The Advantages of Marketing Automation

There’s not much that’s more direct than an email, and in the history of the internet, it’s a fair bet that more people have clicked to open a marketing email than on any other form of advertising. Whether it’s B2B or B2C, email does some heavy lifting. Salesforce notes that email marketing returns $38.00 for every $1.00 invested. However, with segmentation, email marketing can get very complicated. With so many ways to segment your lists and all of your marketing outreach, it’s – be honest – overwhelming. This complexity is where the advantages of marketing automation come into play.

Marketing Automation – What Is It?

Marketing automation is a type of application that automates repetitive marketing actions. For instance, marketing automation can automatically send an email to a segment of an email marketing list. These apps can also post to social media and even complete website actions. Unfortunately, marketing automation is also the latest buzzword. Buzzwords can bring a lot of attention – well-deserved – to helpful applications and concepts that assist small business owners in advertising your business right along with the big ad buyers. On the other side of things, buzzwords can hype and exaggerate the advantages of marketing automation. Hype and overselling can cause unreasonable disappointment in the product and how it works. Let’s break down the actual advantages of marketing automation.

Real Disadvantages and Advantages of Marketing Automation

In a best-case scenario, marketing automation let’s accompany contact and nurture prospective customers with personalized, relevant, and interesting content. This content is delivered steadily via email and other channels and convinces prospective customers to purchase. For instance, using an email marketing list to contact customers in various segments with consistent and consistently timed emails makes purchasing more likely. In a way, it’s an email conversation as much as a conversion. For this, companies need to have a sizable email marketing list, and the time and attention to segment, nurture and engage.

Now, let’s talk about the funnel. Everyone reading this knows what a marketing funnel is all about. So, if you read the above paragraph, you understand that marketing automation works with people who are already in the funnel. The biggest mistake is to focus exclusively on the middle of the funnel and the potential that is already there. Any salesperson can tell you that you need to bring in new leads to keep a funnel moving. Buying email lists is one way to do this, but it is not an organic method that will yield good or consistent results. If you want the real consistent word on marketing automation and how it should fit with your overall marketing strategy, you need to talk to a professional who uses the tool on a consistent basis.

That’s Where We Come In!

4 Step Studio serves small businesses, law firms, insurance companies, and realtors with over 30 years of combined web design and marketing experience. From site design, to marketing, to reputation management, we offer small South Florida businesses in-house personalized service without the in-house price tag that goes with it. Let our expertise work for you.

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About 4 Step Studio

4 Step Studio is an online marketing agency that specializes in website design and redesign, SEO, social media and more. Our team of experts focuses on helping small business get found online, while educating them on what will make them successful in the digital world. To learn more about what we can do for you, visit our website at www.4StepStudio.com