1reasonsFor most professional marketers, automation software is already an everyday tool or at least at the very top of their shopping list for 2017. Obviously, there are many reasons why it is time to put marketing automation into practice and we tell you why:

1. Get the big picture

A marketing automation system combines all the important systems of a company, besides enabling reporting, monitoring and analyzing in a convenient way. It ensures that the messages are consistent and that performance and results are easier to evaluate. Marketing automation ensures that time-consuming routine tasks are running on their own. Manual up- and downloading of Excel files between different systems is just one example. So, you can use the time you save with automation to devote yourself more to creative processes and develop new ideas and sales has more time to maintain customer relations.

2. Make your marketing more efficient

Automation plays a major role in the work organization and not just within the marketing department, but also in comprehensive team cooperation. Since the emergence of marketing automation, sales and marketing moved closer together and managed to benefit from each other. With the help of automated processes, the marketing department can better differentiate the target groups and communicate with more relevant messages. Clearly, marketing automation requires the merging of marketing and sales objectives, taking into account the tasks of the respective team, like marketing being responsible for lead generation which is then distributed to the sales department. It must just be defined when it should exactly happen. Collaboration is extremely simplified by automated processes, as both teams are always aware of the level of customer presence and the next steps.

3. Make the success of marketing and sales measurable

With the help of marketing automation, you can precisely evaluate the efficiency of your marketing and sales activities. Can the marketing team generate leads and maintain customer relationships? Can the sales management handle and meet its sales targets?

The investment into automation is worthwhile and will provide measurable results within a short period of time. For example, you can send newsletters to customers based on what they have recently purchased and offer suitable products. The likelihood that the customer will react to it is significantly higher than with impersonal mass mailings. In addition, you can simplify workflows in a way that customers reach their goals with a few clicks instead of giving up frustrated after not being able to find immediately what they are looking for – advantages that will increase your sales.

4. Feed your CRM

Without a well-maintained database, the best automation system isn’t worth anything, and the better data can be processed with the help of marketing automation, the better for the overall business. The CRM benefits as well, because any interaction with the customer, or actions of the customer, are automatically entered, making the management of customer relationships easier. However, one of the greatest advantages of marketing automation is the value increase of the average transaction which can be achieved with up- and cross-selling. For example, offer at the checkout additional complementary products or perks such as free delivery to boost your business.

5. Analysis and development for better conversions
Potential customers can find your business in many different ways, be it through search engines, a newsletter or traditional advertising. Companies with a sales team can also acquire them in the conventional way. However, an automation system helps to maintain the communication with the customer, respond to actions and forward them to the sales organization in a timely manner, thus increasing the conversion rate. In addition, automation allows the creation and combination of system-wide reports from different data sources. In this way, weak points can be identified immediately and get resolved: For instance, the marketing team generates enough leads, but the distribution does not care about them. Many prospective customers use a test account, but still won’t become customers. Shopping carts are abandoned because of insufficient user-friendliness of the online shop, etc.

6. Test what works

Automation systems very quickly reveal what works and what does not, so you can adapt and improve accordingly. A / B testing and conversion optimization are handled by marketing automation casually. Since the era of mass news is clearly over, make sure to send only relevant information that enhances customer engagement.  Since the goal of marketing automation is primarily to serve the customer better it is an excellent tool to significantly improve customer service. Automated notifications ensure that a customer, who randomly clicked, immediately receives a message or active support.

By MediaBUZZ