Email automation and marketing automation are no longer in the early-adoption stage; they’re now part of the mainstream, yet too many businesses aren’t getting the most from their marketing technology. They’ve got the basics in place – email marketing management, simple data hygiene, autoresponders – but they’re missing out on more advanced automation techniques. What do successful insiders know that gives them an edge?
Buyer Personas
As leads demand more relevant content and closer attention to their needs, profile-based marketing that lets businesses match their prospects step for step along the buying journey are an essential tool. Buyer personas, models that accurately reflect market segments in a concise form, help companies target their marketing efforts more precisely. Only about a third of marketing automation users have tapped into the power of buying personas to shape their marketing strategy, making it a high-priority area for marketers who want to gain an edge.
Dynamic Content
If triggered email responses are Marketing Automation 101, then dynamic content is graduate-level application of automation’s potential. Triggered events are still the heart of dynamic content, but they’re only part of a fully realized lead nurture program that takes timing, behavior, and preferences into account. One major barrier for businesses that want to implement a more sophisticated lead nurture strategy is lack of content; to optimize your nurture streams, be prepared to have plenty of content loaded up for your leads to consume at their own pace.
Advanced Segmentation
Demographic details are always going to be useful dividing lines for segmentation, but they’re far from the only criteria you can use. Advanced market segmentation processes take behavioral and contextual data into account too, letting you approach prospects in ways your competition can’t match because they don’t see the bigger picture. For example, while your rivals are playing follow-the-leader with a simple geographical sorting method, you’re able to overlay ZIP code information with website traffic data to create a dynamic heat map of your market.
Integration
All the best, freshest customer data in the world isn’t enough if it’s locked away within information silos. Break down the walls and centralize data so everyone who needs it can access it. By bringing in sales histories, customer support records, lead scoring data, and CRM information, you develop a 3-D image of your leads that then enables you to deliver more relevant marketing messages directly to them.
Installation isn’t implementation, and having marketing automation technology is just the beginning of a complete data-driven marketing strategy. Take the next step and graduate to advanced marketing automation.
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