Today, we\u2019re exploring marketing automation. What it is, why it\u2019s important, and some marketing automation examples you can apply to your business.<\/p>\n
![\"Explain](\"https:\/\/www.teamly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Explain-marketing-automation.png\")
<\/p>\n
<\/span>Explain marketing automation<\/span><\/h2>\nLet\u2019s start with some basics of automation. Marketing automation is using software that executes all the tasks or processes within your business without manual work. Some of the tasks that might benefit from automation are\u2026<\/p>\n
\n- Email marketing<\/li>\n
- Managing ads<\/li>\n
- Customer segmentation<\/li>\n
- Lead acquisition<\/li>\n
- Social media management<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Anything manual or repetitive in your marketing efforts can probably be automated. The key is finding things that don\u2019t require personalization so software can easily handle the task for you.<\/p>\n
As for how marketing automation actually works, most softwares work with the following logic:<\/p>\n
Trigger > Condition > Action<\/strong><\/p>\nThe trigger is whatever begins the automation. A condition is the criteria that must be met for the automation to occur. And the action is what happens when the trigger and condition are met.<\/p>\n
The benefits of automation are that rather than manually tracking the trigger and condition, an automation starts without any work on your part. This can influence the experience of everyone involved \u2013 from customers to team members.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Benefits of marketing automation<\/span><\/h3>\n\n- Scalability<\/strong>. The biggest reason for marketing automation is to help your business scale.<\/li>\n
- Reduces Human Error<\/strong>. Marketing automations cut back on human error \u2013 typos, decimal point errors, and all the other things that can happen are reduced with automation!<\/li>\n
- Cost savings<\/strong>. Marketing automation software frees up your employees for higher-value work and reduces shrinkage, amongst other things.<\/li>\n
- Streamlined and standardized processes. Marketing automation helps you better standardize and quality control the output.<\/li>\n
- Transparency and compliance<\/strong>. With centralized ecommerce automation software, the information stays where oversight and tracking can occur. This can support things like compliance or data privacy.<\/li>\n
- Customer and employee satisfaction<\/strong>. Customers benefit from consistent, on-brand communication, while employees are freed from dull or repetitive tasks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"11](\"https:\/\/www.teamly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/11-Marketing-Automation-Examples.png\")
<\/p>\n
<\/span>11 Marketing Automation Examples<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/span>Welcome or onboarding emails<\/span><\/h3>\nNew lead or purchase? This is when your customer is most engaged, so don\u2019t miss the opportunity to bring them into your brand story properly.<\/p>\n
Depending on the nature of your product or service, you might choose a welcome or onboarding email. A welcome email is more aspirational \u2013 think a letter from the founder, a bit of your story, or something else that emotionally connects. On the other hand, an onboarding email can be a bit of that but is usually more informational or instructional. It might include product education, helpful resources, or other tips. If your product is more elaborate or requires education, an onboarding email ensures customers get the most out of their purchase.<\/p>\n
A welcome or onboarding sequence has a simple trigger \u2013 someone signs up or makes a purchase. From there, you can add them into an email sequence that fires automatically, usually with a time delay between emails.<\/p>\n
<\/span>A\/B testing email marketing campaigns<\/span><\/h3>\nA\/B testing, or split testing, is a method for comparing two versions or variables. When it comes to marketing automation, you can split-test everything from an email headline to using percentages versus dollar amounts when offering discounts.<\/p>\n
Automation will allow you to run both versions concurrently, and some software even sends out the better-performing email automatically as soon as enough data is collected.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Lead nurturing<\/span><\/h3>\nAnother example of marketing automation is lead nurturing. Like an onboarding sequence, lead nurturing is an email sequence meant to warm up a cold lead. It might begin when someone visits a page on your website, opts into a lead magnet, or otherwise enters your sales funnel.<\/p>\n
For this type of marketing automation, your goal is to give potential customers the information they need without overwhelming them or making them unsubscribe. It\u2019s a careful balance of finding what adds value, what encourages the sale, and what obstacles to purchase you can remove for them. Some examples of content for your lead nurturing sequence are a calendar scheduling link, resources on the product, introductory content, or discounts.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Birthday and anniversary greetings<\/span><\/h3>\nHave you ever gotten a happy birthday email from a brand you love? With a personalized or time-limited discount, a birthday or anniversary automation is a fun and thoughtful way to engage with your customers and potentially bring old customers back to your website.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a careful balance of being helpful, not creepy here! People love personalization when it\u2019s something they opt into. So rather than just scraping their birthday, ask them for it! Some of the best brands do this by inviting customers to a loyalty program with exclusive discounts. With that information, you can tailor your offers so they only see the most relevant offers.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Loyalty emails<\/span><\/h3>\nLike a birthday or anniversary email, a loyalty email rewards loyal customers for their repeat business. You can choose the milestones that make sense for your business, whether a dollar amount spent or a completed number of sessions.<\/p>\n
Depending on your automation software, you can designate a trackable event as your \u201ctrigger.\u201d Once the customer hits this, they\u2019ll automatically receive an incentive or communication from your brand.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Abandoned cart marketing automation<\/span><\/h3>\nAn abandoned cart email goes out automatically to a customer who added a product to their cart but never completed the purchase. It might ask customers if they forgot something or proactively answer any outstanding questions getting in the way of their checkout. Whatever messaging you go with, the ultimate goal is to give them one-click access to the item they were close to buying before.<\/p>\n
An abandoned cart marketing automation is easy to add in most ecommerce tools and only requires the potential customer to log in with their email address when they add their product to the cart.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Re-engagement email marketing campaigns<\/span><\/h3>\n
Anything manual or repetitive in your marketing efforts can probably be automated. The key is finding things that don\u2019t require personalization so software can easily handle the task for you.<\/p>\n
As for how marketing automation actually works, most softwares work with the following logic:<\/p>\n
Trigger > Condition > Action<\/strong><\/p>\n The trigger is whatever begins the automation. A condition is the criteria that must be met for the automation to occur. And the action is what happens when the trigger and condition are met.<\/p>\n The benefits of automation are that rather than manually tracking the trigger and condition, an automation starts without any work on your part. This can influence the experience of everyone involved \u2013 from customers to team members.<\/p>\n New lead or purchase? This is when your customer is most engaged, so don\u2019t miss the opportunity to bring them into your brand story properly.<\/p>\n Depending on the nature of your product or service, you might choose a welcome or onboarding email. A welcome email is more aspirational \u2013 think a letter from the founder, a bit of your story, or something else that emotionally connects. On the other hand, an onboarding email can be a bit of that but is usually more informational or instructional. It might include product education, helpful resources, or other tips. If your product is more elaborate or requires education, an onboarding email ensures customers get the most out of their purchase.<\/p>\n A welcome or onboarding sequence has a simple trigger \u2013 someone signs up or makes a purchase. From there, you can add them into an email sequence that fires automatically, usually with a time delay between emails.<\/p>\n A\/B testing, or split testing, is a method for comparing two versions or variables. When it comes to marketing automation, you can split-test everything from an email headline to using percentages versus dollar amounts when offering discounts.<\/p>\n Automation will allow you to run both versions concurrently, and some software even sends out the better-performing email automatically as soon as enough data is collected.<\/p>\n Another example of marketing automation is lead nurturing. Like an onboarding sequence, lead nurturing is an email sequence meant to warm up a cold lead. It might begin when someone visits a page on your website, opts into a lead magnet, or otherwise enters your sales funnel.<\/p>\n For this type of marketing automation, your goal is to give potential customers the information they need without overwhelming them or making them unsubscribe. It\u2019s a careful balance of finding what adds value, what encourages the sale, and what obstacles to purchase you can remove for them. Some examples of content for your lead nurturing sequence are a calendar scheduling link, resources on the product, introductory content, or discounts.<\/p>\n Have you ever gotten a happy birthday email from a brand you love? With a personalized or time-limited discount, a birthday or anniversary automation is a fun and thoughtful way to engage with your customers and potentially bring old customers back to your website.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a careful balance of being helpful, not creepy here! People love personalization when it\u2019s something they opt into. So rather than just scraping their birthday, ask them for it! Some of the best brands do this by inviting customers to a loyalty program with exclusive discounts. With that information, you can tailor your offers so they only see the most relevant offers.<\/p>\n Like a birthday or anniversary email, a loyalty email rewards loyal customers for their repeat business. You can choose the milestones that make sense for your business, whether a dollar amount spent or a completed number of sessions.<\/p>\n Depending on your automation software, you can designate a trackable event as your \u201ctrigger.\u201d Once the customer hits this, they\u2019ll automatically receive an incentive or communication from your brand.<\/p>\n An abandoned cart email goes out automatically to a customer who added a product to their cart but never completed the purchase. It might ask customers if they forgot something or proactively answer any outstanding questions getting in the way of their checkout. Whatever messaging you go with, the ultimate goal is to give them one-click access to the item they were close to buying before.<\/p>\n An abandoned cart marketing automation is easy to add in most ecommerce tools and only requires the potential customer to log in with their email address when they add their product to the cart.<\/p>\n<\/span>Benefits of marketing automation<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
<\/p>\n<\/span>11 Marketing Automation Examples<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>Welcome or onboarding emails<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>A\/B testing email marketing campaigns<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>Lead nurturing<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>Birthday and anniversary greetings<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>Loyalty emails<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>Abandoned cart marketing automation<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>Re-engagement email marketing campaigns<\/span><\/h3>\n