It is difficult to talk about marketing strategies without discussing the benefits of automation and the vital part it plays for startups. Marketers don’t have unlimited time or resources to spend on repetitive tasks, but automation can provide a 24-hour service that saves time and money.
Dispelling automation myths
In general, there are two prevailing opinions about automation: it’s ineffective because it removes the human aspect of sales or that it’s too effective and will lead to unemployment.
Automation is as effective as you make it, same with any software. Whether you’re using a recruiting software or a LinkedIn automation platform, you can make each LinkedIn connection unique by customizing messages or follow-ups based on keywords. Remember: proper configuration will produce the right results.
What’s more, automation can’t solve all your problems. Your customers want to speak to a human, not a robot, but considering cold emailing has a low conversion rate, taking a shotgun approach can help with the initial connection. Once a prospect responds, shift to human mode.
The most effective automation tactics that earn money
There are several lead nurturing tactics on the Internet, like creating targeted content, but not all of them are automation-friendly. The following automation tactics work regardless of the industry.
Focus on the LinkedIn inbox
Out of all the platforms you could use to nurture leads, LinkedIn is among the best. LinkedIn is where professionals do business, so you already have a demographic to sell to. With Facebook or Instagram, there’s no guarantee that who you’re speaking to needs your services.
There are other reasons to focus on the LinkedIn Inbox, including:
- The number of active users. Over half of LinkedIn users log in daily.
- 20% of LinkedIn users make buying decisions for their companies.
- 100+ million decision-making users take action and typically buy immediately.
- B2B industries especially excel. 80% of B2B lead generation is done through LinkedIn.
- LinkedIn uses targeted ads, meaning marketers spend less for conversions.
With automation, you can spend even less time and money finding convertible leads.
Leverage multi-channel techniques
Just because you should focus on LinkedIn, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t branch out to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, especially if your customers are on these platforms. Since automation saves you time by streamlining your workflow, you can do the following:
- Create custom tasks for sales representatives.
- Send custom “Thank You” emails.
- Set subscription types automatically.
- Establish product or service interest categories.
- Route internal requests.
- Pull list segments automatically.
Since you can apply all of these techniques across platforms, you’ll inevitably scale in half the time. With reporting across channels and an aligned sales and marketing team, startups will continue to see high conversion rates without needing to staff a 24/h department.
Answer in a timely manner to earn leads
A great lead nurturing campaign may include attending a webinar, downloading case studies, requesting more information about a product or service, or reading premium content. Enticing your customers with a reward improves your campaign’s likelihood of success.
Automation plays a large part in this because you need to consistently monitor your engagement, marketing attribution reports, and inbox or email open rates. However, all the data in the world won’t convert leads unless you answer quickly. Automation can also help with this.
In the land of convenience, 82% of consumers expect an immediate response to their sales questions, while 90% expect an immediate answer for a customer service question.
The percentage of consumers who define “immediate” as 10 minutes or less belong to:
- 46% of Marketing Responses
- 62% of Sales Responses
- 60% of Support Responses
If businesses don’t react quickly, they’ll lose money. Even having a robot explain that they’ll get back to the customer’s question is more effective than leaving them on read.
