You wear many hats as a small business owner, making it difficult to find time to tackle important tasks. One of the first areas that unfortunately gets neglected is marketing. I’m not here to tell you how big of a mistake that is, instead I am going to provide you with a solution that allows even the busiest business owners to stay on top of their marketing — that solution is email automation.
First thing’s first, how does email automation work? The first step when it comes to setting up your email automation is defining your goals. Are you looking to send out special offers to your audience? Are you trying to maintain consistent communication with customers or leads? Regardless of your goals, email automation best practices call for a clear definition of your goals so you can create a campaign that will not only resonate with your audience but result in a positive ROI for your business.
Benefits of Email Automation
Each business is unique when it comes to its goals and strategy, however, the rewards that companies reap from email automation are similar.
- Improved Touchpoints with Customers and Leads
There are many reasons why leads might go cold, but one of them should not be because you did not respond to them in a timely manner. In fact, 30% of consumers expect a company to respond within an hour of initial contact. So how can you avoid this with email automation? When setting up a campaign, you can set a “trigger” to automatically send an email to the lead when they interact with your ad or website letting them know that you received their contact form or phone call. These emails are customizable and you can include a variety of items that can increase their willingness to become a customer. You can send them additional product or service information or a direct line to your sales team. No matter what the messaging, the goal should be to let the customer know you received the message and that they are a top priority.
- Personalized Messaging
I often hear the question: how does email automation work when it comes to personalizing email content? Many people view email automation as a mass email, however, that is not the case. When it comes to email automation best practices, it is important to have a specific audience in mind for your campaign. Personalization is not just including the name of the recipient, it is also sending out content that is relevant to what they are searching for. For example, if you are a roofing company you can set up automation tied to a form on the roof replacement page and the content in your email automation will be focused on that topic. This allows you to showcase your expertise with helpful information that can be used for the service the customer is actively searching for.
- Staying Top of Mind
Moving onto one of the most significant benefits of email automation — staying on the minds of consumers. A popular form of email automation is a drip campaign, where you send periodic information to your audience with the end goal of securing their business. This is a great way to capture leads that may not be ready to commit initially but just need a little more time and information. It’s important to remember that all consumers are different. Some are ready to act instantly, while others need to be nurtured. With a drip campaign, you are able to appeal to the latter demographic.
Does email automation sound overwhelming? Don’t worry, you happen to be visiting the website of the company with the best email marketing services around. We’re ready to help you turn your marketing around! Let’s talk so we can get started on the strategy that’s right for your business.
John Schneider, Senior Account Manager
beMarketing