Marketing automation is about improving your business efficiency, about leveraging technology to improve your business and improving your service to your customers and clients.
By automating you will be doing more with less. Less waste of time, less wasting dollars on your marketing campaigns, less guessing about what may work.
Every business has the ability today to improve the return on their marketing and sales expenditure by implementing marketing automation. Those businesses that take the plunge and get involved will have a significant head start on their competitors.
To successfully implement marketing automation then 8 key pillars need to addressed and mapped out.
Marketing automation is not simply a way to send better emails but an integrated system design to improve the efficiency of a business and to improve their financial returns.
Our 8 key pillars:
1. Centralised database
One, up to date, and central contact database is the fundamental foundation to any successful business.
With this, you are able to respond with effective follow up strategies and promotions.
If you keep your customer database across a variety of applications then you will struggle to run an effective marketing automation strategy
Key points for your database:
Place your contacts into logical groups
You need to decide what information you want to collect from all the types of customers, clients, suppliers, affiliates, business partners you work with
2. What information do you want to collect
What information would be useful for your business to collect at each touchpoint with that person or company?
Do you need sales levels, meetings, personal information for reminders and gifts etc?
Use the information to create a deeper relationship with all business partners.
3. Identify and document the source of initial contact
Where did the first point of contact occur between you and your customer?
What marketing activity, marketing event, introduction, social platform?
This allows you to keep track of where leads are coming from, how often etc.
How many leads came from a marketing activity, who turned into customers and thus who referred additional business.
This is extremely valuable to you and will allow you to nurture and develop those relationships.
4. Have Staff Involved
The best way to keep your data up to date is to have everyone using the same database, which is readily accessible for all.
Aim to keep your database live and active and that all staff update the information in real-time. An example could be when a supplier or customer changes their email address then your system is updated for all. Meaning no loss in contact.
5. Export and Run Reports
You may wish to export data for other campaigns or events.
You need to have the ability to run reports for other initiatives.
2. Break Through the Clutter and Increase Loyalty
Breaking through the clutter and noise is a challenge for all businesses, both large and small.
Getting your message in front of your prospects and keeping their loyalty requires considerably more effort than in years gone by.
Your marketing needs to focus on the customer and solving their problems.
It needs to be specific and focussed for your particular target market
You show your expertise by how you solve their problems.
You are across all the different platforms
You respond effectively and efficiently to all customer feedback
You provide timely customer support.
You provide regular and timely communication.
3. Improve Productivity
1. Group Your Activities
Group all your business activities and projects in a logical way that everyone can adapt.
Keep all information relating to a single activity in a single directory or location
2. Systemise Your Business’s File Structure
Relate every file to an activity and use a standardised file structure as well as generic file names
Eg Activity - New Company website is the activity and quote.pdf is Quote for that activity. All information for this project can easily be found in one place.
Generic file names ie quote.pdf reduce the risk of people misspelling the names.
3. Create Tasks
Tasks need to be documented, dated and reportable.
Make sure the task relates to an activity.
4. Create Email Rules
All your emails should relate to an activity. It. The activity can be included as part of your email subject.
4. Increase Sales with Effective Follow Up
Effective follow-up campaigns are vital to the growth and success of any business.
Without effective follow up you are placing your business in jeopardy.
According to a recent study the longer you wait to follow up with a prospect, the less likely you’ll get the sale. Also, 80% of all leads are never followed up after the 2nd attempt in businesses that don’t have any formalised follow up in place
Tips for Follow Up
Outline the steps required for your company to perform for a given sale: start at the lead level and work towards the closing of the deal.
Your sales cycle may last from an hour to a couple of years.
Identify the type of communication that is most suited for a follow up: a mix of different communication types may be best ie email, phone, direct mail.
Create scripts for every scenario: systemise your scripts. It will get everyone communicating in the same way and will make training new recruits much easier.
Use a Central Database.
5. Manage Your Time
With the ability to access someone anywhere in the world at any time it is important that you have a system in place that protects you and your time.
BUT
Also allows your clients, customers, suppliers and staff to access information and details to keep things moving.
1. Touch It Once Email
If you open an email deal with it right away and then move on.
It is anticipated that 80% of our wasted time is spent not dealing with the issue. In the case of emails we look at them, then look at another email, then another, then another. Then later we go back to the same emails again. Then we may leave it and then 1 or 2 days later we do something about it. Generally, forward it to a colleague who does the same thing.
On average people will open an email 3 times before doing anything about it. If you are getting 100 emails then this is a lot of wasted time.
2. Say No to Emails and Create a Task
Emails are cheap and easy to send.
So instead of sending emails back and forth create a task and assign it to the responsible person. There is a variety of tools that you can use to manage this.
This allows you to know when the task is completed without having to remember to remind them to do it and you are proactive by assigning tasks to specific people.
It is now reportable and easy to track to see where various activities are.
3. Digitise and Organize
If you are not already you should be digitising all your documents, deals, files etc.
They become a valuable resource to learn from and you can easily access copies when required.
4. Communication Records
A detailed and well-documented history of the communication will help you diagnose any disputes or grievances in the future. Especially important with customer service and relationships.
With employee turnover an issue for business, especially a small business it is essential to have a system where you instantly pick up and continue with a prospect or customer at any given moment and especially if someone leaves on bad terms.
Having a system in place where you or your staff can easily pick up a trail of communication at any point with a customer is wonderful.
6. Hire Top Talent
1. Systematise your Recruiting Process
Have a well-documented process that can be run at any time.
Have a direct link to an online application form on your website.
Store this information in a central database so you have a readily accessible database when you are looking for new employees.
2. Attract Top Talent by Letting them Work remotely.
Telecommuting allows your staff to be more efficient and productive.
As a business, this will lead to improved health for your staff, flexibility as to where your staff can be located and savings with office space.
7. Invest in Security and Backup
1. Don’t Settle for More than 60 Minutes Downtime
If you have a hard drive fail what will you do? How long can your business be without that hard drive? Can you still contact customers and raise invoices.
How much data will you have lost from your backup? 1 day, 1 week, 1 month. There are still businesses that don’t do a backup.
Work with a qualified It professional that can help with your network and backup systems. Make sure you are not vulnerable to any system failure.
Also, have spares readily accessible if something does happen to one of your computers.
2. Protect Your Data
Enabling your staff to communicate with your customers doesn’t mean allowing them to have this information on their hard drive.
Have the system accessible by everyone with today’s technology with the cloud and other software.
Keep your business protected and have the responsibility of a back up being conducted by an automated professionally managed system.
3. IT Professionals
Hire IT Professionals to help you set this all up.
4. Have Replacements Ready
Have the right preventative measures in place to protect your business
8. Go Virtual
1. Centralise
Make sure everyone on your team can instantly access all the information they need.
2. Collaboration
There are numerous collaboration tools you can use.
3. Private Network
You will need ways to open up your system to people who are outside your office.
4. Communicate
Set time aside for regular contact with your staff, especially those that work remotely.
5. Privacy Rules
Have these in place from day one.
Make sure you can easily modify and manipulate privacy settings for any particular folder, file, email without having to depend on an IT Professional
Implementing marketing automation will bring your business tremendous rewards.
If you take the time to work through all these 8 pillars then your marketing automation will have a solid foundation.
