Marketing is arduous work. Marketing automation tools could cut the amount of work you have to perform in half, a fantastic trend.
There are a lot of different marketing automation software tools available on the market today. However, it can be challenging to know which one is right for your business.
However, by taking the time to research and try to look for different options, you can find the best automation tool that suits your needs.
Marketing automation software helps you automate repetitive tasks, such as email marketing, social media campaigns, and targeted ads.
It can free up time to focus on other aspects of your business.
Don’t you have any marketing experience? Nothing to worry about. It’s common to feel like you don’t know where to start.
If you knew the reality and saw how horrible my first Facebook ad was, you probably wouldn’t feel sorry for me.
On the other hand, automation was not as popular today.
And if you use these tools, you won’t make the same rookie blunders I did when I initially began out in the industry.
Marketing tasks may now be completed in record time and with minimal effort, even if you have no prior experience.
By reading the following essay, you will better understand the word “marketing automation” and what it entails.
You’ll also discover why it’s critical to automate your marketing and a list of fifteen outstanding tools for doing so.
What is Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation occurs when a piece of software or another tool, rather than a person, performs a sequence of sales or marketing tasks that must be repeated.
For example, the definition of marketing automation provided above can be applied to any marketing. For example, you might employ chatbots to handle customer care and customers on Facebook.
The goal is to increase businesses by increasing their sales, leads, and customers without hiring more people.
For example, a tool that automates email sending, for example, could send an email to a customer on your behalf.
On your behalf and at the time you specify. Even if you have to prepare the email ahead of time, the tool will make that it is delivered to every customer who fulfills the criteria you specify.
Just when you say it, according to what you want. You won’t have to send it out by hand at a specific time because it will be done automatically for you. So there will be less work for you to do. Phew!
When Did Marketing Automation Begin?
The global marketing automation industry is currently valued at $3.3 billion. This figure could nearly quadruple in the next five years, hitting $6.4 billion in 2024.
But what happened before this surge that resulted in the development of marketing automation?
When the World Wide Web was released, making the internet available to everyone, marketing automation began nearly immediately.
Unica was the first marketing automation software. Initially, it was a campaign management tool. This happened as early as 1992, but the industry didn’t fully take off until after the turn of the century.
Marketing automation is nearly omnipresent in the current world and is a critical aspect of all businesses, large or small.
In reality, three types of marketing automation software are currently in use, and three out of every four marketers utilize one of them.
The Importance of Marketing Automation
So, why is marketing automation so important? Several studies have demonstrated that marketing automation can increase sales productivity by 14.5 percent while reducing marketing overhead (non-labor expenditures) by 12.2 percent.
In addition, 80 percent of marketing automation people report increasing the number of leads generated by their efforts.
I could go on, but the numbers prove that marketing automation is an essential component of any successful marketing strategy. Unfortunately, there is no other way to achieve the same level of success.
Advantages of Marketing Automation
Automation is vital for various reasons, the most important of which is that it can increase sales, reduce waste, ensure consistency, and improve optimization.
- Increases sales When you use a marketing automation platform, your tool may do the duties of a salesman on your behalf, allowing you to close more sales. You can increase the number of sales you make by using tools that automate the distribution of product discounts or assist you in creating Facebook advertising. A person may not be able to see some patterns that a machine can. This implies that the machine could outperform an expert.
- It will save you time since, as your business grows, these tools will be able to manage more work than a group of people working together. For instance, a product review app will be able to automatically send emails to customers once their purchase has been filled, so you won’t have to keep track of it yourself. As a result, you should have one less item to worry about.
- Maintain your consistency. One of the most challenging things about marketing is maintaining consistency. When you have a lot on your plate, it’s easy to overlook scheduling your daily social media updates. If you want to automate jobs that you do fewer than once a week, all you have to do is schedule social media posts, make advertising, and perform other marketing duties. It allows you to continue connecting with your customers relevantly and keeps you in front of their eyes.
- Aids in the improvement of your marketing efforts. When you automate your marketing, you can change your ads based on how well they are performing right now. However, as the tools become more valuable to more businesses, they will optimize your marketing depending on your data. This will assist your organization increase sales in a more targeted manner.
What Is a Marketing Automation Specialist?
What is a Marketing Automation Specialist, and what do they do?
At this point, you probably think that marketing automation is a fairly hard procedure. Do I need to have prior experience with marketing automation to create a plan for my company, or should I hire a marketing automation specialist?
The correct position is the “yes” and “no” answer.
One of the primary roles of a marketing automation expert or specialist is to determine which aspects of your business would benefit the most from automation technologies. For example, they do not require a background in engineering or computer science to accomplish the job properly.
A marketing automation specialist must be well-versed in sales, marketing, and technology, as well as, and this is crucial, how these elements interact. Getting the best return on investment (ROI) helps you learn about data analysis and how to use it.
However, I recognize that not every company can afford to hire a marketing automation specialist. So I get what you’re saying.
As a result, having a specialist on your team is unquestionably advantageous. However, if you start as an e-commerce entrepreneur, you are unlikely to have the funds to hire one.
Don’t worry about it. Whatever stage your ecommerce business is at, there are numerous low-cost and simple-to-use ecommerce marketing automation tools on the market that can assist you in growing your business. More on this later in the post.
Why Do You Need Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation is not a must-have for a successful business. This is technically correct. After all, this is how our forefathers did business in the past.
It would be a shame, though, not to take advantage of what marketing automation can do for you and your ecommerce business, especially after reading about the benefits of marketing automation.
Furthermore, you can ensure that your competitors use marketing automation in some capacity. If you don’t do it, you won’t be able to finish in the top ranks in the race.
As we’ll see in the next section, there are numerous possibilities for marketing automation software. However, you have many alternatives, ranging from content marketing automation to ecommerce marketing automation.
On the other hand, this doesn’t mean you should dive headfirst into the problem and try to address it in every way conceivable.
What Is the Best Marketing Automation Tool?
Marketing automation systems can be pretty expensive. If you want to get the most out of them while keeping costs down, you need to know how and where marketing automation may help your ecommerce business the most and which tools are best for doing so.
Because each business has unique needs, the marketing automation platform that works best for one of your competitors may not be the best solution for your own.
Still, there are a few best business practices that you should include in your marketing automation manual.
Marketing Automation Best Practices
- Remove any traces of automation. It’s one thing to know that everyone is utilizing marketing automation tools, but it’s quite another to convey to a customer this information in an email. Make sure to tidy up any tags and custom fields, so you don’t wind up with something like “Hello, First name.”
- It’s critical to understand how your customers buy items. It would be a waste of time and money to employ marketing automation without first understanding how your customers buy. You will be able to reach them with the right messages at the right time if you first plan their itinerary.
- Plan the next steps based on the data. Most marketing automation software packages on the market today feature the ability to report on internal data. Examine this information thoroughly to determine how to proceed with your marketing approach. It’s all about getting better, getting better, and getting better.
- Divide your customers and leads into distinct groups. Customers are not all created equal. Use the email and loyalty marketing automation tools available to personalize your messages to the many types of customers you service. You can’t thank customers or give them a prize if they’ve only bought one thing from your company.
Now that you have a rough concept of what the marketing automation bible has to offer let’s talk about the best marketing automation solutions for your ecommerce business.
15 Best Marketing Automation Software
In the following segments, we’ll go over the various marketing automation alternatives available to help you build your ecommerce business.
Social Media Marketing Automation
1. Buffer
Ensuring you are consistent is one of the most difficult aspects of social media marketing. Buffer allows you to schedule up to ten separate social media posts simultaneously.
If you frequently forget to post updates to your many social media accounts, you should use this social media automation tool. The data analyses that come with using Buffer are, without a doubt, my favorite feature.
You may view information such as how many people clicked on your link, your reach, etc. Buffer will also notify you of which of your posts has received the most attention. Looking at this data will give you a better sense of what works well on social media and how to improve how people interact on social media.
2. Around.io
Around.io’s marketing automation software makes it easier to post more frequently on social media by automating the process, including shopping cart functionality. Because the app is linked to your store, you can promote your products on your social media accounts to attract additional customers.
It allows you to schedule all of your posts ahead of time, saving you time. You won’t have to worry about forgetting to post on social media anymore. You may also use it to post animated GIFs and other amazing stuff to your social media profiles.
Content Marketing Automation
1. Hubspot
Hubspot is an all-in-one inbound marketing software solution that provides tools for both marketing and sales. The company is a pioneer in marketing automation.
Its software focuses heavily on inbound marketing, and the tools it offers for developing and optimizing content are among the best in the industry. Hubspot is ideal for content marketing since it makes creating landing pages, newsletters, and other material simple and quick.
2. Gobot
Gobot as chatbots is one of the most cutting-edge marketing automation software. You or your team may reduce the effort required to provide customer support by utilizing chatbots. They can execute customer support jobs, gather emails, schedule meetings, and conduct polls.
If keeping up with customer questions is hard for you, this marketing automation solution could save you time. Unfortunately, automation customer support has never been easier thanks to a drag-and-drop user interface.
Ecommerce Marketing Automation
1. Kit
If you’ve tried and failed to create an effective advertising campaign on your own, you should consider using marketing automation software like Kit.
It’s a terrific option for people who have a lot going on in their lives or full-time jobs, especially because they’ll send you reminders to help you pick which marketing for your online store to focus on.
As you make more sales, Kit’s artificial intelligence improves, allowing it to sell your product in the most effective way for your target customer.
In addition, they are constantly adding new marketing capabilities, such as the ability to send marketing emails, to make the process easier for you.
2. Postcard Marketing
Because there are so many ads on social media, some marketers believe that traditional marketing is the only way to stand out. With marketing automation tools like Touchcard, you can send postcards to your customers without effort.
Your postcards could include promo codes that are only valid for a limited time to help improve sales and seal more deals. This and other marketing automation tools assist you in automating your real-world marketing so that you may focus on marketing in the virtual world. This is beneficial if you want your business to stand out from the crowd in your field.
3. PushOwl
Push notifications can be automated entirely with PushOwl’s automation software. If you offer push notifications through an app, your customers can choose whether or not to accept them from your store. When you send them updates, a pop-up window appears on their screen.
The best part is that a person does not even have to be looking at your website for these alerts to appear on their screen. For example, you can send a “push notification” to a customer’s device before leaving your website if they leave items in their shopping cart.
4. LeftBrain
LeftBrain and other marketing automation solutions can help you categorize your customers. Following that, they send product suggestions and a customized discount code to customers who have been sorted into groups to increase sales. If you’ve ever wished marketing automation software existed that could automate the personalization process, this automation tool is for you.
5. Simple Shop Automation by Hextom
Hextom’s solution makes it easy to hide out-of-stock products, notify customers when a process is running low on supply, announce newly stocked items, and accomplish other items.
When you dropship several products, it can be hard to track how much each of your suppliers has in stock. When you employ a marketing automation solution like this one, you can set it and forget it.
You won’t have to worry about receiving angry emails from customers who bought an item no longer available. Also, informing customers when you’re running low on something might be beneficial in times of scarcity. As a result, it may help enhance sales.
Mobile Marketing Automation
SMS Marketing and Automation by SMSBump
Even though there will always be new ways to marketing, SMS marketing appears to be here to stay for the foreseeable future.
For example, marketing automation systems like SMSBump allow you to send texts to customers who haven’t purchased in a given number of days, customers whose carts have been abandoned, and customers who have not purchased in a certain number of days. Instead, they offer discount codes through text, text delivery alerts, etc.
If you want your SMS marketing messages to be sent automatically, this is the marketing automation software to look at.
Advertising and Loyalty Marketing Automation
1. shoelace
The retargeting automation tool in Shoelace is used to make retargeting advertising, which is intended to help recover abandoned shopping carts and win back customers who have previously visited your store but did not purchase anything.
The Shoelace team has created a tried-and-true method for creating effective retargeting advertisements, which has been demonstrated. Even if many customers abandon their shopping carts, you can still win them back.
However, keep in mind that your store must be well-designed and optimized for the best results.
2. Marcello by Collect
Do you wish to increase your customer loyalty or launch a VIP program? However, marketing automation systems like Marcello have made it easier than ever before.
Customers could be offered points to encourage them to return to your store. On their birthdays, customers can also receive offers automatically.
You can also utilize automated emails to improve the number of customers who return to you. This customer loyalty may be automated with the help of marketing automation software, which will assist you in retaining your current customers.
Email Marketing Automation
1. Product Reviews Addon
Product review By streamlining and automating the process, Addon makes gathering customer feedback and product reviews easier and faster.
These reviews can help first-time customers feel more secure that your store is legitimate. This marketing automation system handles tedious tasks like sending emails to potential customers.
The more customers your store has, the more reviews it will receive. Customers can write their reviews directly in their email, making the process simple and comfortable.
2. Spin a Sale
With a Spin A sale, customers can be added to your email list and provided discounts without you doing anything. Growing your email list is a key business size since email marketing is a wonderful technique to encourage people to buy sales.
This program makes the experience more enjoyable by offering customers a discount if they provide you with their email addresses when they leave your store. Who knows? You might even be able to make a few sales using this software.
Automated Marketing Reporting
1. Data Export
It’s not just about automating the tedious portions of traditional marketing; it’s about much more. It could also refer to automating your reports and data to run on their own.
You might undoubtedly invest a significant lot of time examining and researching the marketing reports you already have. You might also use Data Export, a piece of marketing automation software, to have it done for you.
Depending on how many sales you make, your reports can be emailed to you every hour, every day, every week, or month. You are not required to read a number of reports to calculate the numbers. Instead, you can choose which data points to include in your report.
Conclusion
As an online store, it is your responsibility to provide marketing and customer care to your customers. This can take a long time. Using these tools can help you focus on what matters, critical to your success as a sole owner.
Because you’re going to automate chores, you must make that the work you undertake beforehand is done correctly.
Before making a final decision, have a trusted friend, coworker, or mentor review your initial email or push notification. Automation will be employed in the future to create marketing tools. Unfortunately, it has never been easier for you to reach future success.
Read Also:
- Are Dropshippers Entrepreneurs? (Similarities & Differences 101)
- What Dropshipping Means And The Truth Most Hide (Facts 2022)
- 5 Tips To Growing Dropshipping Store And Making Sales (2022)
- The Guide To Writing Product Descriptions (Conversion 101)
- What Is A Product Page? ( Product Page Design Examples-2022)
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