While marketing automation technology is interesting, it’s only valuable if it aligns with your business strategy. At GSM, we focus on understanding your challenges to communicating with clients and prospects and applying real world solutions to help. Our marketing automation program is a powerful tool that can help you retain and grow business.
Marketing automation programs are designed to identify visitors and engage them with content that’s timely and relevant to them. Key to this success is how well you communicate via periodic, personalized messages. For this moment, we’ll set aside the obviously important conversation about the quality of the content and discuss the way in which we would ideally like to engage with clients and prospects to support their need to learn and do so with a frequency and personalization that nurtures their relationship with you.
MESSAGING
ENGAGING PROSPECTS WITH A PERSONALIZED MESSAGE STREAM
When someone visits, they tell us a lot about their level of interest based on the pages they look at and for how long as well as videos they watch, articles they read, information they download. With a marketing automation program, you can design and deliver a personalized stream or drip campaign to engage over time. Each interaction builds knowledge and comfort towards a business relationship.
TIME-SENSITIVE MESSAGES TO YOUR CLIENTS
These messages are relevant to specific moments during the year or points in your sales cycle. With automatic scheduling and workflows, messages can be delivered in a timely manner, with automated follow ups to make sure clients, partners and participants are aware of deadlines and milestones.
PERIODIC TOP-OF-MIND MESSAGES
There is value in keeping your brand in front of your clients. These periodic messages provide updates on the state of the industry or your company, while at the same time reminding them of the expert and valuable service you provide.
NURTURING MESSAGES
The ability to deliver information to further your leads beyond the initial inquiry stage of the sales cycle is the powerhouse of marketing automation. From providing relevant information when prospects are in the exploratory phase of the relationship to details of recommended next steps, these communications keep your lead interested and educates them at the same time.
ONBOARDING MESSAGES
Many services require an onboarding process, especially those related to financial services. Marketing automation is an excellent communications tool for this process. Building a workflow and campaign that provides information on processes, deadlines and prompts for data entry can enhance the experience easier for new clients and make life easier for staff.
A WORD ON SEGMENTATION
A double-edged sword of data gathering is that while it’s desirable to have deep information on who’s visiting and why, it’s easy to wind up becoming a slave to managing the data. Fortunately, a well-tuned marketing automation platform can intelligently segment your leads and contacts into manageable lists and groups based on their interests and level of engagement. While this commonly done so as to deliver relevant messaging to each person, it also be provides meaningful insight into how the various demographics of your audience are responding. Segmentation can also be used to highlight “hot” leads to be personally followed up on by your sales team.
BUILDING THE TEAM
The integration of reporting and lead information into a single platform can remove the separation between your marketing efforts and your sales staff. With a larger global view, all members of the team from management to sales can view granular lead information showing the life of the lead from origination to close. All members can quickly see how their efforts promote the successful achievement of your business goals. Marketing Automation is a great technology and marketers’ tool. You need the right combination of strategy, content, experience and tactical implementation to turn it into a business driver. As with any enabling technology, the key is applying knowledge and expertise to optimize how it can work for you.
