How to use marketing automation to scale a business

Marketing automation is a powerful tool for businesses looking to increase their reach and scale. Automation allows businesses to streamline their processes, increase efficiency, and maximise their return on investment. But as you’ve seen on LinkedIn, it’s used incorrectly. LinkedIn Social Selling is much more useful than automated messages.

In this blog post, we will explore how businesses can use marketing automation to scale their operations in the right way. From when to use it, to reducing steps, to leveraging analytics. We will also discuss the challenges that businesses face when using marketing automation and how they can be overcome.

When is marketing automation useful & not useful?

Marketing automation can be a game-changer for businesses looking to scale their operations. However, it is important to understand when marketing automation is useful and when it may not be the best approach. 

Here’s a quick summary of what’s useful and not useful:

Useful Automations

1. Automatic notifications to your sales team when someone has requested a quote, so that they can respond quickly
2. Messaging prior customers about a personalised new offers that you have based on their previous purchases
3. Different greetings when someone visits your websites, depending on the source

Not Useful Automations (On LinkedIn)

1. Shoehorning in the Prospect’s industry into an automated message “I noticed that you work in [Industry]…”
2. Connecting with absolutely everybody in a Sales Navigator view (there’s likely to be irrelevant contacts)
3. Sending a follow up message that doesn’t add anything to the conversation e.g. following up simply for the sake of following up

Marketing automation is useful when businesses have a large customer base or a high volume of leads. It allows businesses to automate repetitive tasks and workflows, saving time and increasing efficiency. Additionally, automation can help businesses deliver personalised content and experiences to their customers, enhancing engagement and driving conversions.

On the other hand, marketing automation may not be useful for businesses that have a small customer base or limited resources. Implementing and managing automation tools can require time, effort, and investment. If the business does not have enough customers or lacks the necessary resources, the return on investment may not justify the costs.

Don’t Automate Your LinkedIn Social Selling

When it comes to outreach on LinkedIn, it’s important not to rely too heavily on marketing automation. Unlike other marketing channels, LinkedIn is a place for LinkedIn Social Selling. Look for genuine, personalised interactions. A lot of the success here is about LinkedIn Social Selling. It comes from specifically why you are messaging this specific person, at this specific point in time.

Automating your LinkedIn outreach can lead to impersonal, generic messages that can easily be ignored or even flagged as spam. This can damage your brand reputation and hinder your ability to build meaningful relationships with potential customers or business partners.

Instead of relying on automation, take the time to personalise your outreach on LinkedIn. Emphasise LinkedIn Social Selling. Tailor your messages to the individual, addressing them by name and referencing specific details from their profile.

Engage in genuine conversations, ask questions, and show a genuine interest in their work. This personalised approach will yield much better results and help you build valuable connections that can contribute to the growth and scale of your business.

Quick-Wins When Using Marketing Automation

Marketing automation tools offer a range of features that can help businesses scale their operations and drive growth. Some key features to look for in marketing automation tools include:

1. Email marketing automation: When people have given the proper permission levels, this method expands your reach and helps facilitate communication on a larger scale. With email automation, businesses can deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time, increasing engagement and conversions.
2. Customer segmentation and personalisation: Effective marketing automation tools allow businesses to segment their customers based on various criteria, such as demographics, behavior, or purchase history. This segmentation enables businesses to personalise their marketing messages and experiences, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
3. Lead scoring and nurturing: One thing robots are good at is keeping score. Marketing automation tools often include lead scoring capabilities, which assign a score to leads based on their interactions with the business. This helps businesses prioritise and focus on the most qualified leads, improving conversion rates. Additionally, lead nurturing features allow businesses to automate the process of nurturing leads with relevant content and offers, moving them closer to making a purchase.
4. Analytics and reporting: Using automations to find trends is a useful win. Advanced marketing automation tools provide robust analytics and reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to track and measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. By analysing data on customer behaviour, engagement, and conversions, businesses can gain valuable insights and optimise their marketing strategies for better results.
5. Save time with Integration with other systems: To truly scale their operations, businesses need marketing automation tools to reduce time. Zapier allows you to seamlessly integrate with their existing systems, such as CRM software or e-commerce platforms.

By leveraging these key features of marketing automation tools, businesses can automate and optimise their marketing efforts, save time and resources, and ultimately scale their operations for sustainable growth.

By following these best practices, you can leverage marketing automation to its fullest potential and successfully scale your business. It’s an exciting journey ahead, so get ready to see your operations grow and thrive.