Marketing Automation: The Way of the Future
Marketing automation is the way of the future and in the coming years, it could determine the success or failure of many businesses. Those that adapt and streamline their automation processes will be able to save money, conserve resources, and innovate and scale than those that don’t. It’s important to start thinking now about how you can start automating different facets of your business.
Perhaps the easiest place to start investigating automation is through
marketing. There are a number of relatively simple tools for marketing automation that allow business owners to get a feel for the process and to instantly improve their day-to-day operations. Let’s take a look at a few automation tips and tricks across different marketing mediums!
Email Automation
Chances are, your business sends emails regularly—be it a
newsletter,
sales email, receipt of purchase or something else. If you’re still manually sending emails, this is the first place you should think about automating.
Email platforms like
MailChimp,
Constant Contact, and others come equipped with automation scripts built in, allowing you to cut down on the effort you put into sending an email. For example, it’s possible to create a month’s worth of emails ahead of time, schedule them all and automate their dissemination throughout the month.
For a more advanced automation example, consider the possibility of using
variable data in emails. You can set up triggers that automatically take a customer’s name from a form submission, insert it into an email and then send that email—all without you ever having to touch it!
Social Media Automation
Businesses that can succeed on social media are businesses with brands that flourish. If you’re putting in a ton of time on social media but seeing very little in the way of returns, it’s a sign that automation might be in order.
Use platforms like
HootSuite to schedule social posts throughout the month, so you’re not spending countless hours per day investigating newsfeeds. Through these platforms, it’s also possible to investigate what time of day your posts are best sent and what type of response or reaction they’re getting.
To take things up a notch, consider using a program like
IFTTT (If This, Then That) in conjunction with your social posts. This program allows you to create “recipes” for your social channels—for example, “if someone posts a picture to your Facebook wall, download that picture automatically.”
Print Marketing Automation
If you use
business cards,
flyers or
letterhead, the opportunity for print marketing automation is within your grasp! Consider working with AlphaGraphics to open your own agOnline web-to-print portal. A print portal will allow you to automate the order and re-order of these essential products, among other printed collateral. It’s a quick, efficient, effortless way to keep your tasks in line, while maintaining a hands-off approach.
Seek Out Automation!
The above are just a few examples of how you can automate in 2017 with relative ease. Make no mistake—this is just the tip of the automation iceberg! Once you become comfortable with basic automation, start looking for other ways to streamline your various marketing prospects. Then, start investigating automation in other aspects of your business.
The secret to automation is experimentation and you’ll never know if something works unless you try it! To get help with your business automation get in touch with your
local AlphaGraphics print shop today!