Your business might be small, but there’s no reason for your marketing effort to me. Even if your company only has ten employees, there are tools that can help you maximize your outreach efforts. Using marketing automation isn’t just for big businesses – in fact, it’s a technology that can help elevate your small business in a big way.
Why your small business should consider marketing automation
Your small business is fighting for attention in a busy consumer marketplace. You need to provide distinct customer experience and provide personalized attention to customers as well as carefully track how effective your efforts. Marketing automation tools make it easy to do both. According to CMS Wire, the following are the most important ways that a marketing automation tool helps SMBs.
Shopping cart abandonment emails
You can grow your e-commerce revenue automatically by setting up a series of emails that reach out to customers who started a purchase but didn’t complete it. CMS Wire recommends that SMBs specifically, ” send a series of one to three emails at set intervals that include pictures of the selected items, customer testimonials, offers of a money-back guarantee or a call to action that can encourage a customer to finish the transaction.”
Tracking web traffic
Where are your customers spending their time on your site? What parts of your engagement strategy are making an impact and helping engage customers? Marketing automation tools help you tune into the necessary analytics and grow your marketing efforts in a smart and deliberate way.
What to remember when choosing a marketing automation tool
So if you decide to use marketing automation, what are the things you need to know about finding the best solution for your business?
#Free trial
Most automation platforms will allow your business to test drive it, usually for 2 to 4 weeks to get a feel for if it has all the features that you need and understands the real impact that it can have on your business to help you analyze if you can justify the cost.
#Templates
Small businesses want to save time and cash in on the expertise of others. A good marketing automation tool will include templates to help guide your marketing efforts. These help you design your emails, landing pages, forms, and more that work across devices and are mobile optimized. Pre-built, customizable templates can be a lifesaver for small businesses with fewer resources, such as an in-house designer.
#Assistance, training, and resources
If your small business is just getting started in the automation game, you want to make sure that you have some support in your journey. You’ll need to develop a strategy and goals, so having assistance is how to actually use the tool and deploy marketing assets that support these goals is helpful.
#Similar industry or business experience
Has this platform worked for other businesses in your industry or similarly sized organizations? Getting customer testimonials, feedback, and case studies can be a useful way to understand if you’re connecting with the right platform.
Ultimately, the right tool will be the one that fits your business budget and offers the features you need to reach your intended audience, such as email nurture stream capabilities, SMS campaigns, social media posts, and more.
The marketing automation tools that could change your business
Some marketing automation tools are better suited for larger businesses – your SMB might benefit from a tool that can scale as you grow and has a user-friendly interface that can you get started without expertise. Here are some options to consider:
1. Autopilot
Autopilot offers automation outreach tools include email, in-app messages, SMS and text communications, and even postcards. They help businesses focus on creating and maintaining customer relationships – their research has found that businesses earn more leads by touching base with audiences every two to four weeks. Autopilot also seamlessly integrates with other data systems to help business create personalized, segmented marketing messaging.
2. Infusionsoft
Infusionsoft is focused on small businesses. Their technology empowers businesses with solutions like mobile optimization and analytics and integrates with other business performance and operations systems. Infusionsoft’s platform saves users about 28 hours per month when it’s integrated with other systems. It automates customer follow-ups, personalized communication, and helps give businesses insight into what communications are working and why.
3. ActiveCampaign
The ActiveCampaign campaign builder is perfect for startups and small business owners, as it helps entrepreneurs design marketing collateral and consolidates customer data to help create the email, SMS, and CRM options communication and segmentation options.
Creating a successful business means connecting with customers, growing brand awareness, and improving engagement. A marketing automation tool makes it easy for small brands and organizations to more effectively accomplish these aims and ultimately get in front of more customers. Are you ready to grow your small business? Do you want to save money, time, and create better insights for you to make decisions and empower your marketing? Using marketing automation tools can improve your business marketing efforts.
