Every business eventually gets to the point and realizes that most of its marketing can be automated. It’s almost a no-brainer for big businesses that may have hundreds of thousands of customers to interact with on a daily basis. For small businesses, whether to invest in marketing automation or not is a tough question. For the most part, automating your marketing campaigns is a no-brainer. However, it’s still important to understand what’s true and what’s not about the process. Below, we will go into 5 myths about digital marketing automation and the truth behind them.
Automated marketing is just sending messages automatically
Automated marketing software sends messages to potential and current customers through email, web, text, and social media. However, the concept is much more than just sending messages automatically. It’s all about maximizing efficiency. This lets you avoid having to write and send the same messages to individual customers every day. It’s also about targeting and identifying what visitors to your website really need and finding a solution to give it to them. Finally, it allows you to study the data behind your actions and decide whether or not you need to tweak your workflows.
Automated marketing is easier than manual processes
In many ways, automated marketing is better. However, it doesn’t always make your life easier. You can’t simply set and forget your automated marketing campaigns and assume it will guide people from the top to the bottom of your funnel. You have to monitor what each campaign accomplishes. Then you need to use the data to target specific groups of customers to achieve better results. Your resources are able to be redirected towards creating more creative and personable workflows and copy.
Automated marketing is just for email
As mentioned above, automated marketing can be used across a number of channels. While email is a great place to start, you can use it to open up more options for your marketing campaigns and opportunities for lead acquisition. You can continue to collect information from your customers and find creative ways to market through them using your platform. You shouldn’t limit your ambitions to email marketing. Have conversations with customers everywhere they interact with your brand.
Automated marketing comes off as robotic and impersonal
Your marketing materials will only come off as robotic and impersonal as your copy makes it sound. You’re able to personalize your materials to make them speak to your customers. Another way that you can encourage more personalized content is by sending highly targeted and specific copy to as many customers as you can. Group customers in narrow workflows. This will help you ensure that each person receives impactful content related to what they’ve already responded to. When you use the software correctly, your content and messaging should come across as anything but impersonal.
Once a sale is closed, the automated marketing process is over
The goal of lead generation marketing is to turn new audiences into customers. However, automated marketing is about more than just closing the first sale. You’ll create opportunities for upsells, cross-sells, and future engagement leading to repeat business. You should feel empowered to create post-sale workflows that encourage people to stay connected to your business.