The features that make marketing automation a must have for marketing departments are also revolutionizing marketing agencies.
“Marketing automation” is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days. It’s the latest innovation in brand promotion, lead nurturing and sales. But what makes marketing automation so great? If all the software does is send automated emails to potential customers, isn’t it just a glorified spambot?
Marketing automation services are capable of much more than just sending automated emails. The software can identify anonymous visitors to a website, send a notification to a salesperson when a lead has responded to an email, create automated drip campaigns, and so much more!
Here are 6 additional features that are helping marketing agencies increase revenue and improve efficiency.
Improved Insights
One of the most important benefits of marketing automation is data tracking and analytics. Marketing automation can track the lead’s interaction with the content on a website and use that data to gauge the lead’s interest in the brand as a whole, as well as determine which products and services the lead is interested in.
For example, if someone downloads a white paper on a particular topic, the marketing automation software can notify a salesperson to follow-up. Then the salesperson can send the lead another piece of content that is relevant to the lead’s interests. The software can do all of this automatically, ensuring that each lead’s conversion potential is fully realized.
Targeted Interactions
Improved insight into a lead’s behavior allows the agency to target a lead with information that is personally relevant. Lead scoring and customer segmentation tools like dynamic lists enable marketers to target leads in ways never before possible.
Lead scoring provides a numerical value that approximates where each lead is in the buying cycle. Leads are nurtured until the lead score increases above a threshold. After reaching the threshold, the leads are turned over to sales for closing.
Personal Connections
Marketing agencies can use automation to truly connect with their leads. Using automation to establish a more personal level of communication seems counterintuitive at first, considering the limitations of current email service providers (ESP) like Mailchimp and Constant Contact. ESP’s are only capable of sending the same email “blast” or campaign to every lead in a group. This method of email blasting means that the content of the email is irrelevant to most of the leads that receive it.
In contrast, marketing automation sends content that’s triggered by the specific behaviors of the lead. If a lead visits the website, but is in the early research phase of the buying cycle and indicates an interest in a specific product, then send the lead educational material on exactly that product an hour later – not a generic newsletter 30 days later.
Increased Lead Conversion
Marketing agencies are under increasing pressure to drive leads. One of the main functions of marketing automation software is to drive leads by tracking their interests, nurturing that interest over time, and determining exactly when they’re ready to make a purchase. This allows you to convert more leads to sales, rather than lose early-stage leads by trying to goad them into buying too soon.
Integration
A marketing automation platform can also integrate with other marketing tools, programs, and applications. Integrate the marketing automation service with a regular email platform, such as Gmail, to see how your individual messages are being received. Using marketing automation in tandem with a CRM can help track both leads’ and existing customers’ data.
More Repeat Business
Marketing automation software doesn’t just work for converting leads to sales. Marketing agencies can also use marketing automation to keep existing customers interested in the agency’s brand.
Marketing automation can be a powerful tool. However, it’s still just a tool. An agency’s success depends on how the software is used. Some marketing agencies just use marketing automation to send spam more efficiently and so fail to gain any real insight into their customers.
However, by exploring the possibilities of the platform, marketing agencies can use the marketing automation tools to nurture leads through content that appeals to those leads on a personal level. Connecting with leads on a personal level is what will ultimately drive sales.
