The Marketing Automation Platform: How to Squeeze More Work Out of Every Hour
Tons of marketing tasks would take hours if you did them all manually. Sending emails, collecting data, building campaigns, there’s always more marketing work than there are hours in the day. That’s where marketing automation platforms come in. They can save you tons of time, unlock new channels you’d never even thought about, and practically run on auto-pilot.
Find out what they are, how they work, and where you should start.
What is marketing automation and why use it?
Automation is the process of using software to handle tasks that would otherwise require manual input from a human being, eliminating the need for manual labor and reducing the amount of time it takes to complete a task. Marketing automation empowers marketers to automate essential tasks such as email campaigns, data analysis, content creation, lead nurturing, customer service, and social media management. By automating these tasks, marketers can save time and budget, allowing them to allocate these resources to more important work.
Marketing automation platforms can target specific audiences much more accurately across multiple channels than when things are done manually. This is because automation tools are programmed with algorithms tailored to user behavior, allowing them to be highly targeted and personalized. As a result, automated campaigns can generate higher engagement rates than campaigns that rely solely on manual processes.
With automation, marketers can scale quickly and reach larger numbers of people without sacrificing quality or incurring additional costs. With marketing automation platforms in place, marketers can manage multiple channels without a large team. This makes automated marketing the ideal solution for businesses looking for cost-effective ways to increase engagement with their customers.
Benefits of marketing automation platforms
Marketing automation platforms empower marketers to streamline and optimize their campaigns without a ton of manual work or resources. Automation can be used to optimize core marketing activities such as email campaigns, website personalization, content optimization, lead scoring, and more. Here’s how marketing automation platforms can benefit marketers across all channels.
Efficiency without sacrificing quality
With automation, marketers are able to create high-quality content that is targeted to specific audiences with maximum efficiency. These automations can be found in a ton of different platforms, each one best suited to a specific marketing channel. Automated emails allow marketers to send highly personalized messages at scale without having to manually craft each one separately. Platforms that automate website personalization can help marketers deliver content that is tailored to the interests of their customers and prospects. Content optimization tools allow marketers to improve the effectiveness of individual pieces of content by measuring performance metrics over time. Lead scoring and tracking systems provide insights about each campaign’s effectiveness, and can help marketers optimize them for future success.
Time-saver
Automated marketing also helps marketers save time and resources by reducing manual labor requirements for repetitive tasks like data entry, monitoring performance data and analytics, and tracking customer journeys across different channels. By automating these processes, marketers can focus on more complex tasks that require their expertise or creativity. Marketing automation platforms lighten everyone’s workload, meaning small teams can do more with less.
Better ROI on marketing efforts
Marketing automation platforms save time and effort, which can be quantified in work hours or money spent. If automation can help a marketer get an email campaign launched in half the time it would typically take them on their own, that means the campaign can be deemed successful with only half the results. Think about it this way; your return on investment (ROI) for a marketing campaign takes into account the resources invested in it and the number of sales (or leads) it generates. If a campaign can be launched with half the usual resources, it doesn’t need to generate as many sales to be considered successful.
How to implement marketing automation platforms
Marketing automation platforms are a powerful tool for businesses and organizations to streamline operations and save time. But to maximize the potential of your automation platform, you need to implement it correctly.Here are some strategies for making sure your automation platform is set up for success.
Make a plan
First, create an action plan that outlines the goals you want to achieve through automation and how you’ll use the platform to get there. Identify the tasks that need to be handled by your platform, and who’ll need to learn how the tool works. You need to ensure that these people get the training they need to use the platform right.
Test things out
If your marketing automation platform of choice has a free plan — or at least a trial — make sure to take full advantage of it. There’s nothing worse than dropping a big chunk of your budget on a new tool only to find out it doesn’t really work for your needs. Run a few test campaigns, create test segments, and run the tool through its paces. Track how much time you actually save when you use this tool, since this will tell you whether it’s actually worth the investment or not.
Stay up to date
Finally, stay current with updates and maintenance tasks related to the platform. Automation technology is ever-evolving so staying up-to-date with updates will ensure its functionality remains optimal. For instance, you might already have gotten used to a platform like HubSpot for automating email campaigns, only to see AI writing tools like ChatGPT and JasperAI completely change the game. Staying up to date means taking the opportunity to test out how these different tools can work together.
5 examples of marketing automation platforms
Now that you know what marketing automation platforms can do for your campaigns, you’re probably ready to add one to your tool stack. Here are some of the best marketing automation platforms on the market today.
HubSpot
HubSpot is an all-in-one inbound marketing and sales platform that helps businesses attract visitors, convert leads, close deals, and nurture customers. It provides a suite of tools such as email marketing, landing pages, analytics, customer service and CRM to streamline the workflow and identify potential opportunities. It also uses artificial intelligence technology to personalize messages and recommend the best content or offers for each user.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is an email marketing platform that provides businesses with automation tools to create powerful campaigns without needing technical knowledge. It offers features such as segmentation, automation, personalization, and predictive email scoring to help maximize engagement. Additionally, users can use its A/B testing feature to measure the impact of campaigns and optimize for better results.
Jasper AI
Jasper AI is an intelligent writing assistant designed to help users create engaging content quickly and easily. It leverages natural language processing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence technologies to understand user requests and generate high-quality text tailored to their needs. Jasper AI allows users to create blog posts, social media posts, tweets, short stories, and more with just a few clicks.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an email marketing platform that enables businesses to send beautiful, personalized messages and track their results. It offers features like automation, segmentation, and sophisticated analytics to help users get the most out of their campaigns. It also has integrations with hundreds of popular applications like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Salesforce, so users can easily sync data across multiple platforms.
Oracle Eloqua
Create more closed-loop marketing and sales activities and manage cross-channel B2B marketing campaigns that nurture leads across each stage of the buying process. A best-in-class B2B marketing automation solution, Oracle Eloqua Marketing Automation offers campaign design, advanced lead scoring, real-time firmographic data, and integrated sales tools.
About Unito
Unito is a workflow synchronization platform that helps companies stay organized and connected by syncing data across different software tools. It enables users to set up rules for how data flows between their applications, as well as automate tasks like assigning tasks or creating tickets. Unito also offers features such as two-way synchronization, real-time updates, and integrations with popular applications such as Jira and Trello.
Get more from your campaigns with marketing automation platforms
Marketing automation platforms can bring massive increases in efficiency and productivity to marketers. When used correctly, automation platforms can save marketers time and money while also freeing up resources to focus on strategy and creative execution. There are many different types of automation solutions available, so it’s important to carefully consider which one will best fit your needs. Will you be automating social media posts, email campaigns, or both? Once you’ve selected a solution, make sure to put together a plan for effective implementation. And finally, don’t forget to measure the results of your efforts so that you can continue to optimize and improve over time. With the right platform — and the right plan — you can completely transform your marketing team’s output.