When it comes to digital marketing, you’re able to take advantage of new technology to automate some of the grunt work. This process is called marketing automation and in this article, we’ll discuss what marketing automation is and how it can help your business.
Finding the time to Tweet, upload new product photos to Instagram and stay active on Facebook can sometimes seem overwhelming.
When you’re juggling a busy schedule, it can be hard to fit in consistent posts and regular campaigns. That’s why companies and social media teams are turning to automation.
So, what is marketing automation?
Essentially, it’s using software and online tools to help schedule and post your content in a way that is streamlined and consistent. So when you have a day filled with client meetings, you can rest assured that your social media profiles are still active and not sitting there stagnant.
That’s not to say that you can just sit back and have your job taken care of. You still need to keep on top of your strategy to ensure that anything you schedule compliments your company goals. Being complacent with your automation can lead to some embarrassing slips!
It’s a good idea to have a play with a few platforms to see which one works for you. There are plenty to choose from so have a browse and see what the reviews are like to help you decide.
Here are a few tips to help ensure that it works for your business:
Schedule campaigns
When you want to run a successful online campaign, posting regularly and keeping your followers engaged can be time consuming. By using an automation tool, you can schedule your social posts in advance, taking into account the best times to post on each platform, which will really help to optimise your content.
Don’t forget to interact
Automating your social marketing is all well and good but you mustn’t forget to interact. Although it can be a great tool for posting regular updates, it won’t interact with your followers. You’ll still need to do this yourself, so make sure that you respond to any messages or interactions in a timely fashion. Failing to do so will result in followers disengaging with your content.
Lead responses
Sending an email to acknowledge a new lead can sometimes get overlooked. To ensure that you stay on top of this, you can use email automation software to send a friendly response, letting them know that you will be with them shortly. This is a great tool and helps prevent losing that all important new business.
Keep it personal
The last thing you want is for your followers to think every tweet or post you sent out has come from a robot. It’s therefore important that you don’t fire out generic messages – keep it personal. The tools allow you to schedule content in a way that still has that personal touch, so don’t let this one slip.
Similarly, when you send any email campaigns, take advantage of the great features which help you to make them as personal as possible. As we all know too well – spamming with a blanket message doesn’t work.
Stay diligent
This type of marketing still needs lots of care and attention – it’s not a case of spending a few minutes scheduling and forgetting about it. Keep an eye on which posts are working well so you can implement them more in your strategy. Likewise, make sure you acknowledge the content that isn’t doing so well – otherwise, you’ll just end up with a stream of posts that your audience doesn’t engage with.
To wrap up
As long and you keep in mind that marketing automation is there to support your strategy and that it should be closely monitored like anything else, it can be a really helpful tool. Just remember to keep that personal touch and be responsive to any interactions.