Marketing automation, the game changer in the world of digital marketing, has many myths around it. These misconceptions may inhibit companies and individuals from making the most of it. Here, we try to unveil the truths about marketing automation.

First of all, let’s begin with the basics. What is marketing automation all about?

Marketing automation uses technology to automate marketing activities, especially the ones that are repetitive in nature.

Well, that sounds wonderful as it would be a huge time-saving deal. Isn’t it?

According to recent marketing statistics, 63% of all companies using marketing automation are doing better than their competitors. Predictive analytics shows a big growth for machine-learning applications and it’s expected to reach $6.5 billion worldwide in 2019, up from $2 billion in 2012.

Hence it is vital to have a grip on this concept.

It may sound strange, but it’s true that there are a lot of interesting myths around marketing automation. Let’s dig deeper into it and analyze the fake vs real.

Myth #1  Only email campaigns can be automated.

Most resources are easily accessible in this digitalized world. Cross-channel engagement across devices is now easier than ever before.

Owing to this fact, it is obvious that not for just emails, marketing automation works well even on other channels like web, mobile and social.

Here’s how marketing automation can be used effectively on various other channels.

1. Web: You can easily trigger web push notifications, exit pop-ups etc. which help customer engagement through your website.

2. Mobile:  It can be used to trigger app notifications, in-app messages, product recommendations etc. in real time. Thus it can give customized experiences to the unique customer.

3. Social: By automating your social media marketing, you can perform targeted marketing to specific groups, schedule posts, get advanced analytics and more. Also, you can manage your company’s multiple social media accounts. Thus it helps to broaden your brand presence across the globe.

Check out this link to know all about setting up marketing automation triggers for your campaigns. 

Myth #2  It does magic in your marketing.

The biggest hype around marketing automation is that it will save a lot of time. Of course, it will. But that does not mean you can simply sit back and relax after automating your campaigns. In fact, you still need to invest time and effort in planning and executing your promotions to achieve successful results.

The main aim of marketing automation is that it improves the quality of your campaigns with lesser manual intervention. Here’s a list of some of the Email automation workflows you can use in your campaigns. 

Myth #3  It is mechanical and not specific.

 

Many business owners still believe that automating campaigns simply pushes bulk Emails/SMS without actually targeting individual users. But, the ability to generate hyper-personalized content to unique users proves this wrong.

How it gives a personal touch?

1. By using their name and interests: You can create customized campaigns for unique users by addressing them using their names and give timely product recommendations based on their interests.  This blog can throw more light on how exactly this can be done. 

2. Based on the data you gather from your interactive content: The information gathered from interactive tools like online assessments, quizzes etc. are fed to the product recommendation engine. This gets stored in the database and is used for giving personalized product recommendations on time.

3. Geo-location marketing: Getting a customer’s IP address can give an idea about their location. This helps in targeting and personalizing campaigns for them.

Myth #4 Marketing automation is an expensive deal.

The automation technology was initially invented for large corporations which indeed made it very expensive. However, technology has been developed over the years, and marketing automation is, thus, more affordable even for small and mid-size companies now.

cMercury can help you scale your business to greater heights at affordable rates.

In fact, the result you produce will be worth the money you actually spent.

So, why wait? Begin your Marketing Automation journey now with cmercury! Just click on this link and our experts will guide you. 

Myth #5 Once the sale is closed, it’s all over.

Do you think there is nothing more to do once you have done with a sale? If so, then you are probably wrong! The fact is that Marketing Automation engages customers and provides a fabulous user experience even after sales.

How does it take care of post-sale activities?

1. Retain customers with timely and precise targeting: Get reviews from them and give offers for those happy and satisfied customers even after the sale is done.

2. Re-sell, upsell, and cross-sell: You can approach your satisfied customers with suggestions and prompts right to their inbox through smart communication.

3. Lead-nurturing: Systematically track lead engagements with your content and site; then identify their stage in the sales cycle. Using this, you can feed appropriate content at the right time so that no opportunity is missed.

 

Here are some of the other benefits of marketing automation:

1. User experience: Increased customer engagement and retention is now possible through marketing automation strategies.

2. Easy segmentation: Powerful segmentation, the sine qua non of any successful marketing campaign, can be easily achieved.

3. ROI measurability: Data such as open rates, click through rates, form conversions etc. can be extracted in real-time and used to measure ROI at any point in the sales funnel through lead generation and nurturing campaigns.

 

Well, that’s a lot about marketing automation!  Hope we have been successful in shedding light on a much-hyped and much-misunderstood topic.  Statistics indicate that marketing automation is here to stay.

If you would like to get onto the marketing automation bandwagon, just give us a signal. We will be right there for you.  https://www.cmercury.com/contact-us/ 

We wish you a successful marketing automation journey!