In today’s fast-paced digital world, automation plays a huge role in many aspects of a successful business. Whether it’s inventory control, payroll, or marketing, technology has enabled us to simplify the process and make it more in-depth at the same time. When it comes to marketing automation, you have the opportunity to improve the quality of your incoming leads, increase the likelihood of upselling, and boost overall ROI.

Some confuse marketing automation with email marketing, but the two are not the same. Email marketing is definitely a tool in the marketing automation process, but there is a lot more to it. Marketing automation is an entire software platform that includes campaign builders, social scheduling, dynamic content, lead scoring, analytics and more. It is designed to make your inbound marketing efforts more strategic and ultimately successful.

 

Here are seven reasons to implement marketing automation in your business:

1 – Bridging the Gap Between Sales and Marketing

It’s not uncommon for sales and marketing teams to lose sight of one another during the sales and marketing processes. Issues can come up regarding lead quality if conversions are suspect, and the two departments may spend more time feuding than being efficient. With marketing automation in place, there is a much higher likelihood of high-quality, qualified leads coming in which will keep everyone happy.

2 – Full Campaign Insights

Being able to pull reports to get a closer look at which campaigns are working and why, will help provide the greatest marketing ROI. Marketing automation simplifies the reporting process and allows for metrics that are usually difficult to determine, which enables you to spend your marketing dollars where they will be most useful.

3 – Lead Prioritization

Also, marketing automation allows you to score and grade leads, so the sales department will know which leads to follow up with and when. When you can prioritize the leads and effectively judge their interest level, it makes the entire process run more smoothly.

4 – Multiple Touch Points

If you are going to have a longer sales process as prospects move through your funnel, then it is essential to have multiple touch points to keep them interested. Once your prospects reach that all-important bottom of the funnel, you need to be able to close the deal and marketing automation lets you make it happen.

5 – Effective Lead Nurturing

The importance of marketing automation for lead generation is plain to see, but it’s also important to nurture the leads until they become ready to purchase. Lead nurturing is a fundamental part of inbound marketing because it lets you ease your prospects along, making them feel special and not rushed to make a decision. Marketing automation is excellent for lead nurturing because it keeps your leads in the funnel and away from the competition.

6 – Tracking User Behaviour

Being able to retrieve and analyze data is a significant benefit of marketing automation. When you can track your user’s behavior in relation to your marketing messages and your website, it helps you make subsequent marketing decisions with even greater accuracy.

7 – Better Opportunities to Upsell

With all of the lead generation, lead nurturing and behavior tracking possibilities of marketing automation, upselling becomes easier than ever. You can turn your focus to backend sales opportunities at the bottom of the sales funnel, and since you’ve built a loyal following, the odds of continuing the relationship are high.

 

Marketing automation is a key component in modern digital marketing, and businesses from any industry will benefit from having it in place. If you’d like to learn more about the process or want to implement marketing automation in your business, get in touch with us WSI Digital Path today.

 

Photo credit: Campaign Creators