Marketing changes quickly so what works today may not be applicable tomorrow. As the world recovers from the past years of the pandemic, global brands and their perspective on marketing have changed. Recent times have also opened brands to marketing automation due largely to the demand for automating marketing workflows and encouraging better engagement and retention of their users. If you look forward to automating your process, tapping the services of marketing companies in Waterloo would be a crucial step to take.
What Is Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation is an approach that allows marketers to send automated messages to subscribers or under specific conditions at a scheduled time or event. It can be in the form of an email, social media, SMS, or other digital channels.
The goal of automation is to turn complex processes of B2C and B2B marketing into an automated, easy, and repeatable process that needs little to no human intervention.
In recent years, there became a surge in automated marketing as it is no longer seen as a necessity but rather, a key to success in the industry. To get your automation started, here are the trends that you need to watch out for:
1. Using funnel-optimized content for hyper-personalization
One of the growing tactics of marketers to boost customer experience is personalization. It doesn’t just mean changing your introduction to your client’s name but to up it a notch through hyper-personalization.
Instead of using names, company names or locations, you will rely on behavioural data with real-time interactions of your brand. Using data to send personalized content across different stages of the funnel is called hyper-personalization. Whether visitors leave with or without transactions, you can use their activity to send a behavioural-based in-app or email to start a conversation with them.
2. Omnichannel marketing
Have you ever felt that ads of brands or products that you’ve checked on Facebook or Instagram seemed to be following you wherever you go? There are even times when these ads or banners follow you to your email. This is called omnichannel marketing. This happens when brands retarget you which leads you to see them in all online assets.
Marketing automation allows for automated content management in all steps of marketing process to gain and retain customer. Brands can deliver marketing messages according to where they are in the customer journey. The overall user experience is enhanced as you add content or advertisements to different channels. The key is in integrating data to make the customer journey cohesive.
3. AI and machine learning in content, email, and SEO
For years marketing companies in Waterloo have been using artificial intelligence and machine learning to help in content automation. There are actually different ways to use AI in generating content for your business.
There are AI writing tools that can help come up with content faster by “writing” your emails, social media statuses, blog posts, and ad copies. Copywriters can also use AI to generate good ideas, pick messaging angles, and find the right hook for good content.
SEO AI tools, on the other hand, can help find the top-ranking articles which you can use as references for your article. They can also give metrics like keyword difficulty, monthly search volume, and SERP to help with SEO efforts.
4. Inter-departmental automation
For the longest time, the sales and marketing teams are misaligned making it difficult for each one to see the other’s contribution to company growth. However, this gap has been bridged through inter-departmental automation. The realignment of roles allows both teams to participate in individual and company lifecycle marketing.
Automation bridges the gap through:
- turning the sales and marketing tag teams to fulfil the customer journey if they are integrated with the Customer Relationship Management system. This is where all contact information is stored. If the teams have the right and access to this, they can implement lifecycle marketing for every customer in whatever stage they are.
- lead scoring is the process of determining the quality of leads. Both teams can set the criteria for a lead that they deem sales-qualified. They can also determine the touchpoints account and the method of nurturing them.
- leveraging retargeting of potential customers by analyzing their browsing behaviour so they can send relevant messages on different platforms.
1. Chatbots and conversational marketing
One of the things that businesses today should do is to keep communicating with their clients. Communication is not just one-way but rather, a true conversation.
Businesses could use conversations with customers to show that they care about what the customers need. With the help of technology, it has become possible to personalize conversations every minute of the day.
Apart from human connection, investing in chatbots is necessary. They will not replace the human connection but they can start the conversation, answer common questions, and help resolve simple issues faster. Effective bots are those that take a human persona (name, image, and personality), speak like a human, and inform the user that they are still talking to bots.
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2. Value-drive retargeting and retention
Cookies are small pieces of data that enable websites to know more about the user. If customers allow a website to enable cookies, a code in the browser allows the site to track, personalize, and save the information of the specific web session. This data can be used by advertisers to personalize their content for customers. As much as they are useful, cookies are despised by many customers. A creative way to find ways of finding interested future customers is to use first-party cookies and data-driven attribution models.
3. Mobile-first automation
As the majority of the population is comprised of mobile phone users, the need for mobile data for personalization also increased. A mobile-first strategy will be increasingly popular this year and in the years to come. Using tools such as in-app ads, SMS, and push notifications is a common way to boost engagement, retention, and experience.
A mobile-first approach is a need for marketers now that mobile devices are the primary gadget where customers consume content and purchase products and services. Using different in-app tools can effectively improve engagement and improve customer experience.
Automation is a necessity and no longer an option for marketing no matter the industry. Whether you offer POS support or dust collectors in Ontario, you can use these strategies to amplify your marketing campaign. With the help of marketing companies in Waterloo you can find the trends that work best in bridging you and your customers this year.
