Technology is making our lives easier every single day and in every area of life – including marketing.
Over the past couple of years, automated marketing has become a popular tool for many marketing teams.
In one of my recent podcasts, I had the privilege to talk to Matt Heinz, repeat winner of the Top 50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management and Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencers.
He explained to me why automation should be embraced by sales and marketing teams and how utilizing it can help businesses thrive.
How Automation Can Help Businesses Grow
There are a number of reasons why automation is such a great tool.
First, automation helps you send the right message to the right people at the right time. You figure out who to write to. Then, write multiple blogs or emails – each pertaining to a different part of the sales journey.
The automated system will analyze what your prospects find interesting on your website. It will then send content that fits your prospects current needs.
Another benefit of this type of system is that it helps you distinguish between good leads and prospects that just aren’t interested in making a purchase yet. This helps your sales team know who to spend their time on and contact personally.
The third benefit of automation is that it can analyze a ton of information.
Matt gave the example of FirstRain. You tell this website to look for an industry and the information that you want to hear about it.
For example, let’s say a company is selling a technology platform in the retail industry, and they want to know every time someone in retail mentions “omnichannel.”
FirstRain will send an email every morning that tells the company when stores like Macy’s or Abercrombie & Fitch are releasing earnings reports.
This is a signal for this company to have someone in sales contact the retail store. The tech company can say something like, “Congratulations on your earnings yesterday. I see that you have this new initiative. Do you have a tech stack in place?”
The automated system saves so much time. Salespeople have to do research – they can focus on making calls that could turn into a sale.
Finally, Matt mentioned something I’m really excited about. In the past, most automated marketing campaigns were done in the form of email drip campaigns.
These days, though, automated systems are allowing companies to create these types of campaigns on social media. More prospects are spending time on these platforms. Why not take advantage of it?
Automation Isn’t the End All – Don’t Forget the Human Touch
Matt made a point multiple times during our conversation that bears repeating – automation doesn’t replace humans.
None of us want to have a conversation with a robot. We want to talk to people.
That means that we have to make sure our marketing content takes our prospects into consideration. It focuses on what’s important to them and how to fix a problem they’re dealing with.
With this personalization, you automated campaigns are bound to be successful.
Would you like more information from Matt? Be sure to subscribe to his blog and follow him on Twitter!