How to get started with Marketing Automation

To start with, the question of which software to use for marketing automation is the smaller challenge to getting started. Because most of the time the mindset blocks the implementation. The fear of losing control creeps along somewhere. Or has all that been overcome and it’s simply a matter of getting going? Chris Beyeler, Aivie Partner and agency owner of BEYONDER shows in this post that it’s not that hard.

The difference between Marketing Automation and email marketing Automation

By marketing automation, many mean sequential or trigger-based emails. Marketing automation goes further and takes into account the customer journey outside the company’s own website. It is already measured and optimized from the first ad insertion. This allows messages to be created that are optimized for the customer journey. And if someone has seen an ad, the website can respond to it dynamically.

Automate in small steps first

Before you launch a cross-media content marketing fireworks display, you need a lot of preparation. At the beginning, however, it is much more important to gain experience. Pick a small process and automate it. Preferably a mail-only sequence, like:

• Welcome journey for a newsletter signup
• Preparatory mails for a course or workshop
• Retrieve visitor if he has not been on the site for more than 30 days

The best way to start is with a process that is completely your own responsibility and does not require other departments or additional service providers. In this way, you become more familiar with the subject yourself and can use the experience you have gained to help others.

How does marketing automation benefit you and your customers?

Now that something is up and running, you can worry about getting the concept right. The first question that arises is:

Why do you want to automate?

Mail sequences or even chatbots are often used in marketing automation to save time and resources at companies. The question of whether the customer wants this at all is ignored. In the past, chatbots in particular have not fulfilled the expectations of users. This relieved a call center, but the customers became more dissatisfied.

If automation only brings something to the company itself, this can be dangerous. Marketing automation only makes sense if it also brings something to the users. Read three examples of how you can generate leads with chatbots here.

Establish marketing automation across the enterprise

If you have already gained the first experience with an automated process and you want to do more, more departments and specialists from the company will immediately join in. Since companies are often organized into departments and marketing automation goes across different departments along the customer journey, you need someone who has the big picture and orchestrates everything. You.

You are responsible for…

…all Know who is involved.

…what exactly those involved do (task and responsibility).

…of course, all the threads come together.

Which departments are needed for marketing automation?

• Communication: For texts, speeches and creative ideas
• Marketing: For the operational implementation and distribution of content (ads, newsletters, texts, etc.)
• Design: For the creative implementation of visualizations
• Sales: For the sales-oriented processes that can be automated in email marketing
• Support: For the automation and optimization of customer requests.

Where exactly you are located does not matter. Just because it’s called marketing automation doesn’t mean it has to be driven from marketing. This can also be, for example, the sale as an initiator.

Sales and support know the customers best and know what they want and need. Thus, they are the key to ensuring that the customers get something out of it. However, they must always put themselves in the position of the customer and not in that of your company.

Summary

Marketing automation is extensive and quickly becomes complex, but it’s not witchcraft if you don’t get in over your head at the beginning. So:

1. Start with a small, manageable process that is in your own hands.
2. Make sure that not only the company, but above all the customers benefit from it.
3. Then expand and include all departments.