Introduction
When it comes to digital marketing, there are so many moving parts that it can be tough to keep track of what’s going on at any given time, never mind keep all your activities efficiently organised. Fortunately, Marketing automation tools can help you make the most of your digital marketing campaigns and produce better results faster. This post will walk you through the benefits of automation and show you some easy ways to incorporate marketing automation into your own digital marketing strategy.
Why you need Marketing automation
Regardless of whether you operate in B2B or B2C, there’s value in automation. Without it, you risk missing out on efficiency and clarity. Marketing automation is part of a much larger $344.8 billion worth market that is marketing technology.
If you’re not automating your marketing efforts today, think about why that is. What are your concerns? And how can they be addressed? Let’s start with productivity. As long as automation helps you save time by speeding up repetitive tasks, it has the potential to make you more productive than ever before. Moreover, by 2022 it will help generate trillions of dollars in incremental GDP for the global economy as a whole.
Benefits of Marketing Automation
Small and medium businesses, especially in competitive markets, can use automation to help them grow and compete more effectively. Here are just a few of many ways automating your marketing can improve your bottom line:
1) Autopilot: How many times have you said I wish I could program myself to do X? With automated marketing, you essentially get to do that.
2) Consistency is Key: When it comes to digital marketing, consistency really is king.
You need to create an email campaign that has the same structure and flow every time, regardless of the season or what other campaigns are happening. That way, when people open an email from you for the first time (or return after six months), they’ll still feel like they know what to expect from your company (i.e., friendly copy with well-timed offers).
Technology advancements such as advanced AI programs make this type of thing easier than ever before. It also boosts accuracy: 85% of enterprises surveyed for an Accenture study said that when they use automation effectively, data quality improves significantly.
Future of Marketing Automation
Technology advancement is inevitable and it continues to break records every year. It used to be that robots taking over jobs was something people heard about in science fiction books and movies, but now automation is becoming a standard in many different aspects of business, as well as having real-world applications in our lives. We might not see it yet, but we may be closer than we think to reaching a place where automation isn’t just an option—it’s a necessity.
Over time, automation will continue to grow in popularity and importance, making just thinking & done a reality. We’re already seeing that trend in digital marketing today. Many marketing professionals are using tools like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to automate day-to-day processes, freeing up their time for higher value activities like adding value to customers or managing complex projects.
Vision 2030 for Automation
Just Think & Done has become the vision 2030 for automation: a world in which technology handles most tasks, with humans controlling the few remaining ones. In this future world, businesses will operate more efficiently with increased profit margins while employees have more time to spend on creativity and self-actualization. For us marketers, this means better results because there are fewer distractions from data analysis and execution on campaigns. The best part? It’s just around the corner!
What are the different types of automation
It’s important to understand that there are a few different types of automation you can use for your marketing efforts. The type of automation that you should use depends on what you want to do and how much time and effort you’re willing to commit. Here are a few types of automation that digital marketers might be interested in:
1) Creating automated email campaigns
2) Developing automated landing pages with dynamic content
3) Setting up automated PPC campaigns
4) Building RSS feeds, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, or Tumblr blogs
5) Filling out social media profiles automatically
6) Creating an autoresponder series
7) Scheduling tweets and more..
If you don’t have the time or expertise to manage these tasks manually, it’s worth looking into getting some help from an agency that specializes in digital marketing automation. They’ll take care of everything for you.
Tools to help you automate your work
In a fast-paced world, it’s hard to keep up with everything you need to do. Luckily, there are several online tools and productivity apps that can help you automate your work so you can focus on bigger picture issues.
For example, if your company has yet to optimise its social media presence and is missing out on potential clients, a service like Hoot suite could help automate social media posting for your account. Hoot suite allows you to schedule posts, analyse your social media presence, engage with followers and more. Additionally, it offers mobile apps that let you control multiple accounts from your phone without having to log in and out of each one individually.
Another useful online tool is Google Drive because it lets you store all of your documents in one location where others can access them as well. This helps keep everyone on your team up-to-date on what needs to be done next or who’s assigned to which project.
Tips on when and how to automate
There’s a fine line between having automated marketing campaigns and doing none at all. To be successful, your automated strategies should complement other digital marketing strategies—not replace them.
If you have time to do more than a few hours of social media posts every week, consider using automation tools like Buffer or Sprout Social to make your life easier. Think about your audience and how they’ll respond to different types of content. If you want to use automation tools like Facebook Pixel, you need to be posting on a regular basis anyway.
Conclusion
The real power of Marketing automation isn’t just in time savings—it’s about allowing your marketing to scale. With digital marketing, what you can measure is what matters most. If you have more time to focus on doing those activities that will increase your ROI, then you’re building a stronger digital marketing foundation that can drive profitable growth for years to come.
Image Credits: https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/EtiAmmos
