Marketing automation is powerful. And can save a heap of time and money. Even for small, one-person businesses.
If you’ve not come across the term… “marketing automation” means anything that… well… automates… err… marketing.
Gee… explained that well. Didn’t I? 🤪
It’s basically anything that happens automatically in response to a person taking some sort of action.
You fill in a form to sign up to an email list. And you get a “welcome” email. That’s marketing automation at work.
You complete a survey. Behind the scenes you get marked as a high quality lead for answering the questions a certain way. The sales consultant will be notified to give you a call tomorrow. Also marketing automation.
You browse around an online store you love. And come back a couple of times to check out that purple polkadot onesie. The creepy email you get saying “We noticed you were interested in…” that arrives in your inbox. Well… that’s marketing automation at work again.
One of my mentor figures, who is top of the marketing automation field, says…
“If something can be reduced to a checklist then it’s a candidate for automation.”
I know I’ve got plenty of candidates in my business. Although, most of my checklists are in my brain.
But there’s plenty more I can do.
And… I must warn… I’m a computer geek from way back. So this kind of stuff is somewhat fun for me. And it’s generally easier for me to set up than your average person.
Already there’s a heap of stuff I’ve automated…
Some is the usual kind of things, like welcome emails when someone subscribes to my email list.
But there’s also fulfilment ones. For example, if someone buys my Easy Content Creation ebook, they get an email saying “thanks” for buying. And it gives them the info on how to access it.
But then a week later, it sends a follow up message asking about how they’ve found it. And if there’s any feedback.
This kind of stuff is pretty common nowadays with online selling.
I’ve also got integrations with ThriveCart, my checkout system. So I’ll get a notification via the Slack app on my phone if anyone makes a purchase.
I also get notified via Slack if anyone new signs up to my email list. I have that as a reminder so I’ll watch out for reply emails coming in from new subscribers.
Then there’s my helpdesk. I use the FreeScout helpdesk software. And have that all set up so any messages my customers send to help@chrismilham.com get properly logged. And they get a reply straight away to say I’ve received their message.
I’ll also get a Slack notification on my phone. So I can respond to help messages much faster than I do my regular email.
That’s just a few ways I’m automating my business. There’s plenty more I could do. And probably will.
But it’s a time/money tradeoff.
Every hour I’m messing around with automations, I’m not spending on the more revenue-generating areas of my business.
For sure, some automations can be complex to set up.
But once in place, there’s some common advantages from automations. Like…
Increased speed. If you have an automated buying process. From payments right through to delivery. Then it can proceed quickly when no humans are involved.
Reduced mistakes. Automations mean processes can be carried out in exactly the same way every time.
Reduced costs. It costs a small fraction to operate integration tools like Zapier compared to a person manually being involved. And the initial setup costs can be spread over a long time and over a lot of automated operations.
There can be increased peace of mind when automations are set up. Because you know things are just going to happen when they need to.
Plus, it frees up brain-space to focus on the parts of your business where your input is a must. Like delivering the core services you offer. And creating content.
Things do get a little more complex if using something like Zapier to “glue” systems together.
But much of the simple stuff, like welcome emails, are a doddle to set up in whatever email system you may use.
And there’s often integrations that are built into software. Like the integrations with ThriveCart and Slack that I use within BerserkerMail.
I’d love to hear about how you’re using marketing automation in your business. Or if you’re considering it. Drop me an email.
See ya later!
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Chris Milham