Module Four

Marketing Automation

 

In our previous chapters, we talked about different marketing types. However, in this busy world of eCommerce, it might not always be possible for you to put enough effort into every sphere. Marketing automation makes things easy for you. 

 

In addition, you might face a lot of challenges in managing customer interactions, lead generation and nurturing, and follow-ups. 

Think of a scenario where you as a shopkeeper have to personally greet every customer, track each of their interests, and ensure that they receive a follow-up message once they leave without purchasing. 

 

Is this humanly possible? Possible but insane! Well, this is where marketing automation comes into play. You can think of marketing automation as an assistant who can take care of all those repetitive tasks, while you can focus on the bigger picture of your business. 

 

In technical terms, you can say that marketing automation refers to the use of software and technology to automate repetitive marketing tasks.  So, in this chapter, we are going to discuss this in a bit more detail. So, let’s start with our discussion and understand marketing automation in detail. 

 

What Are Some of the Common Misconceptions About Marketing Automation?

 

Before we start our discussion, we need to clear all those misconceptions that surround marketing automation. With marketing automation, companies can see up to a 14.5% increase in productivity. 

 

However, some misconceptions might stop you from automating your marketing campaign. What are these? Let us discuss them in detail here. 

Replacement of Human Interaction

One of the biggest misconceptions that people have when it comes to marketing automation is that it might take away the personal human touch. But this is not true at all. Automation is rather a step towards enhancing human productivity rather than replacing it. 

 

When you, as an eCommerce business can automate repetitive tasks, you can focus more on personalizing customer interactions. With automation, you can ensure that each lead that your business gets receives timely and relevant communication. While marketing is already automated, your team can focus on strategic and creative work. 

Marketing Automation Is Only For Big Businesses

Many small businesses believe that marketing automation is only important for big eCommerce businesses that have huge email lists and complex marketing strategies. But this is not the reality at all. 

 

As a small eCommerce business, marketing automation can be a game-changer for you too. If you are worried about managing growing customer bases and scaling marketing efforts, automation can help you achieve this seamlessly. 

Automation is Complex and Expensive

Do you also think that automation is a complex and expensive process? Is this what is stopping you from choosing it for your business? You have to know that although there are several sophisticated tools for automation too that can be complex and expensive. 

 

But there is an alternative to that too. By using a clear strategy and the right tools for automation, no matter if your eCommerce business is small or medium, you can utilize the power of automation. 

 

Different Marketing Automation Tools and Platforms 

 

Now that we know that irrespective of the size of your eCommerce business, you can use marketing automation tools and platforms, it is essential to find such tools. We know that you are eager to find out about such tools, so let us proceed.

 

Here are some popular marketing automation tools and platforms that you can choose, depending on their strengths and your business needs:

 

• Hubspot
• Mailchimp
• Marketo
• ActiveCampaign
• Pardot

 

Among all tools and platforms, Hubspot is one of the most popular tools your business can use. With about 35% of the total global marketing automation market, Hubspot is a famous automation platform that businesses can leverage. 

 

So, if you want an all-in-one marketing, sales, and service software, this is a perfect choice for small to mid-sized businesses. You can have access to features like email marketing, social media management, and even CRM integration with Hubspot. 

 

But overall, as an eCommerce business owner, you should always consider all the aspects before you make your decision. All these platforms offer various automation services that can be advantageous for your business. 

 

Now the question that comes is how to choose the right tool for your business. Is there anything that we can consider to find the right tool for our eCommerce business? Let us explore the same in the following section. 

Criteria for Selecting the Right Tool for Your Business

As an eCommerce business, or as someone who is looking forward to starting one, each decision that we take impacts the rest of our business. The same is true for our choice of selecting the right automation tool for our business. 

How to make that decision right? The following pointers are going to help you find the best tool for your business:

• What is the scale of your eCommerce business? This is the first thing that you need to ask yourself. As a small business, you might prefer a simple and cost-effective solution such as Mailchimp. On the other hand, for larger enterprises, you might consider more sophisticated platforms. 
• How much budget do you have and what is the best tool that you can get in that budget? Several platforms provide you with options to upgrade your plan as your business’s demands. 
• Always go for a user-friendly platform that is easy for you to use, especially if your team does not have much technical expertise. 
• And how can we not talk about the integrational capabilities of the tool? The automation tool that you choose must easily integrate with your existing systems such as CRM, eCommerce platform, and even your social media platforms. 
• By having reliable customer support and enough resources to learn about the platform like tutorials and forums, you will get help in the initial setup phase. 

What Are The Steps To Follow While Setting Up Marketing Automation? 

So now that you know what are the considerations for choosing the right automation platform. But, do you know the steps that you can follow while setting up marketing automation? Here is what you need to consider:

1. The first step is to clearly define your goals. What is it that you are looking to achieve from automation? Be it lead generation, nurturing, customer retention, or even growth in sales. Having clear objectives will always help. 
2. The next thing that you need to know is to divide your audience into different segments. These can be based on criteria like demographics, purchase history, and other consumer behaviors. 
3. Mapping our customer journey and identifying the path the customers take from awareness to conversion is important. Find out the touchpoints where automation can enhance their experience. 
4. The next phase is to prepare the content that will be utilized for the automation workflows. It can be anything from emails, landing pages, and even social media posts. 
5. Now, the next aspect is to test and optimize your campaigns accordingly. Monitor performance and make adjustments as needed to improve results.

Automation in Different Marketing Channels

Do you know that marketing automation is not just limited to a single platform? Right! Automation can be applied to a wide range of channels which can create a balanced marketing strategy. 

Here is the list of channels where it can be applied to see effective results:

1. Email Marketing – You cannot overlook emails when it comes to marketing automation. From welcome emails to abandoned cart reminders, with this automation, you can send personalized messages to your customers at the right time.
2. Social Media – We know how massive social media has become. So, automation tools can help you schedule and post content across multiple social media platforms, engage with followers, and also track performance. 
3. Content Marketing – Do you know that you can also automate content distribution? Yes! Be it scheduling blog posts, newsletters, and even social media shares. You can automate this too. 

Other than this, you can also utilize marketing automation for lead nurturing and customer relationship management (CRM). Overall, no matter what it is that your business needs, automation can be applied to make your eCommerce business operations more efficient and seamless. 

Images Source: Unsplash.

Crucial Takeaways From This Chapter

• Marketing automation enhances efficiency by handling repetitive tasks, allowing you to focus on strategic growth.
• Automation doesn’t replace human interaction; it complements and amplifies personalized customer engagement.
• Small and mid-sized businesses can also leverage marketing automation, which isn’t just for big enterprises.
• Selecting the right automation tool depends on business scale, budget, user-friendliness, and integration capabilities.
• Marketing automation can streamline multiple channels like email, social media, and content marketing, boosting overall productivity.