More leads at less cost? Marketing Automation makes it possible!
Marketing automation has been an integral part of lead management for several years now. It is a digital strategy that uses automated workflows to turn unknown visitors into satisfied customers over time. Marketing automation thus offers the possibility of contacting a large number of people simultaneously – in an automated and personalized manner.
Marketing Automation systems are primarily used to generate new leads. But not just any leads, but the right leads. Leads that are highly likely to lead to a purchase or at least leads that match the company’s desired customer. This is achieved with the sensible stringing together of various actions that are controlled by marketing. In the end, the sales department receives “pre-warmed” contacts that already provide a lot of information, which the sales department can then use profitably in the sales talk. Ideally, this approach ensures that more qualified leads are automatically generated for the sales department, but also that more sales are concluded with less personnel effort.
It doesn’t sound that difficult at first. And it isn’t. Creating and implementing campaigns takes time and some creativity, but it’s not quantum physics.
What many underestimate, however, is that in addition to the mere introduction of a software tool with which to launch these automated and personalized content routes, many other factors that influence the success of lead generation measures play a role.
Not to mention: often for the first time, a usually painful preparatory work has to be done in order to convert the processes that are still mostly analogue to digital and to network them sensibly with each other. This requires the collaboration of several departments – especially between marketing and sales. But also the management and product management should not be forgotten in the Marketing Automation project. Experience shows that marketing automation projects that focus on full acceptance throughout the company from the outset are more successful than those that are driven solely by marketing.
To put it briefly: Marketing Automation is not a pure software tool, but rather a change in the mindset of all involved regarding the approach of customers and those who are yet to become one. Only when this rethinking has manifested itself in all involved, lead generation becomes a success.
The preparatory work, which can be carried out in parallel with the selection of the actual software, includes:
The topic of marketing automation has been an integral part of lead management for several years now. It is understood as a digital strategy that uses automated workflows to transform unfamiliar visitors into satisfied customers over time. Marketing Automation thus offers the opportunity to contact a large number of people at the same time – and this is automated and personalized.
Marketing automation systems are primarily used to generate new leads. But not just any leads, but the right leads. Those that are likely to lead to a purchase or at least those that fit the company’s desired customer. This is achieved with the sensible juxtaposition of different actions, which are controlled by marketing. In the end, the salesperson gets “pre-warmed” contacts, which already bring a lot of information, which the salesperson can then profitably bring into the sales conversation. Ideally, this approach ensures that more qualified leads are automatically generated for sales, but also that more purchases are achieved with less personnel expenditure.
Doesn‘t sound so hard at first. It‘s not. The creation and implementation of the campaigns takes time and some creativity, but it is not quantum physics.
What many underestimate, however, is that in addition to the mere introduction of a software tool with which to launch these automated and personalized content routes, many other factors that influence the success of lead generation measures play a role.
Not to mention: often for the first time, a usually painful preparatory work has to be done in order to convert the processes that are still mostly analogue to digital and to network them sensibly with each other. This requires the collaboration of several departments – especially between marketing and sales. But also the management and product management should not be forgotten in the Marketing Automation project. Experience shows that marketing automation projects that focus on full acceptance throughout the company from the outset are more successful than those that are driven solely by marketing.
To put it briefly: Marketing Automation is not a pure software tool, but rather a change in the mindset of all involved regarding the approach of customers and those who are yet to become one. Only when this rethinking has manifested itself in all involved, lead generation becomes a success.
The preparatory work, which can be carried out in parallel with the selection of the actual software, includes:
Furthermore, it is important to think in advance about which software systems contain customer data. Most of them will probably be found in CRM, but also in shop systems and also in ERP there are often data that is also gold for campaigns in the existing customer area. These systems should then definitely be linked to the marketing automation system in order to get the most out of the campaigns. The same applies, of course, also the other way around: the data collected in marketing automation must also flow back. Here, it is usually sufficient to return the relevant data to the CRM, so that the sales department can use this information profitably in the sales discussions.
You can find out what pitfalls await when implementing a marketing automation system, what typical use cases there are and further reasons why the software should be linked to CRM in our E-Book “Your successful start with marketing automation”.
Would you like to learn more about this topic?
Marketing Automation is on everyone‘s lips these days. But how can the use of automated marketing be successful in medium-sized businesses? Learn all the important theoretical foundations and benefit from practical examples in the e-book.
About the author
