Are automation tools the future for targeted marketing?

Marketing automation is quickly becoming a popular strategy for businesses looking to connect with customers directly. Direct and targeted marketing can be time consuming, costly and inefficient. Many companies are turning to automation to help them to complete their marketing campaigns.

E-commerce and online buying is a growing trend in the UK. Globally, online purchasing is expected to increase by 16.2% over 2015 alone, from £44.97 to £52.25 billion. This counts for over 15% of total UK retail sales, so being able to effectively market your products and services to your audience online could make a significant difference to the connections and revenue that you generate.

The demand for more targeted marketing is increasing and automated Software as a Service is quickly becoming the most popular way to reach large, relevant audiences. With consumer behaviour changing and online shopping growing, sending automated emails directly to customers makes it more convenient for them to buy your products or services. This increases the likelihood of sales generated through the campaign.

Automation software creates an efficient way of sorting and using large amounts of data through the use of relational databases. For example, sending out a large number of email to an entire database instead of an individual email to each person is far more efficient. This doesn’t mean that the content should be standardised, as automation software can ensure the delivery of personalised content to each recipient. For the most effective automated marketing, create an email which is personalised to the individual and addresses them by name using the information you hold on your database. Your email will seem personal, but take hardly any time at all to send to a large volume of people.

Marketing automation is not just about saving you time and giving you more efficient marketing by streamlining processes. It is about generating new leads, cultivating existing contacts, and building new relationships. All of your data is stored centrally and is easily accessible, whilst it can be segmented into or complex ERP solutions can be achieved to improve overall business efficiency.

Other features of marketing automation platforms include measuring the results of your campaigns. You can monitor interactions with your customers and contacts, following up on their actions. For example if they click onto a link within your email directed to a page on your website, you could attach automatic follow up campaigns to send them further information about what they have looked for. You could even make a distinction between which features are successful and target your marketing more specifically. Marketing to your audience directly and at the right time can make the difference between them buying your products and services or going elsewhere.