The U.S. military uses the term force multiplier to describe an asset or capability that dynamically multiplies the output and effectiveness of a team. We can apply this concept to business and marketing. All businesses need a force multiplier to survive, and automation is a vital component of any business-oriented force multiplier. Here's a quick overview of marketing automation and how it can serve as a force multiplier for startups and scaleups.
What Is Marketing Automation?
Marketing focuses on generating high-quality leads for a business and increasing brand preference among target audiences. It involves leveraging technology to streamline marketing strategies and campaigns for better efficiency. A single automation platform facilitates management of all campaigns, including social media marketing, ad management, mobile messaging and more. Visitor behavior tracking also provides valuable data that marketers can use to streamline conversion funnels. With increased knowledge of the customer, marketers can create more targeted solutions and measurably more successful campaigns. Just as critically, automating repetitive marketing and data entry tasks frees up time and resources.
How Marketing Automation Multiplies Your Force
The advantages of marketing automation are straightforward. Technology comes with immense potential to streamline all aspects of business marketing, and there are several automation tools available for each function. This makes automation a powerful tool for multiplying business marketing force and increasing the efficiency of sales and marketing teams. Automation advantages include:
1. More Time and Resources
Automation mitigates redundancy, human error, and repetitive tasks, allowing personnel to focus on developing and deploying more effective strategies. Marketers constantly seek improved strategies to earn customer interest, but daily activities can burn through their bandwidth. Automation tools can optimize core functions and free up more time for strategy formulation and tracking. For example, automating lead capturing allows the sales team to focus on nurturing those with a higher potential of converting to customers.
2. Customer Behavior Insights
Marketing automation generates a wealth of information from customer interactions. Via content, advertising, messaging, and emails, business marketers can access a full picture of customer behavior and potential. Automated metrics also make it easier to identify strategies and techniques that have worked for specific leads, which is vital to the success of future strategies. Marketing and sales teams can collect customer data, analyze it, and make informed decisions that increase conversions.
3. Lead Scoring
Automatic lead scoring helps qualify and prioritize marketing leads. Marketing automation combines information from multiple touchpoints, including social media activity, website visits, ads, direct marketing and downloads. The automation process analyzes and filters the information to identify leads with the highest potential to convert. Sales teams can then focus on guiding prospects through the sales funnel with trigger-based messages, personalized emails, social media messages and infrequent mails to maintain interest.
4. More ROI
Automation and ROI almost always go hand-in-hand. Combining marketing automation with CRM and ERM reduces guesswork, errors, and delays. Marketing and sales teams also get accurate information and reports highlighting the performance of each strategy. Automation results in constant value addition and improvements that streamline business functions, reducing operational costs while providing more time for strategic thinking.
Without guesswork, teams can focus on deploying effective marketing strategies and creating personalized offers for qualified leads.
5. Accurate Predictions
Marketing automation offers closed-loop reporting, essential when calculating the cost of each opportunity. It also determines the potential ROI from all marketing approaches. Each cycle comes with detailed reports that make it easier to project and plan for future investments. Accurate prediction of investments makes marketing automation a force multiplier like no other. It also gives marketers more control over how the business and brand evolves. Marketing is a crucial component in any venture, and streamlining it augments business potential.
Who Needs A Force Multiplier?
A force multiplier is essential for growth and business continuity. Without it, startups and scaleups risk stagnation and eventual elimination as customers seek better solutions. The benefits of marketing automation as a force multiplier include higher conversion rates and increased brand awareness, authority, and preference. Every business needs a force multiplier to guarantee the success of their marketing strategies and efforts.
Use Growth Marketing Partners
Startups and scaleups interested in adding a force multiplier capability to their marketing efforts should consider partnering with a growth marketing partner. An integrated approach to marketing automation involves assessing not only a company's existing tech stack, but also its sales process, strategic roadmap, and current key performance indicators.
Looking for a growth marketing partner? Sellerant can help.