I think most of us can agree what the best play call would be if you were a superstar running back lining up on the 1-yard line with the clock running down and the championship on the line.

We are often faced with situations where we are so close to success that we can almost taste it. We can already see that championship celebration parading through the streets of our city. Integrating an automated marketing campaign into your sales strategy or business plan is a lot like that decisive moment on the football field.

Marketing automation is best described as the “software that automates your marketing for you. The software is designed to help you prioritize and execute your marketing tasks in a more streamlined and efficient way” (Hubspot, 2013).

How many times do we face the challenge of creating new business or driving new sales? As a company, you may be researching and implementing great marketing tactics, such as creating compelling content through blogging as well as brand research, strategy and even execution. These practices are necessary to promote your company, increase your sales success and optimize impressions across your digital marketing campaign. But how do you capture those impressions and convert them into qualified leads? How do you make it across that goal line?

Benefits of Marketing Automation

This is the point in the game when adopting automated marketing is like running that play up the middle, allowing you not only to attract prospective customers but essentially to close the sale while having a considerable and meaningful impact in other respects apart from the sale. Some of the most important reasons to engage in automated marketing include identifying the tendencies of users who visit your website and collecting their contact information, initiating behavior-based email automation that enables you to create dynamic content customized to your visitors’ preferences and, most importantly, allowing you to stay connected. Just as knowing your opponent and anticipating his next move is essential to winning in a sports competition, understanding your customers and their buyer personas is just as crucial to the success of your organization.

How Marketing Automation Works

With marketing automation, you can set up a marketing campaign that uses automated triggers, such as visiting a Web page or opening an email, to initiate a set of actions that could include filling out a form online, sending an email, driving visitors to a specific Web page, or even alerting your staff to important events that are happening on your website. These campaigns are a lot like the playbook for your sports team. For example, if first-time visitors to your website are redirected to your site from Facebook, you can send them an email and direct them to a particular form or landing page. To take it one step further, you could even call an audible on the play by programming the play to respond to your customer contact activity. Suppose a travel agency customer lands on a form page and identifies himself as an avid beachgoer named Steve. You could then direct Steve to a dynamic Web page that is not only personalized with his name appearing all over it, but one that offers promotions for upcoming beach trips as well. Executing this campaign according to your sales objectives is integral to increasing your number of qualified leads and connecting with your customers at a much deeper level. Here are five additional reasons why you should use marketing automation.

Nearly 58 percent of businesses are not taking advantage of the benefits of automated marketing. This is a great opportunity to reach your target audience by including it in your marketing game plan so you can cross over that goal line!

References

Rimmer, A. (November 7, 2013). Hubspot: What Is Marketing Automation? A Beginner’s Guide. Retrieved from http://blog.hubspot.com/insiders/what-is-marketing-automation-a-beginners-guide.

Van Rijn, J. (July 2016). Email Monday: The Ultimate Marketing Automation Statistics Overview. Retrieved from http://www.emailmonday.com/marketing-automation-statistics-overview.

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