How does marketing automation work?

A strategy based on understanding lead behaviour

Automated marketing or automation is a digital technique that emerged in the late 2000s. The objective of its creation is the generation of leads by using inbound marketing. This technique consists of automating each step in the lead's journey, from the first contact to the closing of the sale. The aim is therefore to facilitate the work of the marketing and sales team. The qualification of leads is carried out by the tool, as well as the transformation into prospects until delivery to customers.

The process therefore consists of understanding the behaviour of potential prospects. In this way, by building up as fine a profile as possible, the sales team can define which type of product corresponds to which potential customer.

Automation is not the same as e-mail marketing, which sends the same message to all contacts. Automated marketing personalizes leads according to the criteria discovered during the preliminary assessment. To understand the leads, the parameters analysed are : 

• The identity of the potential prospect: age, gender, CSP... and this information must be recorded according to the rules established by the RGPD
• The behaviour of the future customer: what type of Internet user are we dealing with? What kind of information is he interested in? How long did they stay on the site, on the pages... What is the prospect's behaviour in relation to emails? Are they active and reactive on social networks? 
  

And to be successful, you need the right software, a clear plan of action and objectives. Do not hesitate to test and analyse while creating various scenarios. 

A centralisation of databases

In addition to focusing on the behaviour of future prospects, automation is also a technique that consists of having a centralised database. The advantage of using software is to be able to group and centralise the information collected during profile surveys. The data collected becomes a database that will be used to sort prospects according to the sectors or products offered. The software therefore takes care of prospecting but also of gathering the information and sorting it out afterwards. The main advantage is to save time in selecting prospects while keeping a database of these future customers.

Automatic segmentation

The tool will set up different categories to classify prospects according to their needs. The software will help to set up the different classifications which can be by sector, by age, by geographical area or by pages visited, the type of media used, the usual platforms...

Lead qualification

Lead scoring is the process of qualifying the leads obtained. This practice makes it easier to track the progress of prospects. It helps to define which type of conversion tunnel to direct future customers to. It is also a good way to rank a lead and give or take points away from it based on its behaviour. The aim is to obtain a well-refined ranking of contacts according to their level of engagement.

Creation of workflows

The generation of leads and the classification of information will enable the setting up of scenarios. These workflows need to be relevant for the strategy to work from start to finish. Hence the importance of testing and analysis as much as possible. As marketing is not an exact science, the effect of a message cannot be identical from one prospect to another. So to be sure that a practice pays off, testing is the best option. 

The relevance of a workflow can be based on certain criteria such as the number of opens, clicks, bounce rate, number of appointments or the cost of acquisition. A good workflow is the result of an excellent cooperation between the marketing team that researches the prospect, and the sales team that sells the product at the end of the whole strategy.

It is important to note that workflow is an existing product. And its purpose is to set up rules to follow that facilitate the completion of a project. The workflow can be established in the form of to-do lists or even a table. The key is to have the tasks in mind and available until the end to get the results. So it is the method chosen to execute a job. 

The tasks performed by the software are the usual tasks of a company that it already knows. Generating leads, gathering information, turning prospects into customers... but with automated marketing, all this work is done by a tool. The aim is to save time while helping the company to grow and get even more leads. My Name is Bond explains in detail everything you should know about automated marketing. How does it work, what strategies are adopted? All with the aim of helping you grow your business.