For all marketers, marketing automation proves to be an effective solution for saving time and increasing your return on investment by programming various tasks as part of a lead generation campaign. Among the many marketing automation tools available in the market, few meet your needs while still being suited to your budget. But before choosing them, you should not only keep several important criteria in mind but also consider the expectations of your company…
Criteria to consider before choosing your marketing automation tool
In addition to saving you time to better focus on your business, a marketing automation tool allows you to acquire new customers. Also useful for:
- Better management of all your content;
- analysis of performance results;
- Segmentation of your possibilities.
Marketing automation tools vary according to the features offered by each platform. To choose one that meets your needs and expectations, you should consider the size of your business, your marketing objectives, and the skills of your team.
company size
Few marketing automation tools with full and complex features are aimed at large companies. On the other hand, others with basic functionality or with fewer options are suitable for small and medium-sized businesses. To better meet your needs, choose a device suited to the size of your company that should be able to manage your contact list.
marketing objectives
Some automation software offers various functions, including sending personalized SMS and emails, to encourage your prospects to become your customers. Others contribute to better management of your contacts and your customer service to optimize your business prospecting.
your team skills
If you’ve never used marketing automation tools, choose ones that are easy to use, as there are some technical prerequisites for using this type of software. Thus, your marketing team must have the necessary skills to be able to configure your tools effectively. If it isn’t, it may take an appropriate training regimen to allow you to take advantage of it.
various automation tools
email automation software
When a prospect takes an action, such as filling out a form, this type of software automatically sends them an email, also known as an “auto-responder.” To encourage visitors to your website to fill out forms and receive their contact details, you can offer to have them receive your newsletter regularly. As soon as he subscribes, he automatically receives an email thanking him and confirming his subscription.
Thanks to the filled out forms, you can gradually build your mailing list with the center of interest, company, name and first name of each contact. These contact details can also be obtained by attending webinars or downloading white papers, for example.
Tools to automate project management
To focus on the success of the project you are leading, you can automate the management of your project using software such as nTask, Trello or Asana. They allow you to save time while successfully managing different activities for the same project, regardless of the number of people on your team. This may happen:
- redesign of a website;
- organization of a webinar;
- another online event, a physical event;
- writing articles for a site or blog;
- e.t.c.
- full automation equipment
Complete software, such as Playzy, allows you to control your entire marketing strategy from a single platform and across the potential journey. They contribute to:
- Convert prospects into customers with call-to-action, building forms and landing pages;
- optimize marketing actions, evaluate campaigns, analyze data after a preliminary study of the origin of each customer;
- Drive traffic to your site through quality content, animate social networks, send newsletters and emails.
SMS Automation Software
Typically, SMS automation tools are used as part of a multi-channel strategy to automatically send personalized messages to specific recipients. SMS sending programming is triggered after certain requested actions are completed, such as adding a product to a basket, or taking an order. SMS can also be sent automatically as part of specific marketing campaigns.
This solution, which is considered intrusive by B2B, is specifically used by e-commerce and B2C:
- redirect to an abandoned cart;
- Confirm shipment;
- Notify you of a restocking;
- Advertise Flash Sale etc.
If you want to run a unique or “one shot” campaign, use TextMagic, SMSFactor or SMSMode for example.
- social media post automation software
Automation of interactions and posts on social networks is effective in both B2B and B2C to retain consumers. Plan the automation of posts on various social networks, including your affiliates, to expand your audience.
Thanks to social media automation tools like Agorapulse, Swello, Buffer or Hootsuite, you can also analyze the performance of your campaigns, centralize incoming requests and messages on your social network.
Things to consider when choosing the right automation tool
Consider your needs and preferences to choose the right marketing automation tool. After analyzing each offer, you should sort and then test the software that has been the subject of pre-selection.
Identify priority tasks
Before choosing an automation tool, consider its features, customer service, and price. List the features you need to achieve your goals of converting leads into customers or pursuing customers at the right time. You can then make a list of those that are not essential to you, but that you would like to have.
Among the various features available, identify tasks that are a priority for your business:
- automation of marketing scenarios;
- Creating forms for your website;
- landing page development;
- Lead Scoring;
- email campaigns;
- Lead and Contact Management.
The software must also meet various criteria:
- Compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR;
- Its suitability for the desired market: Some marketing automation software is only suitable for B2B companies. Along with the latter, e-commerce or B2C companies have different automation needs. Some of these needs can be handled by only a few given equipment. Inspect clients put forward by certain publishers to determine whether your competitors use reputable software;
- Training and Support: Find out about the possibility of training in equipment, especially if the dedicated team is not familiar with it yet;
- Integration with your CRM or other marketing software: Pipedrive, Hubspot CRM and Salesforce are all tools that can integrate with your CRM.
You can also take into account the opinions of other professionals or choose between international or national software.
Also remember to check the rates that may be set based on the number of emails to send or the number of contacts.
sorting equipment
The software is sorted by the list of essential features and your requirements in general. Consult the editors’ sites for each one’s notes as well as their status. Such an operation will help you find the most suitable equipment for your business.
Testing pre-selected software
After sorting the tools according to your needs and expectations, you can test them using their demo version or their free trial period. Individual displays will allow you to quickly make your choice. As far as the free versions are concerned, they will give you an overview of the software to give you time to adapt it at your own pace, then to adopt it or not later.