The marketing automation strategy starts by defining what will be done and its expected goals. In addition, knowing which tools should be used to bring efficiency and scalability to your actions.
After all, activities must be well planned to achieve the expected result. However, several other actions need to be taken. Check out what they are.
Having clear goals is the first step in planning. It includes several activities — one of which is goal setting. This is because the flows created must meet expectations. Otherwise, marketing actions will be automated, but the results will be below expectations.
In this process, start by answering a few questions :
- Why automate actions?
- Is your purpose for scaling sales?
- Is it impossible to do the tasks manually?
- What steps need to be automated?
- What products do you want to sell?
From there, it becomes easier to define which actions should be taken.
Define The Personas
In this process, identify your persona. In other words, the ideal customer profile for your business. This will be the entire target of your communication. After all, it represents the people who can be your customers.
In addition, with the planning covered by the previous step and this one, you define the three pillars of your strategy: objectives, journey, and persona. In this way, it is easier to understand the ideal communication channels to attract leads, generate sales and qualify the relationship.
Remember that, throughout this process, it is worth counting on the sales team. This exchange of information helps to understand what a hand raise is, define strategies to optimize SEO, develop ideas for new content, etc.
Define The Metrics To Be Used
All actions must be measured to know if your strategy is achieving the expected results. Metrics must be defined according to the objectives outlined. Also, calculate funnel conversion rates and use A/B testing to find out what works best.
Qualify The Contact Base
Check all items included in your contact base. See if there is only one mailing list or if there is more information. For example, title, location, industry, etc. This data helps qualify names and segment submissions.
Thus, you reach only those who want to receive your information. This implies a greater chance of sending the customer through the sales funnel. After all, he is interested in your content.
From there, define what data will be collected about the leads. Send emails to your contacts and find out this information. This data also makes it possible to design more accurate forms.
Customize Your Content
All the stages of marketing automation already seen allow you to reach that moment: the personalization of content. That’s because you know who your leads are and what stage of the funnel they are in. So, it’s time to hit them the right way.
To do this, create content according to each stage, as provided for in content marketing. So avoid sending a standard email to everyone. The more targeted your strategy, the better the results tend to be.
Establish Triggers
Define what will get the lead into your nurturing flow. The trigger can be:
- characteristics, such as sector, position, etc.;
- interaction, for example, downloading material, subscribing to the newsletter, contacting the website, and more.
The contents must be fired according to the defined trigger. However, your production base must be ready before marketing automation begins. This way, you can guide yourself through the purchase journey and generate materials that answer questions at each stage.
Put The Customer At The Center Of Your Entire Strategy
Marketing automation must be personalized. Therefore, the consumer needs to be the center of your strategy. Success depends directly on customer satisfaction, even if your goal is to increase sales or revenue. Thus, it is possible to cultivate the relationship correctly and still increase the potential of closing deals.
Define How The Interaction With The Lead Will Be
Each of the purchase steps must have a specific, well-defined action. Therefore, evaluate what you will do at each moment. For example:
- sending an email;
- interaction in social networks;
- change the properties of the contact within the software used.
As you do this, please take advantage of it and decide what content will be offered at each stage. The sequence must be logical, that is, never random. After all, the goal leads to advances in the purchasing process until they decide.
To do this, implement nurturing flows. Determine the rules to be followed and the frequency of interaction. In the tool, you can test to ensure everything is working. So, just put automation into practice!
Choose The Right Tools
There are several marketing automation tools available in the market. Choosing the best one depends on what you intend to do. Below, we will show you the main ones for you to know and select the most suitable one.
For now, the ideal is to understand that these tools are crucial to your work. After all, they are the ones that allow you to automate activities. More than hiring, it is necessary to train the team. In this way, everyone becomes familiar with the software and knows how to use it to exploit all its features.
Drive Lead Generation
Once the automation tool is implemented, you still need to configure it. In this process, it is necessary to define the input trigger, the materials, the sequence of emails, and the interval between each of the submissions.
Gradually, it is possible to generate more complex flows. They can have different variables, routes, and segmentations. That way, you can also create opportunities. To ensure the efficiency of strategies, drive content production, create landing pages, optimize SEO, publish on social networks and invest in ads.
You can also explore the features of:
- Lead tracking: monitors the steps of leads on the site. Thus, you identify which triggers can be created for the flows to be more innovative;
- Lead Scoring: Qualifies leads in the funnel to ensure they are approached at the right time.
Make Continuous Improvements
Marketing automation allows for continuous improvement. Therefore, this must be done to ensure more leads are generated and conversion rates improved. However, this process must always be based on data.
So, analyze the results and check what still needs to be improved. This way, you will identify bottlenecks and strategies that are already working. With this, you will be able to enhance the performance of your system further.
Also Read: Understand Data Marketing And Build A Data-Driven Strategy