you don’t want to see.
Personalization is perhaps one of the biggest demands of the new-gen consumer. If you want your leads to have the time of their life on your website, personalization is the only way forward. Moreover you can personalize the content based on their position in the sales funnel as well.
You can also take advantage of their demographics like country to display smart content like local currency, special offers etc. that would appeal to customers.
With dynamic content you have the potential to change the entire buying process.
Marketing automation provides you with a dynamic content module that lets you craft customized content that will be displayed depending upon the consumer. You can customize and create smart forms and CTAs. Smart forms will eliminate any fields automatically if a lead has already provided that information. Moreover, you can use smart content in emails and landing pages to make the buying process even more personalized.
The science behind dynamic content lies in the context of every visitor. Dynamic content harnesses the information inputted by ever visitor and customizes their experience accordingly.
Everyone wants relevance, and this is the best way to put this idea forward and hook in more customers along the way.
Sales-Marketing Alignment Has Become Critical
If you want to drive your business forward and increase profits, you need to align Marketing and Sales. They might have different functions but they have a common goal. Before marketing automation arrived, it was difficult to create this alignment primarily because these departments were always at loggerheads with each other.
However, the line that separates these two departments are blurring thanks to the advancement in technology. And now is the time to strike the hammer so both can work in perfect harmony.
There is no point in dwelling on old problems, and the best solution is to adopt a marketing automation tool that will help break down barriers to ensure a perfect working environment.
Marketing automation helps modify the traditional sales models with a sales funnel that has three parts. The Top of Funnel or TOFU, the Middle of Funnel or MOFU and the Bottom of Funnel or BOFU. At the top are new leads who are aware of your brand and want to know more. As they get more information, they get nearer to making a buying decision, travelling through the middle and finally takes the decision when they reach the bottom.
With marketing automation’s lead scoring module, you know where a lead is and what the chances of them making a buy are.
In addition to that most marketing automation solutions offer seamless CRM integration. So now, even Sales can track lead activities from the top of the funnel till the end of their journey. This level of transparency was what was missing before.
Earlier on there was no way for marketers to make sure of this. As a result Sales would receive under qualified leads. This led to a situation where Marketing and Sales alignment was impossible to establish. However, thankfully with marketing automation that is all in the past now. Now both departments can rack their brains together and come up with killer strategies to bring in new leads, qualify them and close more deals.
Behold! A New Breed of Consumerism is here
Consumers have evolved. They are still in a process of evolution. Over the past few years technology has given consumers freedom and access to information. The entire world has gone digital. With the number of digital devices expected to hit 75 billion by 2020, digital is the only way forward for both marketers and consumers alike.
In order to serve the next generation of consumers, marketers want digital solutions that are easy and compact. Marketing automation seems to be the perfect fit. It provides digital marketing solutions easily accessible from a single dashboard.
It offers you seamless lead management features that lets you track each and every lead including their activities on your website. With access to so much information, you can now craft personalized communication for everyone.
You can measure the effectiveness of your campaigns and figure out what is working for you and what is not. The world has gone digital, and things all of a sudden do not look bleak, at all. Instead it looks all the more better thanks to technology.
Consumers are more informed, so your job is to convince them personally to make a buy. Marketing automation will help you with this process.
Focussed and Personalized Content
Content is a digital marketer’s best friend. 40% of companies have a content strategy in place already. It helps you influence your leads and customers. You know, the major reason why marketing automation is becoming so popular amongst marketers? Because it runs on content.
Hence its effectiveness is unquestionable. With a marketing automation tool, you can map your content strategy focussing on the different stages of the sales funnel.
For example, when a lead is at the top of the funnel, you would want to craft educational content for them. They are not ready to hear your product offerings and if you still decide to email them your product brochure, they will probably choose a different brand.
At this point they are not sure whether they want to buy from you. But this gives you the opportunity to establish a level of trust that ensures they will at the end of their journey.
Similarly at the middle of the funnel you should slowly introduce your organization and what you are up to. They would want to know more about you and your brand at this point of time.
And lastly when it comes to the bottom, these leads are ready to make the buy. You have to ensure that you can close as many deals as possible at this point of time.
In a nutshell, you get to nurture your leads and track them with the help of marketing automation’s lead management tool.
But that is not all. You can use the same logic to establish an after-sales journey that will help you retain more customers. After all, your existing customers are your best advertisement.
Say No to Stress
Our lives are stressed as it is. Why increase it even further? Marketing automation is good for your company as well as for your peace of mind. It is an automated digital tool. It can carry out repetitive mundane tasks in an instant. It is not prone to any human error either.
It is a one-stop-shop for all your Marketing and Sales needs. It is reliable and user-friendly once you get the hang of it. Generating traffic will become easier day by day and soon you will start closing more deals than before.
Bottom Line
Marketing automation has a wide array of benefits. But it is a big change for any organization. You need to make sure that your company is ready for it. And, you need to make sure of that even before deciding what platform to invest in.
Implementing a marketing automation platform is the most crucial task and only if your company is ready you can implement it successfully. Your success depends on your process of implementation.
It is not a cheap solution, but as adoption rates are hitting all-time highs every other month, prices are becoming more competitive. If you are unsure about such an investment, get in touch with us, we will gladly help you out!
