5 Ways Marketing Automation Helps Small Businesses Fight Above Their Weight

shutterstock_140876293 Marketing automation is gaining traction, but it is still a fairly new concept for many growing businesses. Fair few SMEs and many marketers still do not understand how to use it properly. But the truth is automation can be highly effective if done properly, and with prospects and customers wanting targeted, relevant, personalised information right away, the focus is very much on automation. 79% of best of class companies have been using automation for the past two years. Monthly Google searches for the term ‘marketing automation’ have grown over 37% over the past year alone. So what are you waiting for?

Well, in case you were waiting for a detailed explanation of precisely how automated marketing can help your small business amplify your marketing, save time and make more sales, you’re in the right place.

Here are 5 ways automated marketing is going to help your business punch above its weight and grow its revenue.

#1 Improved Lead Nurturing

One of the core benefits of marketing automation systems such as InTouch, is the ability to manage and nurture leads more efficiently.

In every business, you will have a mixture of hot and cold leads. It’s common practice to have your sales team focus on the hottest leads in the sales pipeline, as they have the highest probability of closing.

But, what about those colder leads who aren’t quite ready to convert to paying customers yet? This is where lead nurturing comes in.

Using a webform on your site, or any other online or offline method to capture leads, you can easily feed those into a pre-determined sales pipeline which will nurture them for you. An automated sales process will give those leads the right information at the right time for each individual and will adjust the process according to how well they respond. The result? A friction-less process that provides a completely automated system for converting your cold leads into warm leads, and then to hot leads. Automation takes the repetitive manual labour out of the equation.

With no ongoing time or effort required from your sales department, salespeople end up with more hot leads on their plate to work with.

#2 Increased Sales Productivity and Efficiency

Following from the previous point, by automating your nurturing process, you will automatically improve the efficiency of your sales method. By only focusing on the hottest leads who are ready to make a purchase, you make sure that your salespeople’s time is used to their best potential, by chasing only qualified leads, their time is more wisely spent.

In addition, marketing automation tends to take a lot of the manual and repetitive processes out, meaning that Marketing automation software is removing any potential human error and inconsistencies.

Moreover, task and reminders nudge the sales team to follow up with the right people, to provide the with specific information at the precisely right time.
The result is a more effective and productive sales team.

#3 Bringing Old Customers Back

Marketing automation is not just about making new sales. It is also about repeat purchases. After all, customers who have already bought from us are so much more likely to buy from us again, to buy more expensive products and services and in bigger quantities. It is also much cheaper to drive repeat purchases than it is to acquire a new customers, so bringing old customers back is crucial for any SME.

You can also automate a series of emails to entice recent buyers to buy again. If a customer has made a purchase or signed up for a service within the last 2-3 weeks, put them in their own group and prepare to create an automated email series specifically for them.

For example, in the first email you can thank them for the purchase and showcase additional merchandise you have in stock or even offer an exclusive discount code that only applies to loyal customers.

In fact, it turns out offering them another product or service related to the one they just bought is the right way to upsell and cross sell you services. Many will accept your offer, producing an easy sale for you. This is not a gimmick, I’ve learned first hand that people who buy from you once will buy from you again if you offer them something else too.

If you don’t already have additional products or services, find or create some. The well-worn textbook example of a successful cross-sell immediately after purchase is the McDonald’s all time great: ‘Do you want fries with that?’ Simple, yet incredibly effective for upping revenue. I know I always say yes to fries, do you?

To apply this strategy to your business, think about how your products and services relate to each other. For example, if your customer has just completed an online course purchased from you, follow up instructional material related to the original course or offering a more advanced course is a great way to get them to spend more.

#4 Better Targeting and Personalisation

Marketing automation software allows you to target the messages you send to leads and customers based on all the information you’ve collected about them, and also their activity when engaging with your marketing and sales material.

This allows an unprecedented level of targeted communication and personalised messaging.

A recent study found that personalised emails deliver 6 times better open, click-through and transaction rates meaning that personalising your message pays off! So what are you waiting for?

#5 Minimise Sales Drop Off Rates

One of the most frustrating things, as any marketer or a business owner would tell you, is when somebody is half way through the buying journey… and then they leave. The lead goes cold, they never answer your phone calls or go ahead with the sale. Annoying, doesn’t even begin to cover the feeling.

Luckily marketing automation can take care of this issue by allowing to better nurture leads, send out targeted messages that are relevant to the particular groups you are sending them out to. Here is a great post that details how marketing automation can help you minimise sales leakage.

Marketing automation is a must for any company that needs to stay on top of its game. The right marketing automation solution helps you focus on your customers, understand which marketing programs are working (or not), and accelerate buyers through your sales funnel. With far less effort and at much lower costs. So if you want to amplify your marketing efforts, save precious time and make more sales faster, get yourself automating! Sign up for a free trial of InTouch and discover the many ways we can help your business turn prospects into customers, and customers into referrers!