.png)
One of the most common questions asked today by business owners and corporate leaders is, “What is Email Marketing Automation?” Simply put, email marketing automation is the most effective way to market your products and services because it allows you to send out messages to your customers at designated times. In a time-crunched world, most businesses don't have the time to send individual email messages to their customers and prospects. That’s where automation has become a game-changer for many businesses.
By using a marketing automation system, companies can save time by setting up their email platform to send out messages when customers or prospects take specific actions. While automation may sound impersonal, in reality, it helps businesses to develop closer relationships with their customers and prospects through more effective communication and brand-building.
📷
Benefits of Email Automation
Let’s look at some of the major benefits of email automation. Email marketing is one of the most effective ways for businesses to market and build their brand. One of the biggest misconceptions in marketing is that email marketing has lost its effectiveness, but the facts tell a completely different story.
Here are some facts to consider from a study by McKinsey and Company, over 90 percent of all U.S. consumers use email each day. And email is over 40 times more effective for gaining new customers than social media. According to the study, emails are at least three times more likely to get the recipient to make a purchase, and the average order from that consumer is 17 percent higher.
By automating their email marketing, companies save time and money which gives them higher returns with less time invested than writing manual emails. According to Wishpond, automated emails that are triggered by specific actions can save a company up to 80 percent of their email budget. Those are significant facts that no business owner or leader can afford to ignore.
Finally, Automation allows you to use metrics to fine tune your emails to increase open and click-through rates. It also gives you quick and easy way to test multiple email messages to improve your desired response. This testing of different messages and calls-to-action (CTA) can lead to a significant increase in sales.
Best Use of Automation
The best use of automation will vary by company. A properly implemented Automation system will set up workflows that deliver email messages based on different steps taken by the person receiving the email.
Here are a few examples of how an automation program may work:
Customer or prospect signs up for your email list: The automation system will send a welcome message that will give a brief summary to the recipient about what upcoming messages will provide and how it will benefit them.
Website Interaction: Companies can set their automation system to send clients or prospects an email based on the pages visited, materials downloaded or links clicked.
Educational or Engagement Materials: The automation program can send a series of videos or tutorials based on the educational or engagement materials an existing customer or potential prospect request from your website or another email.
Follow Up After Purchase or Inquiry: Businesses can send customers “Thank You” emails after purchases and/or inquiries. Each message will be tailored based on their specific action.
Surveys and Customer Feedback: Many companies use their automation system to do surveys and get feedback from customers so they can improve their product and service.
With automation, companies integrate and track all CRM processes so that they not only know what products and services customers and prospects are interested in, but who those people are and what they are looking at on your website. This enables you to create unique offers and messages tailored just for that client which increases your conversion rates, ROI and, most importantly, your bottom line.