What is Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation is the efficient use of software to automate your marketing activities. We all know that marketing comprises several repetitive tasks like social media posting, ad campaigns and email marketing that need to be carried out diligently. It is no surprise that these tasks can be quite time-consuming. So, marketing departments at many companies have taken to automating these tasks, not just for improving efficiency, but also to offering a more personalized experience to consumers. Adapting to marketing automation technology makes the execution of these tasks much easier. When used effectively, this technology is meant to provide your prospects with high quality, personalized and relevant content with the aim of converting them into loyal customers.
Why Do Startups Need Marketing Automation?
The concept of automated marketing has acquired wide popularity among marketers pertaining to all businesses, irrespective of their size and type. However, startups, in particular, have been experiencing great benefits through implementing automation. In fact, statistics show that 63% of companies using automation techniques have successfully outgrown their competitors.
Here are a few ways in which startups can use automation to their advantage:
Create a Segmented Database
Marketing automation helps you determine the tone or language to use when it comes to speaking to different audience segments. It lets you acquire real data based on specific audiences to learn what tactics are working versus those that are not. This will allow you to properly advertise your product or service based on what your customers are interested in.
Level the Competitive Field
With automated marketing, startups are relieved of a lot of growing pain. While that is taken care of, they get to compete at the same juncture as their superior counterparts. The ability to execute brand messaging and reach the target audience effectively makes the sales process for startups much more efficient & consistent.
Saves Time and Money
Given the circumstances, startups usually operate on a marginal budget where marketing efforts and customer communication costs need to be reduced. Automated marketing takes care of repetitive tasks like email marketing, social media and analytics, saving you both time and money.
Convert Your Visitors into Buyers
Applying automated marketing streamlines the ability to transform web traffic into leads and subsequently, into your customers. Marketing automation allows your visitors to feel recognized as it can provide them with personalized messaging catered to their needs. This makes them feel more of a connection with your website and brand, thus making them more likely to purchase.
Gather Quality Leads
Marketing automation can be used in various ways to generate leads. Social media, newsletters, and email campaigns are all great ways to nurture your leads. In fact, 82% of companies have email marketing included as a part of their marketing strategy. Automated marketing helps you send out emails and messages through social media to potential clients at a viable rate, helping maneuver them down the sales funnel with ease.
Types of Marketing Automation Software for Startups
An array of effective marketing automation platforms have been introduced to the market, each with advanced, useful features of its own. And businesses, especially startups, are making the best use of these platforms to thrive in the market. In fact, not using a marketing automation tool today can deprive you of a massive opportunity to optimize your internal processes. Let us take a look at some of the most effective types of marketing automation software that startups can use:
Automated Email Marketing Software
Known to be one of the oldest digital marketing forms, email marketing is still known to lead the pack when it comes to acquiring the best ROIs. Email marketing tools let you automate the emails that you send out to your contacts. Whether it is an email blast, initiated by you or trigger-based, email marketing software ensures the distribution of all personalized messages on a large scale. Most will also provide a dashboard for measuring the analytics of the campaign.
Automated Social Media Marketing Software
Social media is one of the best avenues for businesses to expand their engagement and reach. Automated social media marketing tools are a powerful means of scheduling, performance measurement and network management. Ultimately, using these tools can help to improve customer relationships, entice potential leads, and promote credibility. Buffer and Crowdfire are two effective social media marketing automation tools used by many businesses.
Automated Customer Relationship Management Software
Businesses are using CRM software at an increasing rate to offer a prompt customer experience. This software helps store information like company names, email addresses and job titles. Most importantly, it can collect information like interaction details and purchase history details between the consumer and the business, allowing personalization of customer interaction. Zoho and Salesforce are two effective tools for these purposes.
Best Marketing Automation Tools 2020
As discussed earlier, marketing automation software is software that helps automate all kinds of repetitive tasks. There are several marketing automation tools in the market that can help you do that. In fact, some of these come for free! These tools help significantly to save your company both time and money. Some of the most efficient automation tools of 2020 are:
- SendinBlue
- HubSpot
- ActiveCampaign
- Autopilot
- Ontraport
- Automizy
- Pardot
- Marketo
- Zoho
- Drip
- Infusion Soft
- Prospect.io
Final Thoughts
Marketing Automation is one of the most effective marketing strategies being employed by marketers for startups. With marginal costs to spare, the process has helped hundreds of startups save money and time while helping acquire higher traffic. From creating attractive landing pages to managing day-to-day content requirements, marketing automation platforms act as your all-in-one tool. Considering the fast-paced environment of a startup, there is no better time to invest in marketing automation than now.
If you have any questions about the implementation of marketing automation or the way in which it works, feel free to contact our team at myMarketing. We are here to walk you through it and help your business reach its maximum efficiency.