Automation has become an integral part of our lives, yet its full potential in marketing is still emerging.
For Rachael Pritz, vice president of RB Retail & Service Solutions, the benefits of marketing automation are clear.
“Marketing automation refers to the use of software and technology to automate and streamline marketing tasks, such as email campaigns, lead nurturing and customer engagement,” Pritz says. “It helps businesses efficiently manage their marketing efforts by reducing manual tasks and ensuring timely, personalized communication with leads and customers.”
Automation works hand-in-hand with manual efforts, prompting sales reps to act based on a lead’s engagement, such as follow-up emails and calls, improving response times and prioritizing tasks.
Hugh Smith, general manager of B&B Pool and Spa Center in Chestnut Ridge, New York, has worked on marketing automation with RB Retail & Service Solutions for six years and seen improvements in sales, customer satisfaction and response times.
“First, understand what you want to accomplish and set a goal or target,” Smith says. “Then review current processes and see how they might change with the use of automation. Most should see some, if not a lot of, efficiency opportunities.”
Radostina Stoycheva, director of performance marketing at Compass Digital, suggests tools like HubSpot and ActiveCampaign, which can be customized to the client’s needs. She recommends having at least 500 contacts to justify using a customer relationship management system and ensure you’re not paying for features you won’t use.
“Once you learn one system, you’re kind of an expert at all of them,” Stoycheva says.
Compass Digital focuses on providing timely and relevant follow-ups for hot tub dealers without requiring manual intervention at every step, she adds.
“You have to add a piece of human interaction or else personalization kind of goes out the window,” Stoycheva says. “But the whole point is to ensure that you’re not leaving any leads behind and you’re focusing on the hot leads instead of the cold leads.”
Automation, whether for one-off emails or a drip campaign, can improve response times and conversion rates. Dynamic content and AI together ensure hot leads are prioritized, with personalized text messages sent at optimal times.
Thomas Diardichuk, CRM specialist at Lifestyles Hot Tubs in Fenton, Michigan, has seen monthly lead closure rates rise by nearly 15% using tools like ActiveCampaign in combination with advertising strategies.
Lifestyles Hot Tubs uses these tools to share promotions with potential customers.
“The best thing about automation is that you can go at your own speed,” Diardichuk says. “The more comfortable you get with predefined processes and customer responses, the more auto bots you may choose to write. It is totally up to your comfort level.”
Scott Johnson, founder and managing director of Normal Bear Media, advocates for a balanced approach to automation, viewing it as a tool to assist — not replace — sales.
“The best practice is not to lean totally into the automation,” Johnson says. “You want a little bit more of a personalized experience. We always recommend having a nurture follow-up.”
The sales team can classify prospects, placing them in the appropriate pipeline based on product interest or location if the business operates multiple stores.
“Train and enable your sales team because this is a sales-enablement tool,” Johnson says. “The biggest excuse we hear working with dozens of dealers is that their sales team is not tech savvy.”
Johnson measures success using indicators such as close rates, email open rates, response times and click rates, allowing businesses to assess the effectiveness of their automation strategies.
Texting and quick videos are also two growing trends in automation, Johnson says.
Jamie Burson, president and CEO of Great Bay Spa & Sauna in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has worked with Johnson for years and embraced automation for nearly a decade.
“We’re constantly looking at ways that we can automate things so that we’re staying at front of mind,” Burson says.
Workflow automation streamlines lead handling, making it easier for Great Bay’s sales teams to keep up. They plan correspondence based on the buying cycle and tweak it as needed.
“Anyone not utilizing automation is doing yourself a disservice,” Burson says. “It’s worth every penny. … The proof is in the pudding.”
Maximizing Lead Conversion: Eye-Opening Stats for Sales Success
1. On average, 50% of leads never receive a follow-up.
2. Timely follow-up increases conversions by 21 times on average.
3. Leads contacted within five minutes are 100 times more likely to convert than those contacted after 30 minutes.
4. Eighty percent of sales require five follow-ups, but 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up.
5. Companies that use CRMs see an average ROI of $8.71 for every $1 spent. (771% ROI)
6. Including video in emails can increase click rates by up to 300%.
7. SMS messages have a 98% open rate, and 90% are read within three minutes.
8. Businesses using marketing automation see a 451% increase in qualified leads.