OpGen Media: Marketing Ops & Demand Generation Insights

3 Steps to Take Before Embracing Marketing Automation

Feb 4, 2021 7:30:00 AM / by Brandon Pindulic

Software and SaaS companies take full advantage of available technology when it comes to providing services to their customers. Yet, many still fail to do the same for their business. Marketing automation technology makes it possible to gather more leads and B2B sales without doubling or tripling your work.

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The Benefits of Marketing Automation

You may think your company is too small to see real benefits from automation. Or perhaps you have a large enterprise and are overwhelmed with the thought of trying to automate so many moving parts. 

Marketing automation is for businesses of all sizes and the benefits far outweigh the work you’ll put into getting started.

1. Automate Tedious Marketing Tasks

Without automation, it’s easy to spend the bulk of your marketing time completing tedious and routine tasks. Examples include posting on each separate social media channel or manually building out every email in a new sales funnel. By automating these tasks, your team will be able to focus on the more creative, strategic and ROI-driven aspects of your marketing efforts.

2. Save Time by Streamlining Your Marketing Tools

Take a moment to think about each tool you use to complete your company’s marketing work. You might use one tool for SEO, another for email and yet another for your CRM. Switching between these tools reduces the time your team could be spending on other tasks that move the needle.

3. Improve Customer Connections Through Personalization

Customers want more than just another ad. They want personalized experiences with marketing messages tailored to their individual needs and desires. The most effective way to do this is through automation.

4. Harness the Power of Data

Most automation tools provide in-depth reporting with data you can use to improve future campaigns. Some even use AI or machine learning to suggest changes to your campaigns based on customer behavior. Harnessing this data and putting it to use can help you create personalized campaigns that convert.

The 3 Steps to Take Before Embracing Marketing Automation

The key to successful marketing automation is preparation. Before you can successfully embrace automation within your company, there are some steps to take first.

1. Identify Which Tasks You Should Automate 

Which tasks do you spend the most time on that could be easily automated? It’s important to consider all tasks, even (or especially) those you do out of habit. One example: sending email responses to leads that come through your website. 

Create a draft plan of all of your marketing tasks and choose which ones are the ripest for automation. Example tasks include:

  • Social media posts
  • PPC bids
  • Lead segmentation and scoring
  • Email newsletter sign-ups
  • Customer reviews
  • Reports
  • A/B testing
  • Content scheduling
  • Email marketing
  • Ad retargeting

2. Test-Run a Few Automation Tools That Fit Your Needs

The marketing automation platform you select depends on which tasks you plan to automate. And there are numerous choices out there. For most of our clients, we recommend HubSpot, a powerful workflow automation platform for companies of all sizes.

HubSpot allows you to easily develop targeted email campaigns, personalize marketing workflows, and automate many tasks such as updating properties and managing data. It covers everything from blogging to lead management and beyond.

Take some time to test out HubSpot and other potential tools to find the right one for your needs. If a platform offers a trial, take it. Automate one task and see how the software performs. As you test, you’ll narrow down your choices quickly. 

3. Prepare Team Training & Create Your Implementation Plan

Automation will increase marketing efficiency for your company. There will be a learning curve when introducing new software and processes, however. To prepare for the changes, it’s best to create training and implementation plans.

To create your plans, ask your leadership and marketing teams many questions, such as:

  • Will you make the switch from manual to automatic in stages? 
  • Will you automate one process at a time? 
  • When will your team receive training on how to use the platform effectively?

Bonus Step: Work With a Marketing Automation Partner

If the idea of automating all of your marketing tasks seems overwhelming, know you don’t have to approach automation alone. If you’re unsure of how to make it all work together, we recommend reaching out to a marketing automation partner for help.

OpGen Media can help by assessing your business and determining where automation can be most beneficial. We understand marketing operation systems and how to optimize your end-to-end processes to deliver the best ROI for your efforts. Plus, we specialize in HubSpot, optimizing your instances to ensure they move prospects through the sales funnel efficiently.

What a Partner Can Do for You

Our team of experts will guide you through each step from purchasing your automation software to setting up your marketing processes. Whether you’re a small company, start-up or established enterprise, we can help you build and scale your automation process. 

Already have automation software working behind-the-scenes? We can run a full system audit to find gaps in your marketing process to improve lead generation and growth.

Take the First Step Towards Automation With OpGen Media

OpGen Media offers expert marketing automation support to software and SaaS companies. To learn more about marketing automation and how we can help you, request a consultation today.

 

 

Topics: B2B, Demand Generation, Marketing Automation, HubSpot, b2b sales

Brandon Pindulic

Written by Brandon Pindulic