Email marketing revolutionized how B2B companies do business. It’s easy, instant, and has the highest ROI of any marketing channel available. There’s a challenge, though, that many B2B businesses aren’t meeting with their email messages – translating virtual engagement into real interaction.
The reality gap between digital communication and real-world channels can be tough to leap without technology to manage the shift. That’s where marketing automation comes in. With a MARKETING AI® that seamlessly transitions email interactions into product demos, trade show visits, and sales calls, you’re ready to turn the rapport you’ve established via email marketing into direct connections.
Customize
Customized, targeted email marketing is a proven method for increasing engagement. When leads are more engaged with your emails, they’re naturally likelier to carry that enthusiasm to other arenas. Your first step, then, is to put your MARKETING AI to work, gathering insight into your leads with data enhancement and behavioral analytics so you can meet them on common ground.
Marketing automation lets you customize interactions with your prospects to a far greater extent than conventional marketing tools could. Custom graphics, targeted copy, and follow-ups on topics they’ve shown interest in are just a few possibilities for personalizing marketing messages to your leads. By testing your email marketing, you get an even better fit between message and recipient, making every communication feel tailor-made.
Go Interactive
Taking that online rapport into the real world starts with transitional activities. To go from email to real-world marketing, develop virtual actions your prospects can take and promote them within a broader email strategy. A quiz or self-assessment tool, for example, is an excellent lead-in to a call or demo. Quizzes are also great for sorting prospects into segments for the appropriate lead nurture tracks; depending on their answers, you can channel them toward an informative white paper or webinar sign-up that carries them a step closer to the demo you’re hoping they schedule.
Confirm and Remind
Automation excels at managing the little tasks we humans tend to forget, such as sending out email reminders before an event. With marketing automation, you can set up timed responses triggered by your leads’ actions. Clicking through to a landing page and signing up for a webinar, for example, sets off a cascade of other email actions – a reminder email a day or so before the event and another an hour before it as a final quick nudge.
The beauty of marketing automation’s centralized design is that it can tell who’s participating and act accordingly. Let’s say your webinar attendee isn’t there yet; the MARKETING AI can then send out an alert as the event starts. If the lead is logged in for the event, the email doesn’t trigger.
Following Up
Where you go from an online interaction is up to you and your prospects, but marketing automation can make connections easy. Follow-up emails can contain offers to arrange a teleconference or set up an on-site demonstration. Chat notifications let prospects respond on your website and arrange meetings in real time.
By giving leads more ways to interact with you and take that next step, your marketing automation system facilitates real-world connections and helps you bridge the reality gap.
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