Posted by Melanie Tajaard ● Sat, Nov 28, 2015 @ 17:11 PM

Automate your Marketing -- what you need to know

Running a successful small business is a dream for many individuals. The dream often involves visions of happy customers returning time and again and new customers streaming through the door. However, the reality often involves long hours spent over marketing plans and deciding on how best to reach continually elusive new customers. It is possible to reconcile these two images, however, and the key lies in automation.

What is automated marketing?

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Far from taking control away from the small business owners, automated marketing improves their control over the business and the direction it takes. It also allows small business owners to free up much needed time to concentrate on other important aspects of their businesses by providing the right tools and support to ensure that business marketing efforts are reaching the right audience, at the right time, at the right place.

How does it work?

As with any businesses marketing, automation starts with goals. Marketing automation services, such as those provided by HubSpot, take those goals and build upon them to nurture leads. The process involves more than just sending automated, yet personalised, emails to prospective customers; it also provides businesses with information and feedback, including internal notifications, lead scoring, and personalized website content. By having all of this processes running smoothly in the background, business owners are able to see the whole picture, rather than being bogged down in the small details.

Is it enough?

If the business owner has a good grasp on the goals, the customer segment, and the ever-changing world in which both the business and the customer are operating, then possibly automated marketing is enough on its own. However, no business can ever have too much support and having a guiding hand to support growing new campaigns, setting new goals, and redefining customer segments is a definite benefit.

The key is to utilise services specialising in the areas where the small business owner may not have enough knowledge, or may not even realise are essential. Something as simple as providing a business with a presence audit, an in-depth look at how the business and its brand are perceived, can make a huge difference to customer retention.

Involving other channels

Simply automating existing marketing channels may not be enough to gain the most out of services such as those offered by HubSpot, but knowing which new channels to open into is a daunting task. Using too many, or too few, or worse still ignoring the one channel where the business audience segment is found, can make even an automated marketing service pointless. Knowing which channels, including social media platforms, email, blogs, and websites to use is crucial. However, it is not just about the audience, it is also about the business's budget, future goals, and time needed to investigate this thoroughly. Support in researching channels, the best times to publish content, and the best types of content to place is essential if the automated marketing workflow is to work effectively and cost-efficiently.

Putting it all together

Take the time to learn and increase business knowledge by taking on training opportunities and consider mentoring and partnership opportunities. Consider bringing on an expert who can guide the business through the planning and evaluation stages, and take advantage of full market automation services.

Businesses vary in their support needs just as much as they vary in the goals and plans that are the basis of their marketing. Finding the support that understands this, and provides exactly what the business needs is always the first and most important step. It's never too late, or too early to ask for help!

Think you could benefit from Marketing Support? Let’s start the conversation.

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