Understanding Email Automation for Client-Facing Businesses
So, your marketing is finally paying off and you’re starting to get leads that could potentially convert into customers. That’s great! But your strategy shouldn’t end there. Chasing down leads and turning them into conversions requires a well-executed strategy.
Email automation is part of the broader email marketing strategy. In this quick article, we’ll explore the benefits of email marketing to new businesses, with an emphasis on email automation. Let’s dive right in:
Email Marketing Versus Email Marketing Automation
Email marketing is not a new concept. The first email marketing blast was sent out in 1978 by Gary Thuerk of Digital Equipment Corp. This was sent to 400 recipients as a promo for his company computers, and was considered the first spam mail in history.
Now that’s a subject worthy of an essay or research paper – the first email marketing campaign. If you find that too hard to work on as a college student head straight to a website like UK essay writing service. You’ll find all the help you need there.
Plain email marketing isn’t too effective. Besides being too manual or ending up looking uncreative, very rarely does it drive traffic to your website or end up in inquiries. Where email marketing doesn’t fit the bill comes in email automation.
Email Automation
So, what is email automation? This is email marketing that ensures the right people receive highly specific emails at the right time. Let’s explore some key features of email automation:
- Focused – Automation works with customer profiles which are developed based on the actions they take. For example, if they trigger a subscription the user enters the next stage of the funnel.
- Nurturing leads – With email automation, the goal is to raise awareness, attract leads, and finally convert them. Afterward, the client can be engaged, and retention and brand loyalty increase.
- Highly Automated – Workflows are highly advanced and set up with triggers. You can have 10,000 subscribers and won’t have to worry about skipping a beat.
- Specific and personalized content – Email marketing sends the same content to everyone. Automation makes the content specific based on their profiles and uses conditional logic to send the emails.
A personalized buyer journey is one of the best ways to attract, convert, and keep customers for the long term.
How to Get Started With Email Automation
You’ve probably come across automated emails before. For example, a favorite store that you buy from sends you a Christmas offer at the start of December.
How do you use email automation to attract, convert, retain, and make customers loyal?
Identify Your Marketing Goals
Are you looking to boost your sales, nurture your leads through the pipeline, or promote a new product? Each campaign has its specific objectives.
Create a Customer Journey Map
Your customer journey informs your website and it should also determine all your other marketing workflows. The journey map will allow you to interact with the most pertinent customer touchpoints.
Perform Segmentation
At segmentation, you will divide your audience based on demographics, behavior, or preferences. This will help you perform targeted email campaigns.
Choose the Right Automation Tool
The simplest types of email automation tools are autoresponders that give “Out of Office” replies. More advanced automation tools such as MailChimp and Zoho offer advanced features. Here’s the rundown of what great automation tools should do:
- Turn your visitors into customers or subscribers.
- Establish a flowing marketing pipeline.
- Offer immediate or time-bound feedback and follow-ups. For example, if there’s an unfinished purchase, you’ll send an Abandoned Cart message to your lead.
- Direct customers to your blogs or websites.
- Build brand awareness and incentivize new or cold leads.
A comprehensive customer CRM full of contacts and all previous actions or correspondences will get you to A-level marketing.
Setting Up Email Sequences
The main objective of having an email autoresponder is to automate email sequences. For most automation tools, you will automate key sections of the sequence by setting up triggers.
Let’s explore some types of email sequences for your online venture.
- Welcome Emails
Let’s say the customer somehow landed on your website but didn’t proceed with any actions. Here is an opportunity to introduce them to who you are and what you do.
- Onboarding Emails
Onboarding could mean starting a trial, using a product, or booking an appointment. In contrast to welcome emails, the onboarding email should be more personalized, highlight your core benefits, and outline the customer’s journey. They should also be familiar with how to use your product.
- Abandoned Cart Emails
It is reported by Conversific and the Baymard Institute that nearly 70% of all carts get abandoned. That implies that 7 out of every 10 websites that host virtual shopping carts don’t close on carts.
Folks abandon their carts for a bunch of different reasons. For example, the checkout might be too complicated, or their cart may become too expensive. They could also just be filling their cart for fun.
With email automation, you can refresh the lead while still fresh and hopefully do some more convincing. You could even recommend some other products
- Repeat Customer Emails
Research shows that repeat customers spend nearly 120% more than new customers. They also contribute 25-30% of your revenue. But if you ignore them, you might as well start saying goodbye.
- Re-Engagement Emails
Re-engagement sequences are sent after you’ve stopped interacting with your customers for a specified period. That could be a week or two, or even longer than a month.
Examples of Free Email Automation Tools for Businesses
The email automation tool that you choose will entirely depend on your business goals and budget. For example, if you run a “pay for essay writing” service you’ll need something simple that can send newsletters, and offers, plus keep a reliable mailing list. In contrast, a large e-commerce business might need something more powerful with a wide range of themes and plugins.
Let’s explore two of these options:
MailChimp
This is one of the most popular cloud-based email CRMs. For its Free plan, MailChimp lets you email one group of up to 2,000 contacts, ideal for a startup or mid-sized company.
It also offers comprehensive reporting and access to forms that can be integrated with WordPress. You’ll also get access to six starter email templates, covering features like list management, segmentation, and analytics.
Zoho Mail
Zoho is one of the most popular email CRMs, providing an interactive drag-and-drop email utility. It also provides interactive elements like polls and surveys, event tracking, and even a friendly task scheduler.
You can also add custom domain names to your emails to make them look more professional.
Wrapping Up
We’ve covered the basics of email automation and how it can help your business or startup get off the ground. Email automation not only makes your workflows easier and faster. It also offers a means to attract, retain, and convert leads into loyal customers.
If you haven’t yet started using email automation for your business, now is the time. You need this to unlock the next level of marketing. Bon voyage!
