If your job has anything to do with marketing and you haven’t been living under a rock for the past few years, you must have heard of marketing automation. You know it’s the next big thing and that you should probably try it out.
But you have a few questions before you take the plunge. We could answer them for you, or we could let a few experts handle this.
So here are the top five questions that we have heard, and five excellent marketing automation blogs, that have the answers.
Q1. What’s Up with Marketing Automation?
Are you the kind that needs to see some numbers before you are convinced? Do you think it would be nice to have a some industry data to see if automation’s worth it?
We think Jordie Van Rijn’s compilation of Marketing Automation statistics is just what you wanted. Starting off with historical and current usage statistics to industry-wide adoption rates and budget allocations, he covers a lot of ground.
One of the interesting pieces of data is how businesses value marketing automation in terms of the pricing. Did you know that little over 45% of the users think automation solutions are fairly priced, while around 20% think it’s expensive but worth your dime.
There’s also great data on why businesses are going for automation and what kind of results they have achieved. Now that’s the kind of information which really helps you get off the fence and make an informed choice about marketing automation services.
Q2. Why do I need Marketing Automation?
Examples and analogies are the best way to make a persuasive case. And that is where Filip Jaskolski’s post titled ‘How Marketing Automation Makes You More Human’, scores really well. He takes the example of your favourite grocery store to illustrate how your website can keep the visitors coming.
It all boils down to customer satisfaction and anticipating the user’s need. This post lucidly explains how marketing automation helps you gather data on user behavior and use it serve them better. What’s best is that he uses actual automated emails used by LiveChat to demonstrate his points.
If you are wondering how marketing automation is going to be of any help for your business, this is the blog to read.
Q3. Ok, got it. Now which automation platform do I choose?
Your choice of marketing automation platform will depend upon your budget and the exact set of features that you would like. While all automation software have the same goals of helping you identify quality leads and nurturing them to conversion, there might be subtle differences in their offerings.
Marketing Automation Insider has a great infographic that lets you compare the six top marketing automation platforms in the industry. A quick look is enough to help you narrow down your options before settling on one. More importantly, they go into separate detailed comparison of software that are suitable for small businesses and those meant for enterprises.
And if you want more choices, we also came across this list that has a wider selection of Marketing Automation platforms for you to consider.
Q4. How do I get Started with Marketing Automation?
So you’ve signed up for a marketing automation software and very excited about all the cool features. But what next? How do you start implementing it?
Michael Leander’s ‘Marketing Automation Guide’ gives you very clear directions on how you can start integrating automation into your business process. He lists a set of questions that you need to answer, to understand which aspects of your operation would most benefit from automation. The best part is that he leaves you with a couple of basic automation tasks, which are easy to implement and have a huge impact on your growth.
If you are just starting out, this marketing automation blog is a must read.
Q5. It’s too expensive. Is there a way to do this without breaking the bank?
So you are just starting off and not really flush with cash. But you definitely do not want to give up on something that is going to boost your conversion rates. What do you do?
You put together a set of inexpensive tools that let you create your own automation workflows. Brad Smith’s post on ‘The Poor Man’s Marketing Stack’ is your go-to guide to hacking marketing automation. From Gravity Forms to MailChimp to Asana, Brad lays out an easy-to-assemble automation system. Once you have figured out the kind of sales funnel you want to set up, you could use different tools to achieve each task.
He also pays attention to how these different tools will connect to each other, and how you can quickly replicate the process with each new client you acquire.
So those are our top marketing automation blogs if you are just starting to explore this concept and how it applies to your business.
If you have already done some research and have a few other marketing automation blogs that you found really helpful, don’t forget to share them with us.
And if you are convinced about the marvels of marketing automation but would like an experienced team to implement it for your business, have a look at Niswey’s marketing automation services. You can start a conversation with us right away or drop in a mail at business@niswey.com.
