Seth Godin taught us many wise stories. One of them is "Good enough stopped being good enough a long time ago. Why not be great?". You offer content to your clients that is just 'good enough'. Why not approach your clients with content that fits their profile, interests and exact place in the customer journey? Something your client is really interested in, learns from and even thinks about it afterwards. That's exactly what marketing automation is all about. Keep on reading for the full story.
New leads and loyal customers
Many companies are strongly committed to the acquisition of new leads. And rightly so, because new leads lead to more sales, which leads to higher turnover. However, generating these valuable new leads often comes at a very high cost. What if they don't convert immediately after their first visit? How do you make sure that these prospects don't turn into cold leads? And how do you change them into warm prospects again? Retargeting ads are a good solution, but do they really work? And does it really make sense to target all your website visitors? It's all food for thought!
Ever thought that your satisfied customers might be your most valuable lead generator? You put more effort into keeping your existing customers happy, and they provide new leads. On their turn, these new leads change into valuable returning customers who buy more from you and stay with you for a longer period of time. To make that entire process easier, it's best to use Marketing Automation.
What is Marketing automation?
The ‘Marketing’ in Marketing automation
When it comes to marketing, we probably don't have to explain too much anymore. You use different channels like social media, email and advertising to make your brand known to the outside world.
The ‘Automation’ in Marketing automation
Automation ensures that your marketing actions are no longer carried out manually. You use a platform, tool or framework and ensure that all processes run seamlessly together, with as few manual interactions as possible. Why? Simple: time saving, cost reduction and a decrease of human errors.
When you put marketing and automation together…
Marketing automation is the process of choice for retargeting, remarketing and re-engagement. You make your website experience more personal, your emails more relevant and build a stronger relationship with your customers. Your brand experience gets the necessary boost and is consistent across all your channels. In other words, you ensure that each visitor goes through a unique and personal customer journey, tailored to their specific wishes and needs.
The impact of Marketing automation
Is Marketing automation yet another buzzword? Absolutely not. Applying it correctly does have a big impact on your team, your budget and the rest of your marketing funnel.
Marketing automation drives a 14.5% increase in sales productivity and a 12.2% reduction in marketing overhead.
Nucleus Research
Marketing Automation drives business success
New integrations, implementations and transformations often come at an unknown price. However, it should not always be as expensive as you think. If you randomly choose a tool that eventually turns out not to do what you want, you’ve paid too much. Therefore, always make sure you know exactly where the pain points of your customer journey lie, and look for the right tool to eliminate them as efficiently as possible.
Time-intensive or rather time-saving? In the long run: time-saving without a doubt. On the other hand, designing, creating and setting up all mailings and campaigns takes some extra time. So invest in the knowledge of your team, do it right the first time and let yourself be supported by a partner with the necessary expertise. And also: the longer you wait, the more opportunities you miss out on.
Not only your new marketing actions generate a better ROI, your current initiatives get a boost. You spend money on advertising to get new customers to your website. Unfortunately, these customers never return. This budget now gets a second life: all these non-returning leads are included in a new nurturing funnel and your marketing automation initiatives ensure that they return to your website. The more returning visitors you have, the less you need to invest in paid advertising campaigns.
We’ve said it before, investing in existing customers ensures more turnover in the long term. When allocating your budgets, it's best to keep this in mind. Bet harder on making your customers more loyal rather than spend too much on acquisition.
Make sure your content is relevant to your customers. Showcase new articles, feature interesting blogs or put fun actions in the spotlight. Don't just think about paid advertising. For example, through a newsletter on a regular basis you can reach your target group without extra costs.
Getting started with Marketing automation
Convinced about the benefits of Marketing automation? Don't get carried away in your enthusiasm by rushing into a new tool, technology or platform. The range of Marketing automation tools is incredibly diverse. And the differences are quite large in terms of price, possibilities, expandability and flexibility. It’s more important to map out your current situation first and then start to build on it. The diagram below will help you on your way.
Start with a research into your existing customer journeys, list your pain points and think about the possible (quick) wins. Ask yourself the following questions::
- Where is your customer data today?
- What data do you need exactly to be able to personalize?
- How do you get hold of this data if you don't have it yet?
- Where are the pitfalls in your current customer journey?
- ...
So, reflect before you start. Don't make rash decisions, but prepare well and choose a future-proof solution. Keep in mind that it is better to start small. Look for the low hanging fruit, find out what works for your brand and keep improving your campaigns.
Are you overwhelmed by the abundance of information and the wide range of possibilities? If so, we would be happy to help you out.
Why Dropsolid?
Digital Customer Experience, that’s our expertise. We always think from the customer's point of view, are constantly looking for possible wins for your business and constantly striving to optimize your customer experience.
Beside that, we’re also open:
- You keep full control over all your data.
- You choose to outsource everything yourself or like to keep everything in your own hands with some extra guidance from experts.
- You always have the freedom to adapt the environment to your needs.
- You are not dependent on the product roadmap and future price adjustments of a vendor.
- You enjoy an interesting 'total cost of ownership' by taking advantage of Open Source.
- You will always be welcomed with open arms.
The main advantage? You can start small, keep the risk low and are not immediately stuck with an expensive license, or a costly onboarding.
Curious about what Dropsolid can do for your company?
Bronnen
- Marketing Automation drives business success - Nucleus Research - https://nucleusresearch.com/research/single/marketing-automation-drives-business-success/ (15/05/2019)