In the digital world, there are an increasing number of tasks that can be automated to help businesses large and small. Automation helps small business owners juggle a wider range of tasks and helps free up critical personnel in larger businesses for more important tasks. Marketing automation can help businesses large and small get the most from their marketing efforts. Here is an overview of what marketing automation is and how your business can use it effectively.
WHAT IS IT?
Most of us have had experience with at least a basic form of marketing automation from the user side. If you have ever searched for an item on the internet and then had ads for that product follow you around the internet, you are experiencing one aspect of marketing automation. Today, however, automation is becoming more and more sophisticated in terms of being able to target a much narrower and specific user base. In addition, advertising is growing more flexible, allowing it to be customized to the user.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
As the IoT grows and machine learning advances, artificial intelligence will become more capable of developing stunningly accurate profiles of individual users. For instance, the purchasing history of one consumer might show that they have a penchant for purchasing products that are available in red. Marketing automation would then automatically show that consumer products in red, where they might show another consumer products in beige or black.
DRAWBACKS TO MARKETING AUTOMATION
As much as we would like to believe that marketing automation will one day sell products or services all by itself, the truth is there is still plenty of marketing work to be done to make automation effective. For one thing, marketing automation is not a great tool for generating leads. Many businesses try to cut corners by simply purchasing email lists or take advantage of pre-cultivated leads. In truth, the best leads will always be those that you cultivate yourself. While marketing automation can be an effective tool for reaching potential new clients and consumers, it is still not a substitute for the hard work of personal client or consumer cultivation.
In short, while automated marketing certainly has some advantages, it doesn’t mean there is not ongoing work to be done. Even automated campaigns still need to be tweaked and fine-tuned to perfection before developing a new one.