[Guide] The Marketing Automation Guide for Beginners

Whether you’re B2B or B2C, product-based or service-focused, a newbie in the field or a seasoned professional, automation is an integral part of marketing today. 

Let’s keep things simple. You’ve come here to learn about marketing automation… to answer the questions: what is marketing automation, what are the benefits of marketing automation, how do I effectively use marketing automation… and so on. 

Here are the straightforward answers to these super-important questions:

What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation refers to the process of utilising innovative digital technology and software to efficiently automate a wide range of repetitive tasks and activities that would otherwise be done manually by a marketer or marketing team. 

These automated tasks can include but are not limited to, email marketing, scheduling social media posts, moving sales & marketing leads down the funnel, A/B testing, digital ads, and generating reports. 

What are the benefits of marketing automation?

• Boosts efficiency: automated tasks are achieved more seamlessly, maintaining consistent contact with customers and prospects.
• Reduces errors: mistakes can be made no matter how knowledgeable, experienced or professional you are. Marketing automation reduces and/or eliminates human participation in tasks, therefore, minimising the risk of errors.
• Enables creativity: the repetitive tasks are taken care of; marketers are free to explore new ideas, focus on key strategies and delve into creative tasks.

• Lowers costs: automation can systematically clean, organise and manage your database, removing the need to outsource. It also allows you to complete tasks out of hours, such as nurturing leads in different time zones.

• Saves time: 59% of marketers say that they would save at least 6 hours per week if the repetitive aspects of their jobs were automated.

• Improves customer experience: It’s cheaper to retain customers than it is to find new ones. Automation lets you create omnichannel experiences, align your sales & marketing funnels and offer cohesive journeys for customers & prospects.   

How do I effectively use automation (i.e. how do I automate messages and still sound like a human)?

• Action market segmentation: group customers based on their demographic, geographic, psychographic and/or behavioural information.

• Utilise big data: leverage the information you have to identify customer touchpoints and pain points to inform your future actions.

• Regularly update content & communications: over time your brand voice evolves, statistics change and people become fatigued. Stay relevant and knowledgeable by evaluating & updating campaigns, emails and more. 

Of course, these answers only scratch the surface. If you want to gain a more comprehensive perspective of marketing automation then download the guide below: 

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