The word automation has been a hot topic in the digital world ever since it was coined out. From a digital marketer to an enterprise owner, automation marketing has become the talk of the town.
Automation is known to evoke several emotions such as curiosity, confusion, and fear – everything at once. There are people who might think that marketing automation is time-consuming, a waste of time and won’t do any good to your business and then, there are people, in awe of marketing automation, will bombard you with numerous examples to prove why it is something that your business needs desperately.
With all these opinions, there are some myths associated with marketing automation as well. Before we go ahead and bust them out, let’s take a moment to learn a little bit about the marketing automation first.
What is marketing automation?
The definition of automation in layman’s terms goes something like this – “the use or introduction of automatic equipment in a manufacturing or other processor facility.”
Now, if we look at automation in marketing then it is basically to automate your marketing and sales engagement for purposes such as:
- Generating more leads
- Increase efficiency
- Grow revenue faster
In fact, it won’t be wrong to state that it is a segment of marketing that focuses on customer management system and works in the best manner to organize, categorize, and gain quality customer interaction.
Applications of marketing automation
Marketing automation is an awesome way to target people based on their behavior, preferences, and previous sales and generate new leads while converting the existing ones. Its applicable uses include social media marketing, email marketing, lead generation, metrics and analytics among others.
As we might have got a better understanding of marketing automation, it’s time to discuss the myths associated with it. Learning about these myths will help you learn better about marketing automation.
Below are the common myths associated with marketing automation. Let’s take a look at them:
Myth #1: Automation is only for email marketing
It is surprising to see that a lot of people, including many digital marketers and business owners, are of the opinion that marketing automation is relevant for just email marketing.
However, one can’t deny that email marketing is definitely a strong medium or channel for automation but you can take it to another level with the appropriate use of social media, landing pages, and lead generation.
Automation is about the engagement of prospect customers from the moment they open their email. You can gauge their behavior and personalize email communication accordingly, make changes in the content, or the way they are being directed after a submission.
The best example of this comes in the form of the recent rise of chatbot. Chatbots have been used by marketers to:
- Sell products and services
- Make payments simpler and easier
- Gain customer insights
- Personalize marketing strategies
- Increase engagement
- Qualify Leads
So, you can see that there is a lot of automation in marketing than just plain emails. And, this is just one facet of it.
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Myth #2: Marketing automation is a ‘set and forget’ approach
It is a popular myth that once you automate certain things on your marketing campaign, you can leave them just the way they are. It is obviously false because every campaign needs to be reviewed and updated from time to time.
You have to make sure that it has not deflected from your business strategy, ultimate goal and vision. One has to take care and intervene to check even the evergreen campaigns and optimize them to increase their effectiveness.
Opting for this ‘set and forget’ approach might just make your campaigns outdated. Today, we live in a world where people want unique and meaningful content. Make sure you don’t miss out on such details and think that automation will do all the work for you. That’s just not how marketing automation works!
There is no denying that just like any other field, marketing automation is also going through an evolution. And, hence it becomes imperative for marketers to forget about the once set and done approach. Rather they must focus on evolving with the ever-evolving marketing automation strategies.
For example, the recent rise of AI and predictive analysis has made it simpler for marketers to gain valuable insights about customers. However, in order to achieve the desired results, the marketers must also evolve and understand the terminology.
Myth #3: Automation is mechanical and impersonal
It is often talked about how marketing automation is kind of robotic and is not at all personal as opposed to what it should be. Now, what we often forget is that it’s not the thing that makes a difference rather it’s being used that changes the game. Likewise, the fault here is not in the process, rather how it is being carried out.
Customers are quite well-aware of their importance and value. That’s why companies don’t mind going an extra mile to allure them. Hence, they are constantly coming up with personalized messages, emails, calls, offers, ads, and various other attempts to allure them. Thus, it is an important way to supplement your content marketing strategy.
Here’s a great example of how big names like Disney are using it to great effect. Just a while back, Disney released the movie Zootopia. They took automation marketing to the next level by creating a character named Judy Hopps bot (which was also the central character in the movie) on Facebook messenger, giving the users a more personal and fun experience.
And, this is just one odd example!
Myth #4: Marketing automation is time-consuming and too expensive
Well, automation marketing does require a monetary contribution from organizations and businesses. To all those, who are debating over this topic must see this as an investment than an additional cost. This being said, the question of money and time largely depends on the size and ultimate goals of a company.
There is a myriad of reasons that speak volumes about the value and ROI marketing automation brings along with it. Just think about the number of new customers and new lead conversions from existing ones are needed for the cost to be returned, and you’ll get your answer.
Myth #5: It is only suitable for big companies
It is probably one of the weirdest misconceptions that marketing automation is only for big industries and large businesses. On the contrary, many small and medium businesses and companies are quite successfully and efficiently using marketing automation to their advantage.
Whether you have a large enterprise or a small startup, you can easily integrate marketing automation into your business and leverage its power to meet your needs. It won’t just magically fix everything but could definitely help you automate tasks and get a better hold of your work.
As a matter of fact, there is a list of amazing tools that can help you in marketing automation, even if you are a budding startup with not a lot of cash to burn.
Over to you!
These myths and misconceptions are just the tips of an iceberg as there are so many others floating out there yet to be debunked. However, with more awareness and knowledge on the internet, people are constantly updating themselves with the right information and are choosing platforms that best meet the requirements of their business.
Do your research and target the audience with the right tactics and make the most of this amazing thing called marketing automation.
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