How to Automate Your Marketing Workflows

Automated workflows are important throughout every area of your business, no matter what it might be.

Marketing is no exception. Automating marketing, whenever possible, is critical, and the following are strategies and things to know to make it happen.

Automated workflows allow you to focus on larger, more strategic goals. Errors are reduced, and employees can focus on big-picture thinking that allows a business to grow and stay innovative in competitive environments.

Marketing automation is best suited to a few specific things.

Marketing automation works well for delivering messages and communicating with visitors to your site or at critical points before, during, and after they buy from you. Marketing automation works to provide critical information, and it can be used for follow-ups and reminders that otherwise, a customer service employee might have to conduct.

Start at the Foundation with Project Management Tools

First and foremost, every area of your business is likely to benefit from project management tools.

This helps not just automate elements of your employees’ work. It also helps promote visibility, compliance, and better adherence to deadlines.

Project management tools aren’t specific to marketing, but when everyone is on the same page about what needs to be done and what their roles and responsibilities are, it puts them in a better position to thrive elsewhere.

You might also look for CRM software. CRM software will allow you to start streamlining all of your marketing and sales management processes.

You can begin with a CRM automating your lead generation. With a quality CRM, you can track leads from external tools and let your team know you have a new lead. This is already laying the groundwork for automation in your marketing.

Use AI

Another time-saving and productive way to automate marketing workflows is to use artificial intelligence.

For example, chatbots are a valuable tool for marketers.

Chatbots let you deliver on-demand conversations with your clients, and you don’t have to dedicate human staff to make that happen.

Along with answering general customer service queries, chatbots can be designed to offer product and service recommendations based on current customer behavior.

Another option along with chatbots is the use of live chat software. Live chat software can engage your prospects in real-time and start building your mail list. Live chat platforms provide personalized conversations.

Automate Email Marketing

Email marketing is a big part of a successful overall marketing strategy.

After your customers add themselves to your email lists, they should be getting regularly timed, automated emails.

Don’t use email marketing automation just as a way to ask customers for something.

You want to be interacting with your customers in a personalized, engaging way.

With automation, your customer or potential customer can start to count on your emails at regularly timed intervals, strengthening your relationship with them.

General Automation Optimization Tips

The above were specific things you can do to implement automation into your business. The following are some general tips to make sure you’re optimizing your automation strategy:

• Have a concrete strategy and message in place. The core elements of marketing don’t change because you’re automating workflows, which is important to understand. If you don’t have a clear, concise, and well-defined message, then no matter how much you automate marketing, it will be ineffective. Often, marketers will make the mistake of relying so much on automation and work so hard to have the best technology in place that they forget what makes marketing effective in the human sense. You have to have the message and strategy defined and then use automation as a way to save time and get that message out.
• Just because you’re automating your workflows, don’t stop personalizing content. Again, this can go back to the tip above, about ensuring that you keep in mind your strategy and message no matter the specifics of how you’re conveying it.
• Ensure your team is comfortable with everything you’re doing. If your employees aren’t well-trained on your automation platforms and tools, they’re not going to optimize their use of them. When you’re selecting tools, do so with user-friendliness in mind.

Finally, to tie it all back together, your automation success depends on the customer experience.

Do A/B testing throughout each major touchpoint to ensure that you’re delivering an excellent experience. Change things where needed. The ability to be flexible in your approach is one of the benefits of automation, so don’t ignore the option.