Do you wish you could be more responsive and personalized in your communications? Wish you could figure out the right sequence of content that’s just right for a buyer and then “set it and forget it.” It may sound like fantasy, but marketing automation here, and easier to get started than you might think.
If you’ve ever been curious about what automation can do for marketing, you’re in the right place. Let’s take a tour of marketing automation and some strategies to get you started. I’m Keith from Force 5, and this is your marketing minute!
What Is Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation is any technology that takes a marketing action, such as:
- Sending an email
- Scoring a lead
- Assigning sales reps to an account
- And much more
All without direct interaction by you, the marketer!
Let’s talk through an example. Imagine you have a contact in your marketing system; they’ve been to your website, filled out a form or two, read some blogs, clicked an email, etc. All these actions are quantified as a “lead score,” which is a number representing how warm a lead is.
Every action increases the “lead score” until they reach, let’s say, 10 points. When that happens, you’ve set up a workflow that assigns the lead to a regional sales rep based on the contact’s address. Then it automatically sends an email asking for a meeting from the assigned sales rep, while also notifying your colleague that they have a marketing qualified lead.
All this happens without you doing anything. You’ve set the rules, and the system is following them.
How Do You Start Automating Your Campaigns?
To get started, you will need to choose a platform. Some of the big names out there are HubSpot, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Adobe with its Marketo platform. Each one offers a different set of features, so take a careful look when deciding which option is right for you. The good news is that all these platforms are built so that marketers, not just IT experts, can use them.
At Force 5, we can guide you toward making the right strategic investment in marketing automation. Or if you already have a platform, we can help you create or evaluate your marketing automation campaigns.
If you’d like to talk marketing automation with us, you can contact us by:
- Giving us a call at 574-234-2060.
- Emailing [email protected].
- Or filling out a short contact form.
