78% of marketers say automation increases revenue, while 75% of brands using marketing automation see return on investment in under 12 months. If implemented correctly, automation software can be a real game changer – it improves customer experience, increases leads and drives conversions.

What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation refers to a software platform which pulls together a wide range of marketing tools (of which automation is one). So instead of patching lots of separate tools together, you can save time and money by having them all managed in one central location. This then helps you to implement a solid – and crucially a trackable – customer journey optimisation strategy that saves you time and money, and helps you to acquire and retain customers. Here’s how to make money from marketing automation:

Segmentation

The software tracks audience behaviour and either alerts you or automatically responds based on specific predetermined actions. It automatically puts customers into lists based on any number of factors, including site visits, form fills, email opens, specific demographics, onsite engagement or any custom fields specific to your business which have been customised into your platform

Segmenting audiences in lists helps keep your content hyper focused and allows you to create more relevant email marketing campaigns. This increases open rates by up to 14.1% when compared to non-segmented campaigns, and click through rates by up to 100.95%.

The system dynamically segments lists based on the criteria you have allocated, which allows you to have limitless campaigns running simultaneously.  This feature is a huge time and cost saver as there is no longer a need to download spreadsheets to manually segment and then re-upload, it’s all done within the platform.  

Lead scoring

Use customised points to score a lead based on customised, predetermined criteria which is most important to your business, if address data is important to you, then weight this score higher.  So, for example, if someone lands on your homepage they get 3 points, for the pricing page, 10 points and so on. These points are automatically calculated and each lead gets a score which determines where they sit on the cold to hot scale.

Using dynamic workflows, you can segment leads, trigger emails and push them towards valuable content depending on their lead score.

Lead scoring allows your sales team to target leads who are ready and actually want to be contacted. Knowing what stage of the buying process your leads are at and segmenting accordingly means you can set up a post-purchase email series, personalised incentives and loyalty programs, all automated to trigger at the right stage.

Lead nurturing

Lead nurturing is the process of managing relationships with leads that are not necessarily ready to purchase. The purpose is to win their business when they are ready to buy. A lead nurturing workflow includes automatically following up with leads, guiding them through the buyer’s journey, and finally, converting them into customers.

Marketing automation will also help you to retain more customers after they make their first purchase. It can boost your customer retention rates by just 5% can increase profits by 25% to 95%.

Dynamic content

Data from the Custom Content Council found that “61 percent of consumers say they feel better about a company that delivers custom content, and are more likely to buy from that company.” With 74% of people admitting their frustration with websites that deliver content that doesn’t align with their interests, this a marketing technique you can’t afford to ignore.

Dynamic content allows you to present content to your leads based on interests, or any other information you have on that lead. The content is updated and delivered on the fly, be it in an email or on a landing page.

You can use your marketing automation software to create audience personas, based on specific behaviours and interests. These personas form the segmented lists we spoke about earlier. This then helps you to build dynamic emails and landing pages that resonate with with each persona, delivering an ultra-personalised user experience that converts.

Want to know how marketing automation can help your business?  Book a free 45 minute consultation to assess your marketing automation needs today.