Automated marketing is the process through which software is implemented to execute repetitive tasks or functions , which, by their nature, do not necessarily need to be performed by a person.
Tasks or functions that are usually automated are: sending emails, publishing content on social networks and adding contacts to the CRM.
Marketing automation software is easy to use and manage, but if good practices and strategies are not followed , your marketing and sales teams will not achieve the desired objectives .
So get ready to learn what the best practices for automated marketing are .
infographic-of-best-practices-in-automated-marketing
1. Establish a strategy and a plan
An automated marketing tool is, in essence, a resource through which objectives must be met within a given time.
It is also an investment that your company makes to streamline activities, minimize risks and increase conversions.
Therefore, its implementation cannot be done blindly: it must be present in your strategy and marketing plan through the following elements:
Objectives: What results do you want to achieve with marketing automation?
Actions to be automated: what processes will be carried out using software? poland number for whatsapp For example, sending email marketing campaigns.
Calendar of activities and the people in charge of each of them: from which day to which day will the marketing campaign be running and who will be monitoring its progress?
KPIs that will be used to measure, compare and analyze the results obtained: were the objectives effectively achieved?
2. Define the stages of the conversion funnel
The conversion funnel is used to classify your prospects or customers according to the relationships they have with your products, services or website. It is generally divided as follows:
representation-of-the-marketing-and-sales-conversion-funnel
This representation helps you see how quickly leads move from one stage to the next , based on the desired actions (conversions) they take.
For example:
A lead (a contact that could be a potential buyer) becomes a qualified lead (MQL: more qualified lead) when it shows a greater interest in products and services, which is an indication that it is ready to move on to the sales area.
If you don't have this clear structure within your automation tools, you can lose sight of which leads or prospects need further information, education, and which ones are ready to buy.
3. Score contacts (lead scoring)
Lead scoring is the practice of assigning a numerical rating or score to your leads (e.g. 0-10) based on their demographic attributes (place of residence, age, gender) and actions taken (website visits, logins to your platform, content offers downloaded, email opens).
The more a lead resembles your buyer persona , the higher the score they should have. The same goes for if they show a high level of interest in your content, product or service.
CRMs typically come with lead scoring tools to assign scores. Using them, marketing and sales teams can know when to move a contact from one conversion stage to another.
Therefore, one of the best practices for automated marketing is to take advantage of these lead scoring tools to more accurately segment contacts and thus increase sales opportunities.
Read also: What is CRM and what are its benefits?
4. Give access to marketing and sales teams
By building a conversion funnel and scoring leads, marketing and sales teams can align themselves by knowing what stages contacts are in and when they need to be ready to take action.
For this alignment to be successful, both teams must have access to the main automated marketing platforms, such as customer relationship management (CRM) and email marketing.
Marketing members can thus create newsletter and lead nurturing campaigns in Hubspot, for example, while sales members can design transactional and sales campaigns.
We invite you to read also: 5 automated email campaigns for your company
5. Deliver personalized content