Introduction to Sales and Marketing Automation

You've heard the phrase “marketing automation”, and maybe you've even heard success stories from those who have successfully deployed automation in their marketing or sales activities - but sometimes it can be helpful to return to the basics of where and how it actually works.

In this video we're going to zoom out to a high level, and look at how marketing automation actually works - both theoretically and also practically. We'll talk about what sales and marketing automation does for the prospect, for the customer, and also for the business owner and their team.

So, you're on board with sales and marketing automation. You've seen case studies, or heard about it from friends, and you're ready to learn and try it out, right?

The natural next question is “How do I start using marketing automation?” If you're just starting out with marketing automation, the advice in this video is for you.

We're going to talk about how to think about marketing automation, how to craft the role it will play in your business, and how to prioritize the different ways we hope to employ it so that we can maximize its immediate impact.

And if you're looking for specific advice, don't worry, we'll guide you there too with some ideas for how you can comb your customer journey with a lens to spot automation opportunities.

You've probably heard the phrase 'marketing automation' or 'sales and marketing automation' - they're becoming household terms for most small businesses. But if these concepts are new to you then it's normal to feel intimidated.

In this video, we're going to talk specifically to anyone who self selects as a 'marketing automation beginner'.

We'll make some high-level recommendations for how you can think about automation as a concept, and increasingly specific advice for how you can examine your existing business operations to identify areas where automation might be useful.

In this module we'll talk through nurture as a concept, and then we'll dig deeper into the mechanics of crafting an intentional nurture strategy, we'll offer advice as to what you might say, and how regularly you should follow up, and the ways that you can use a marketing automation strategy to make sure it happens over and over.

If you've been in business for any amount of time then you've probably heard or even said the phrase 'lead nurture', or even just 'nurture'. But this topic is so much more than a buzzword, it's a powerful way for any business to do more with what they already have.

Nurture is perhaps the single most powerful way that any business can improve their bottom line. It's all about staying in touch with your audience, or following up with your leads, prospects, and customers.

This means that an effective nurture strategy will improve the conversion rate you have between the different stages in your customer journey.

The value of Marketing Automation is clear - but even so, it can be helpful to hear simple use cases where it helps solve a real world problem.

In this video we'll highlight two small moments in your customer journey where automation can simplify things for you, and improve the experience you're creating for your customers.

As valuable as we think the specific examples in this video are, we hope you'll use this approach as inspiration when evaluating your own customer journey, and identifying the areas where automation could help enrich things.

If you think of marketing automation as an investment, then like any investment it's important for it to pay a return.

The most obvious way that marketing automation can pay an ROI is in new leads, or new sales - but that's far from the only way automation can serve your business.

It can also create less overt results, like reducing the things you need to do manually, or giving you peace of mind.

Brad Martineau once said “I only have two problems with the phrase marketing automation”, and in this video we'll unpack both of his objections, and the other unhealthy connotations this phrase might carry.

The reality is that 'marketing automation' has become a bit of a household name, and that's a good thing - but the phrase itself might be doing us a disservice.

Yes, automation can absolutely help with the marketing activities for any business, the problem isn't that that's wrong, but rather that it's incomplete.

The power of automation isn't limited to any singular aspect of a business - automation can be either internal, or customer facing, and can make a difference in nearly every aspect of the customer's journey from initial opt-in, through purchase, and even the delivery or fulfillment segment.

If you're proud of your business and the way you serve your customers then the idea of ​​embracing automation might feel counterintuitive.

But automation doesn't have to be a compromise - and in this video Greg will share some of how his attitude about automation has evolved throughout his entrepreneurial journey.

When used intentionally, automation can be a multiplier. It removes the limitations that come from being dependent on manual effort, and enables a business to be more strategic with how their time and resources are used.

As a business adopts and deploys sales and marketing automation there are a few things that we regularly see - and one outcome you might notice is the emergence of a new set of data.

By defining a process, and having clear milestones that comprehend your customer journey, you start to give structure to the experience we're creating for our leads and customers. And by introducing automation here, we can begin to track it's efficacy, or the way people engage with this process.

This does a few things for us - first, it helps us establish a baseline. This lets us spot gaps, disconnects, or bottlenecks - these are areas that need our attention in the short term.

But the second thing it does is offer us a sense of predictability. Predictability is a critical key to our ability to confidently forecast the path our business is on, and make decisions as leaders in our organization.

If we like what the data is forecasting, then we can ratchet up the traffic and keep on sailing. But if the projections aren't what we're looking for then we get to use the insights to make adjustments and course corrections.

If the idea of ​​having this type of insight into your business is appealing, then the key is to develop automated systems that produce the data you can use to guide your business forward.

If you're already using Marketing Automation, or just getting started, it's important to get clear on how you'll know if and how it's performing.

One way of thinking about marketing automation is as a tool for supporting and enhancing the journey your leads prospects and customers are having.

To that end, you'll want to clarify the key milestones that make up the journey - and in this module we'll talk through how you can identify those milestones in the pre and post purchase sections, and a few options for the things you might track as you decide what to focus on next.

A few of the questions you'll want to ask are:

• What are the milestones in my customer's journey?

• At what rate are people making it from milestone to milestone?

• How can I increase those conversion percentages?

• How can I reduce the time it takes for someone to make it from milestone to milestone?