Marketing automation: understanding in order to properly apply

You know it as well as we do: time is money. The good news is that marketing and sales teams have a highly effective concept at their fingertips: marketing automation! It can be a real game-changer in terms of leads and time savings. But it is still necessary to understand it well in order to be able to apply it well. We explain to you.

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⭐️ The key things to remember about marketing automation:

• Marketing automation is the use of tools and technologies to automate actions and repetitive tasks related to marketing.
• It saves time, continuous follow-up of leads and a great deal of personalization for each prospect

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Marketing automation: what is it?

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The concept is simple: trigger pre-established events based on various actions carried out by a user. Clearly, marketing automation is based on the sending of targeted content.

To be effective, marketing automation content must be delivered at the right time and via an appropriate channel. Hence the importance of analyzing user behavior.

💬 For example, sending a promotional offer by text message will not have the same impact depending on whether the recipient has just discovered your brand or if they have already tested some of your products and services.

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Why use a marketing automation tool?

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Perhaps the biggest advantage of a marketing automation tool is The saving of time.

By scheduling the sending and publishing of various content such as posts on social networks, email and SMS campaigns, teams can centralize KPIs in a single space, thus simplifying the follow-up of leads and the assessment of their maturity. A lead scoring tool is extremely useful here.

Another advantage: a marketing automation tool works continuously, ensuring the prospecting and follow-up of leads day and night. So, even if a prospect downloads your ebook in the middle of the night, they will receive a personalized email inviting them to an upcoming webinar without waiting for you to be awake!

This personalization is a major advantage of marketing automation. The more targeted and relevant a message is, the more attention it will get. By segmenting your database and adapting the content according to the objective of your campaign or the maturity level of the leads, you optimize your chances of success.

In short, marketing automation frees up valuable time for your teams, allowing them to focus on effective strategies to attract and retain. While creating complex scenarios requires constant effort, the results are well worth the effort.

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As proof, several studies confirm this:

👉 According to Email Monday, 80% of marketing experts have seen an increase in leads thanks to marketing automation.

👉 Sales Fusion reports an average 14.5% increase in sales productivity using these tools.

👉 Moosend indicates that 63% of businesses using marketing automation outperformed their direct competitors.

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Marketing automation: 5 examples of use

Example 1: do tracking and lead scoring

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When it comes to marketing automation, tracking and lead scoring are essential.

Simply put, tracking is the analysis and monitoring of a user's actions. Once a lead is identified, the tool can measure its activity on your site and assess its level of interaction with your content.

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For example, your marketing automation solution can record a variety of information about a single lead, such as:

👉 his visits to the “Who are we” and “Our solutions” pages;

👉 the number of visits to the site in a week;

👉 the average time spent per session;

👉 a click on a CTA inviting you to discover the company's Facebook page;

👉 etc.

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By grouping these interactions together, you can assess the interest of a lead for your services, which is called lead scoring. By assigning points to each interaction, an evolving grade is assigned to each lead. The higher the score, the more mature the lead is.

Your marketing automation tool can automatically send a prospect's customer file to the sales department when a certain grade is reached. With the information in this sheet (such as interest in a specific product), salespeople can determine the most suitable offer to offer.

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Example 2: anticipate by programming

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Working in just-in-time mode can be stressful. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, the best thing is to schedule your posts and campaigns. For your regular content such as posts on social networks or newsletters, you can set up recurring publications. As a result, you are much more serene and can deal with the unexpected!

In addition, monitoring the performance of your content is truly simplified thanks to a unique interface.

💬 For example, for social networks, you can monitor and analyze your latest posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter from a single window. Practical no?

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Example 3: do lead nurturing for the progress of leads through the funnel

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To get started, let's talk about lead nurturing. It is the set of actions aimed at strengthening the marketing relationship with your prospects and customers. The main idea is to share quality and informative content, without your messages being perceived as spam.

For your audience to enjoy the content you send them, you need to target their expectations and contact them at the right time. That's where marketing automation comes in!

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💬 Let's take a concrete example:

1. A prospect visits your website several times in a week.
2. Seeing his interest in the “Our field of expertise” section (thanks to tracking), a personalized CTA appears during his next visit.
3. This CTA invites the prospect to download your white paper, thus responding to their curiosity with relevant content.
4. After the download, an email is scheduled to be sent five days later.
5. This email offers the prospect to test a trial version of your services.

This lead nurturing strategy integrates perfectly with the triggering of automation scenarios, made possible by marketing automation.

Well used, lead nurturing accompanies a lead throughout the sales cycle. And remember, the cycle doesn't end with the sale! A loyal customer is always more profitable than a new lead to be converted.

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Example 4: Reducing cart abandonment

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That's it. The prospect you have been pampering for several weeks is finally at the final stage of the sales funnel. His basket is full, all he has to do is check out. But surprise, no payment notification in sight. Frustrating, no?

So how do you avoid losing this sale and a future loyal customer? That's where marketing automation comes in.

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Various means can be put in place to encourage the user to finalize the order. With a marketing automation solution, you can:

👉 Display a pop-up asking for confirmation that the transaction has been abandoned.

👉 Retargeting with targeted ads in the days following cart abandonment.

👉 Send an SMS or an email inviting you to finalize the transaction, with promotional offers, items in limited stock, or cross-selling.

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Example 5: segmenting the database

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Normally, you can import your contacts from your CRM, like Hubspot CRM, to your marketing automation solution. Once imported, you can segment your database according to the behaviors of each person.

Of course, there are obvious categories (BtoB, BtoC, etc.), but with your marketing automation tool, this segmentation can be much more precise.

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💬 For example, you can segment your contacts according to:

👉 their age;

👉 their place of residence;

👉 their position in the buying funnel;

👉 their interest in your various services or products, etc.

If you want to launch a campaign targeting women aged 18 to 25 who have already made a first purchase from you, it is now possible in a few clicks! It's up to you to create this campaign and adapt its content accordingly.

👉 Your CRM is Hubspot and you would like to create automations? Discover all the solutions available to you in our article on the subject: HubSpot marketing automation: what are the solutions?

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Doing marketing automation well: our pro tips

Tip 1: Set measurable and achievable goals

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Use your marketing automation tool to set specific and measurable goals, such as “Generate 15% more leads to the 'Mother of House' target in the next quarter.” Clear goals make it easy to define the actions to be taken and the KPIs to be monitored.

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Tip 2: Decompartmentalize sales and marketing teams

Make sure your sales and marketing teams share a common definition of leads and communicate effectively. Marketing automation makes it easy to exchange lead information, optimizing collaboration and avoiding missed opportunities.

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Tip 3: Define the role of all of your content

Adapt the role of each content according to the maturity stage of the leads to offer a smooth customer experience. You can thus build adapted automation scenarios and identify content to be added to strengthen the marketing relationship.

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Tip 4: Take advantage of KPIs

Use the performance indicators provided by your marketing automation tool to measure the success of your campaigns and identify areas for improvement. Prioritize the study of ROI, conversion rate, cost per lead, number of leads generated, click rate, open rate, and unsubscribe rate.

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👉 To help you, read our article that lists The 10 marketing KPIs to follow !

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Tip 5: Test again and again

Analyze KPIs to understand the success or failure of your campaigns and set up ongoing tests. For example, if your newsletters have low open rates, try new versions and analyze the results to find the optimal formula.

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Here is an example of Hubspot automation for one of our customers:

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How to choose the right marketing automation tool

Characteristics of the product

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To choose the right marketing automation tool, start by asking yourself a few simple questions: What do you expect from this software? Is it compatible with the other tools you already use? Here are some features to look at:

👉 Sending emails or SMS

👉 Publishing posts on social networks

👉 Creation of registration forms

👉 Personalizing messages

👉 Creation of personalized landing pages

👉 Contact segmentation

👉 Lead scoring

👉 Generating reports and statistics

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Technical support

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In the event of a technical problem or question, it is essential that technical support is responsive and available in French. Whether via live chat, email, ticket or phone call, support must be reliable, fast and ideally accessible 24/7 to avoid any interruption in your activities.

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User interface

The user interface is critical. It should be intuitive, easy to use, and responsive, in order to allow you to switch between functionalities effortlessly. A good marketing automation tool doesn't have to be complex to use.

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Learning resources

Make sure the tool offers learning resources like tutorials, videos, videos, white papers, webinars, and training programs to help you master its features.

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Pricing

The price varies according to the functionalities, the type of server (on premise or cloud), and the capacity of the tool. Compare competitors' offers, look for potential discounts, and choose the plan that best fits your needs. Sometimes a simpler offering may be enough if you don't need all the advanced features.

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Integration

Finally, make sure that the tool integrates perfectly with the systems already in place in your business, such as your global operating system or your customer relationship management (CRM) software. Good compatibility is essential for smooth operation.

Despite reading this article, would you like to benefit from the support of an expert? Discover the top 5 of the best Growth Marketing agencies in France!

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FAQ: answers to your questions about marketing automation

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Why use marketing automation?

Marketing automation offers several advantages: these tools help you better understand your leads and customers, save you considerable time, allow you to personalize your campaigns on a large scale, and improve the return on investment (ROI) of your marketing actions.

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How does marketing automation work?

This method is based on automating various marketing tasks, such as sending emails, tracking and scoring prospects, managing lead nurturing, generating reports, and even planning content on social networks.

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How to set up a marketing automation strategy?

To get started, you need to choose a marketing automation solution adapted to your needs and your strategy. Once equipped, your business will be able to launch automated campaigns to attract leads and convert them into customers.

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Who can benefit from marketing automation?

Regardless of the maturity level of your business, marketing automation can become a major asset in achieving your goals. It is not only reserved for large companies with a sophisticated marketing department and well-established strategies!

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