Over the years, marketing has changed in a way that it has become almost necessary to have the help of some form of technology to keep up with the increase in customers. According to Emailmonday, 51% of companies have employed marketing automation services while 58% of B2B businesses are looking to do the same. This trend is the result of how the market has witnessed an increased number of consumers that are equipped with the ability to spend on products and services. As such, to keep up with this growing demand, both B2B and B2C companies have recognized that marketing automation software has become necessary if they are to compete and perform effectively. However, it is important to remember that getting a system is just the first step.
More often than not, marketing automation software users encounter challenges such as the complexity of the system or the overwhelming list of things that they can do with it. Reading the features on the system’s website is not enough to truly understand what your marketing software is capable of. That is why you might be having trouble taking advantage of the features that were described to you by your vendor. To address such challenges, you need to do several things and employ a few strategies to simplify how you use your marketing software. Here are 6 tips that can help you achieve the best possible results from your system:
- Automate what you can-
The first tip is to automate as many business processes that you can, particularly those that are tedious but simple enough that you can trust your software to handle. Running a business means that much of your marketing department’s task is centered on getting to know the target market and finding the right strategies to target them. This process involves collecting countless data and even sending hundreds of emails. This circumstance is where your marketing software can help.
Whether it’s in terms of collecting data or sending emails, your marketing automation software can help remove such tasks from your hands. In turn, it expects you to categorize what it should do. Take advantage of its features by defining the characteristics and data that you need from a specific population. That way, the data it collects and the information you get are simplified according to the terms you set and the business needs you to meet.
- Personalize the experience-
Much of achieving customer retention and loyalty depends on the experience they get when going through your personalized website or using your product. This is true for both you and your customers. The implementation of your marketing automation platform is experienced by your customers through your email campaigns and your websites. Simplify the system by offering as much information as possible without overwhelming yourself and your customers with the amount of elements they see on the site.
On the other hand, the same principle applies to you and your employees. Beyond categorizing and sorting the data before it even arrives, another thing you can do to simplify your system is to integrate any applications you use throughout the marketing process. That way, you can access sites like WordPress or any Google Ad capabilities right on the platform itself, thereby reducing the hassle of having to look for what you need outside your software.
- Use your software’s features
The third tip that may be useful if you want to simplify your marketing automation platform involves the features that it offers. Before you can think about collecting data, you also have to figure out where to collect it from. For instance, marketing automation software for small business can have the ability to introduce chatbots, which automatically provides you with a communication channel between you and your customers.
It is by using your software’s features that you can simplify the system by letting it run the way it was meant to. It allows your software to have a dedicated task for each of its features, which then allows you to easily determine what part of the system is responsible for each part of your marketing process. Not only does this simplify your software but it also offers you the ability to instantly address any issues that may arise throughout your marketing campaigns.
- Input all the data possible-
B2B marketing automation platforms are equipped to handle large amounts of data. The implication of this capability is that you find both the data that has been collected as well as the information that was borne as a result of its analytical capabilities. Business intelligence is essential in operating a company and, more specifically, identifying the best possible marketing strategy. That is why marketing automation software has been in demand in the past few years.
Inputting all the data possible improves your system because doing so can help it narrow down all the information to the most specific ones you need. Furthermore, this strategy also allows your software to learn and determine not only what information you want to see but also identify the features and capabilities you need. Over time, employing this strategy will help you and your machine learn from each other, which introduces you to the benefits of machine learning.
- Train your employees-
Beyond taking advantage of all the features and knowledge by implementing the tips above, there is one other strategy that will be necessary if you want to improve the usability of your software as well as simplify it. This tip requires you to train your employees. Oftentimes, your software may be complex because you and your employees lack technological knowledge.
Do a survey on your employees to gauge the knowledge they have. Look into training programs that you can implement within or even outside the company. Remember that some software vendors can offer the training that you may need. Determine where your employees lack and what you can do to help them maximize the opportunities provided by the technology you’ve introduced in their daily processes and workload. In doing so, you can simplify the platform by letting your employees gain the knowledge and skills they need to identify where the system can be improved.
- Contact your vendor-
If at this point you’ve done all you can to simplify your marketing automation software and still you encounter challenges, then the next best thing you can do is to contact your vendor and inform them about where you think they can improve their product. Most systems are updated regularly so as to ensure that it is equipped with the best possible version of features. As such, vendors are not only receptive but also eager to hear about your feedback.
Check what communication channels are available to you and use your email or phone to get in contact with your vendor. Ask all the questions you need answered, and inform them of the feedback you want to tell them. Let them know about the challenges you have encountered and any ideas you might have on how they further simplify their product such as going through a compilation of project management tools to add to the platform.
Automating Success
Not all systems that you want to implement in your company is complicated. If you feel overwhelmed with all the things that your software can do, then try to do the tips presented. More importantly, remember to get to know your software and allow it to learn about your marketing process.