As a small business owner, you’ve probably heard a lot about marketing automation but just aren’t sure what it is or how it works. You may also be wondering if there is any value in it. These are all valid concerns, so we’re going to show you what marketing automation is and why it matters to you.
Don’t Believe the Myths about Automation
Because marketing automation for small business is relatively new, there are a lot of preconceived notions or myths circulating about it:
- Too expensive
- It’s intrusive / spam
- Requires too much time and resources
- No benefits
All of these couldn’t be farther from the truth. Marketing automation is affordable, widely accepted among consumers, and easy to use. But, more importantly, there are huge benefits to it.
Benefits of Automation
Today, marketing drives more leads than ever before, and automation makes it more effective. Take a look at these statistics on marketing automation and see for yourself:
- Average sales-related revenue increased by 34%
- Automation delivers a 14.5% increase in sales productivity while reducing marketing overhead by 12.2%
- Increase of 20% in sales opportunities
Over half of the companies using automation feel that their ability to measure objectives and gather data is automation’s biggest value. This allows you to see how your audience reacts to your messaging and make adjustments, if necessary. Data-driven marketing can guide sales strategies to be more effective.
What Is Marketing Automation?
Marketing consists of a wide range of activities that support your business. There are traditional marketing activities, such as newspaper ads and TV commercials, that reach a broad audience and digital ones that are internet-based and more targeted. These activities create awareness and build deeper connections, but digital marketing can do so much more because much of it can be automated.
Without automation, your digital marketing requires multiple, time-consuming tasks on a very frequent basis:
- Sending email
- Text messaging
- Collecting data
- Gathering feedback
All of these are critical to increasing sales and frequently engaging with customers. This keeps you front of mind and ahead of the competition.
Automation takes many of those tasks and organizes them, then sets each activity on a schedule for implementation. Plus, when these tasks are automated, you won’t forget to do them or put them off for another day.
Automated Marketing Strategy
Marketing automation streamlines your communications and analytics, but you have to remember that it needs a comprehensive plan of action. Without one, you’ll waste time and energy, focusing on the wrong things.
Your strategy needs to create a roadmap for all of your campaigns and how you’re going to collect data. It requires frequent updates and analytics. But, don’t get scared off from this, because both are easy to do and don’t take up too much of your time. The goal is to stay connected with your customers when they’re not in your store, and marketing automation is one of the most effective tools you can use.