Now that Content Marketing has been shown to be the way of the future, Content Marketers have more to do than ever before. Time management is all well and good, but there’s something even better just over the horizon. We’re talking about marketing automation.
Marketing automation, if used aptly, can be applied to every step of the sales and marketing funnel. Marketing automation software lets marketers customize and deliver personalized content to consumers, lightening the workload tremendously and helping to maximize return on investment (ROI).
So what is it? Marketing automation software is a multifunctional suite of tools that have several key functions. They aid in the development and analysis of marketing campaigns, as well as consumer and market demographics by providing precise analytics tools. Automation software can also take the stress and hassle out of managing of multiple campaigns by helping to streamline the creation and planning process, using editorial calendars and other task management systems. But best of all, they help with the process of transforming leads into actual, paying customers, by nurturing them on their way through the sales funnel.
Which marketing automation software should you choose?
This will depend on your requirements but there is a good assessment of your options here.
Which leads are worth following up on?
Anyone in Sales will tell you that some leads are worth more than others. What does this mean? It means that some leads are much more likely to convert than other ones. Imagine that a computer salesman has two phone numbers: he got the first one from a guest at a video game convention, the other, he found on a scrap of paper on the way home. Which one do you think he’s going to call first?
Salespeople and marketers used to have to make these judgement calls on their own. But marketing automation software includes an automated scoring system to judge how valuable a lead is and assign it a score accordingly. This allows marketers to prioritize high-value leads over low quality ones.
Content promotion
Marketing automation software also makes it easy to promote content and capture new leads (which are then automatically rated for quality). Marketing automation software including scheduling and targeting options to allow marketers to easily plan and coordinate their efforts on social media. With powerful tools like this, combined with bundled support for editorial calendars, marketers can be sure that they’re covering all their bases.
Customer intelligence
Automation software collects customer contact information right on the landing page by offering downloads and free newsletters with registration. By sorting these leads according to referral information and specific interests, marketing automation software helps sort these newly harvested leads by their quality scores.
The bottom line
Marketing automation software simplifies and condenses the growing list of tasks marketers are expected to take care of, allowing them to focus on the harder stuff. As these tools increase in sophistication, one marketer will be able to do the work of a team, increasing efficiency tremendously.
This guest post was written for Marketing Fundamentals Ltd by Russel Cooke. Russel is a business consultant and journalist who lives in Los Angeles, CA. Follow him on Twitter @RusselCooke2.
We hope this information has been useful to you. If you’d like to talk to us about marketing automation or creating Content Marketing for your professional services business give us a call on +44 845 226 4247 or email us at mail@marketingfundamentals.com.We are a leading Content Marketing agency in London.
Image courtesy of http://carabinerpr.com/blog/if-your-marketing-automation-is-stalled-try-restarting-it-with-content/ and http://wurlwind.co.uk/2013/05/email-marketing-automation-what-should-you-look-for/
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