Marketing Automation
Marketing Automation for Your Small Business!
Marketing Automation is Like Duplicating Yourself!
Most small business owners wear many hats. Working with a small staff or as a staff of one there is always more to do in a day than time to do it. Technology has changed the world of small business. One of the best changes is marketing automation.
You may not be able to afford a sales force of 100’s but with a small investment of time and money you can create an automated system that works like that sales force 24/7. Since you are in complete control of the message your prospect or customer receives, its even better – it’s like having 100’s of YOU working tirelessly marketing your business 24/7! Let’s look at some of the ways that using marketing automation can help you grow and thrive in your small business.
8 Things to Consider before Purchasing a Marketing Automation Tool
It’s utterly frustrating to buy something and realize that there were more things you wish you knew before making the purchase. Maybe you wish you knew that you will change jobs before renting an apartment close to your old workplace.
Unfortunately, this can also happen when you decide to purchase a marketing automation tool. You buy what you believe is the perfect software only to realize that it doesn’t help you meet your goals or that your team isn’t ready for it.
Automated Email Creates Customer Relationships
Relationships that Matter
If you want your customers coming back for more, keeping in touch with them through email is an important step to take. When they hear from you regularly through quality emails, you stay fresh on their mind and they’re much more likely to come back and purchase again and again.
Tracking in Small Business
To Track Or Not To Track?
If you are a small business owner you likely either have a website or know you need one. If you’re the shop around the corner, you may not yet realize just how important tracking will be to your small business. After all you may rely heavily on word of mouth or well-known repeat customers.
But no matter how welcoming your store and no matter how strong your relationships with existing customers may be, having a website and tracking your results with concrete, tangible numbers can have a serious impact on your long-term success. Forbes says not tracking results is one of the 10 most common mistakes that small businesses make. Let’s take a closer look at why that’s the case!
How to Fix it When Good Email Campaigns Go Bad
Automation tools, like Constant Contact or Mail Chimp, make reaching an audience incredibly easy. Today, there are probably hundreds of companies that will help your small business manage email lists, nurture leads effectively, and piece together compelling and relevant messages with ease. No matter which solution you choose though, human error can still cause issues. Whether you’ve sent the wrong message to a specific list, or sent off inaccurate info, these methods provide instant damage control.
How to Use the Buying Cycle to Improve Automated Campaign Results
Not every customer is ready to take action the moment he or she stumbles upon your content or website. There’s usually a process, called the buying cycle, that people follow as they become ready to purchase something. Although some systems reduce the concept to just three stages, and others increase it to seven, we’re going to examine the most-common buying cycle, which contains five stages of purchasing readiness. At each stage in the sequence, there are certain things you can do as a small-business owner to harness the power of the cycle, and carry your customer to the next level. When you utilize automation tools (like Constant Contact or Customer.io for emails, SocialOomph or Buffer for social media) to do this, your customers flow into the sales funnel with minimal effort, though you do have to take care to choose your methods wisely from the start.
4 Types of Automation Tools Every Small-Business Owner Should Use
Automation tools are more than today’s hottest buzz phrase. They can streamline the marketing process, enabling any small-business owner to have the strength of an entire marketing team, even as a sole proprietorship. You still have total control over how people are reached, but the individual tools carry out all the duties, so you can be actively marketing, while you’re seeing to all the other needs of your business. There are many automation tools available, and some companies package multiple tools together, so they work seamlessly, and are easy to set up. Here’s a look at the top four types of automation tools you should be using to help grow your small business.
