How to create a marketing automation strategy
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 6:00 am
how-to-create-a-marketing-automation-strategyTo create an automated marketing strategy, it is essential to have the right tools and the collaboration of specialized professional profiles.
We understand that you have already taken these preliminary steps. If not, I recommend that you read this article in which we offer an overview of marketing automation .
What sets an automated marketing strategy apart from others is the enormous power that the tools offer marketing teams . Beyond what the tool does, it’s about what it achieves. And one of the most important things it achieves is the branching of the main effort into numerous paths that can then branch out wherever necessary.
A good traditional strategy always has a clear objective. In this case, we can be more ambitious and set several objectives, as many as potential audiences we have.
Automation tools make it easy to create different paths based on the behavior of our potential client in order to create communication adapted to their interests, needs and rhythms.
A very basic example would be the use of a CTA (call to action) on croatia business email list the website that includes different intelligent behaviors and, in an automated way, shows the user different content depending on their profile. When the client interacts with that content, an automated workflow is triggered that is adapted, in all its aspects, to the specific profile of that client.
Outline each workflow
It is therefore essential to clearly outline what we want to happen as a result of a specific user behavior. Otherwise, as the tree of automated actions grows and branches, chaos will be generated.
We advise you to "write" the path of each of your marketing actions before starting the process of creating and designing the pieces that compose it and, once these are finished, before creating the automation flows on the tool you use.
Remember workflow exclusions
Don't forget that when you include a user in a certain path, they will be impacted by that path. If you make the wrong segmentation, the same user can be involved in several workflows, which will make you a heavy advertiser.
Think carefully about what criteria include your target audience. Here's an example: imagine you're responsible for marketing at a fine art materials company and you create a workflow for each of these potential buyer personas :
Landscape painter
Portrait painter
Abstract painter
Comic book artist
Is this correct? I don't think so. It's very easy for a landscape painter to also do portraits. So it's easy for the same person to end up in 2 workflows which, if they overlap in time, can be a bit "heavy".
On the other hand, it is also quite possible that the three painters, the one of landscapes, portraits and abstract, coincide in the type of products that you can offer them. After all, all three are painters.
Therefore, when creating automation, you must be very clear about both your audience and your offer. Otherwise, actions on the same person will overlap.
The simpler, the better
Don't get carried away by the possibilities of marketing tools. It's easy to get lost in them and make mistakes. And don't forget that mistakes also become automated.
In most cases, you'll find it much faster, easier, and more controllable to create many simple automated flows than a single workflow that includes all of your planned actions.
It can be done, and the temptation is high. But if at any time you need to make a change to the flow, it will be much easier the simpler it is. And you can also analyze its performance to detect strengths or weaknesses.
Sophistication is not something to be given up on. On the contrary, that is the power of automated marketing. But we must not let sophistication consume us.
Integrate automation into your marketing plan, not the other way around
Automated marketing is at the service of your marketing strategy. This is something you must be very clear about. It is clear that the possibility of automation will open up paths for you that, without these tools, would not be possible. But you must avoid letting the possibilities of automation determine your strategy.
We understand that you have already taken these preliminary steps. If not, I recommend that you read this article in which we offer an overview of marketing automation .
What sets an automated marketing strategy apart from others is the enormous power that the tools offer marketing teams . Beyond what the tool does, it’s about what it achieves. And one of the most important things it achieves is the branching of the main effort into numerous paths that can then branch out wherever necessary.
A good traditional strategy always has a clear objective. In this case, we can be more ambitious and set several objectives, as many as potential audiences we have.
Automation tools make it easy to create different paths based on the behavior of our potential client in order to create communication adapted to their interests, needs and rhythms.
A very basic example would be the use of a CTA (call to action) on croatia business email list the website that includes different intelligent behaviors and, in an automated way, shows the user different content depending on their profile. When the client interacts with that content, an automated workflow is triggered that is adapted, in all its aspects, to the specific profile of that client.
Outline each workflow
It is therefore essential to clearly outline what we want to happen as a result of a specific user behavior. Otherwise, as the tree of automated actions grows and branches, chaos will be generated.
We advise you to "write" the path of each of your marketing actions before starting the process of creating and designing the pieces that compose it and, once these are finished, before creating the automation flows on the tool you use.
Remember workflow exclusions
Don't forget that when you include a user in a certain path, they will be impacted by that path. If you make the wrong segmentation, the same user can be involved in several workflows, which will make you a heavy advertiser.
Think carefully about what criteria include your target audience. Here's an example: imagine you're responsible for marketing at a fine art materials company and you create a workflow for each of these potential buyer personas :
Landscape painter
Portrait painter
Abstract painter
Comic book artist
Is this correct? I don't think so. It's very easy for a landscape painter to also do portraits. So it's easy for the same person to end up in 2 workflows which, if they overlap in time, can be a bit "heavy".
On the other hand, it is also quite possible that the three painters, the one of landscapes, portraits and abstract, coincide in the type of products that you can offer them. After all, all three are painters.
Therefore, when creating automation, you must be very clear about both your audience and your offer. Otherwise, actions on the same person will overlap.
The simpler, the better
Don't get carried away by the possibilities of marketing tools. It's easy to get lost in them and make mistakes. And don't forget that mistakes also become automated.
In most cases, you'll find it much faster, easier, and more controllable to create many simple automated flows than a single workflow that includes all of your planned actions.
It can be done, and the temptation is high. But if at any time you need to make a change to the flow, it will be much easier the simpler it is. And you can also analyze its performance to detect strengths or weaknesses.
Sophistication is not something to be given up on. On the contrary, that is the power of automated marketing. But we must not let sophistication consume us.
Integrate automation into your marketing plan, not the other way around
Automated marketing is at the service of your marketing strategy. This is something you must be very clear about. It is clear that the possibility of automation will open up paths for you that, without these tools, would not be possible. But you must avoid letting the possibilities of automation determine your strategy.