Email marketing is often the backbone of your business marketing strategy – and rightfully so, as it’s a cost-effective, personalised, engaging way to connect with your audience.
But just like your real backbone, you can start to feel the strain with all the pressure put on keeping your email marketing going. It can be quite labour-intensive, especially when you have a segmented audience and need to send many different communications.
Let me introduce you to your marketing secret weapon: email automation.
In truth, it’s neither new nor a secret, but it is a pretty effective tool in your marketing arsenal that will make your life easier and your email marketing more productive.
When you’re idea-rich but time-poor, email marketing automation is exactly what you need, and if you’re not already using it, let me tell you why you need to make the leap.
What is Email Marketing Automation?
Ah, I’m glad you asked. No, it’s not the latest weary AI attempt to write engaging emails instead, it’s all about timing.
Email marketing automation is having emails ready to go that can be sent as soon as they’re triggered. It will speed up your marketing process and mean you can send more relevant emails that create a better customer experience.
What Can I Automate?
If you can imagine a time when an email might be wanted, then you can automate it. Some of the best email marketing automation moments include:
Welcome Emails
You’ve got a new customer, so say hello. Though they will be under no illusion that their onboarding email is anything other than an automatic response, it will be appreciated and leave them a little reminder that you’re an attentive and responsive business that’s there for them when they want it.
Abandoned Cart Email Sequence
They hovered over a purchase but didn’t finish. Maybe something took their attention, or maybe they got lost in a sea of tabs and couldn’t find their way back. An automatic email to provide a friendly prompt can entice them back to finish the sale.
Upselling Emails
Here’s where a little cleverness goes a long way. By selecting the right segment of your email list, you can create automated campaigns that upsell to certain customers. This has the benefit of being targeted and automatic – it’s like additional sales that come from nowhere!
Review Requests
If you do well by your customers, they’re often more than happy to review you, but it’s rare that they do it without a little prompting. Automated review requests can help you build a strong level of trust online, increasing the number of new customers and sales.
Evergreen Campaigns
Not all marketing campaigns are centred around a transient idea, such as a product launch. Evergreen marketing campaigns don’t date and can be run at any time; triggering them at a particular stage in someone’s purchasing journey with you can be extremely effective.
Birthday Celebrations
You may instinctively think it’s a little cheesy, but a birthday message can really boost sales, especially if it’s backed up with a voucher or discount as a little gift. Of course, your customer knows it’s automated and doesn’t for a single second believe you’re sitting there hand-crafting birthday wishes to everyone who bought from you, but they’ll appreciate the voucher and are very likely to upsell themselves when they spend it.
Event Reminders
Making sure people turn up to your events, whether online or in the real world, is essential. A reminder the week before, plus another one a day in advance, can make all the difference to attendance, especially if you include all the pertinent information so they know where to go and what to do.
…and that’s not even a comprehensive list of things email marketing automation can accomplish!
The Benefits Of Email Automation
Email automation is a lot less faff than whatever system you are currently managing. If you’re suffering from frantic emailing and busy spreadsheets that make your mind melt just trying to keep track, then you need to move to a marketing email automation process right now.
Consider the following advantages of marketing email automation:
- Greater personalisation - That personal touch converts emails into actions.
- Improved customer experience - Which means they’re more likely to stick with you.
- Builds relationships - A nurture campaign turns vague interest into solid customers.
- Increased customer value - Upselling, cross-selling, and customer retention become simple and specific.
- Fewer errors - You’re far less likely to send out hideous typos if you use automation (or you’re going to send those mistakes out a lot!).
- Increased revenue - Take the time off the shoulders of you and your sales team and you’re free to improve the business in other areas, not to mention the increased uptake of responses.
Why You Should Be Using Email Marketing Automation
Do you like writing the same emails week after week, setting endless reminders to yourself to send them, and trying to pack new campaigns into your day?
You do? Fair enough – ignore everything I’ve said.
But if you don’t (and I’m willing to take that gamble), then you really should move to automation. It’s going to be a game-changer for your marketing efforts.
It’s not too complicated, and the chances are that your current mass emailing system can handle a lot of it, but like anything else, true success does rely on how well it’s executed. That’s why I’m here offering my services to you.
I admit I really enjoy email marketing. It’s not the most exciting part of my personality, but it’s true. I get a kick out of really well-developed email marketing automation, too. Not only does this mean I want to help you with your automation, but it also means I’m really quite good at doing it right.
Professionals can make the difference between a so-so solution and a really effective one, so why not call on a professional? Contact me, Nathan Littleton, as soon as you have a minute and see what can be accomplished with some professional automation.
