If you haven’t yet come to this conclusion, check out our blog for more reasons why marketing automation should be your jam.
How should I get started?
1. Choose a system
There are numerous companies that offer marketing automation, HubSpot, Pardot, Marketo, and Hatchbuck, to name a few. Some are better than others and what is right for you is determined by both how much you will automate – and your budget.
We’ve found that the ‘Cadillac’ of marketing automation is HubSpot. It is a truly integrated and user-friendly system that is better suited for enterprise-wide solutions rather than campaign-specific plans. They have also cemented themselves as ‘experts’ in the automation field and provide a suite of training tools and certifications to help educate marketers.
A St. Louis local favorite for smaller integrations or campaigns is Hatchbuck. For a low month-to-month rate you can set up campaigns to trigger messages to leads. This tool is not quite as user-friendly as HubSpot but is a great quick and cheap solution that allows you to test the waters before diving in.
Every company has different needs to have a successful campaign. Here’s a grid based on user reviews that can help you with your decision. You can also check out the top companies based on the market below.
2. Map out your campaigns
You should have an integrated strategy to set up marketing automation campaigns. It is essential that you target your leads based on their ‘personas’ to engage them and drive them further through your sales process. When you have the larger picture of personas, a clear understanding of how to talk to them, and which channels work best for communicating with them, then you can determine the paths to create to trigger messaging. Maybe ‘Bob the Machinist’ abhors social media and will only respond to phone calls while ‘Sally the Accountant’ will only read emails. You want to reach your leads how, when, and where they want. It’s their terms or the highway (Or something to that effect. You know what I mean).
Once you have your marketing automation in place, be sure to measure and modify your campaigns to see what is working and what can be improved. Marketing automation is here to make your life easier. And can’t we all use a helping hand?
Spoke has set up a lot of campaigns for marketing automation, so we’re here to help as well! Just let us know if you want to stop by for a drink, pet a dog, or have a chat.
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