Every business that aims for success rather than survival wants to delight its customers, and marketing automation helps make that happen. Before you can delight them, though, you need to meet their fundamental expectations. What you do to give your customers what they need as well as what they want heads off complaints before they happen, making your campaigns winners not only at earning your customers’ business but retaining it over the long haul.
Here’s how marketing automation ensures that every campaign covers the basics – and then some.
Understand Your Customer Base
To know what your customers want, you first have to know who they are. One of the greatest reasons for lead loss is a disconnect between what prospects need and what they feel a seller delivers. Addressing your campaigns to theoretical leads instead of actual people has the same effect as calling out the wrong name in a crowded room: No one listens. Marketing automation systems help you get to know not only the leads you have now, but also future prospects via customer personas. Personas let you address your clients’ needs more fully because you understand the market as it is, not as you believe it to be.
Let Them Know You’re Listening
Think about the last time you went shopping. Were you greeted when you walked into the shop? Did you know where to get help if you had questions? Could you find everything you needed? You may not have noted these customer service basics at the time, but research suggests they have a huge influence on your buying decisions. Attentive service is even more important in B2B contexts when the sales cycle is longer and buys are larger, yet being available when customers need you is a challenge. Marketing automation lets you offer your customers based on their actions.
Triggered emails that go out in response to your leads’ behaviors tell them you’re paying attention. You’re able to tell where their interests lie based on which pages they visit and the content they download. From there, you can deliver a customized experience that makes every lead feel valued.
Opt Down, not Out
Preference menus put the power to choose the type and frequency of communication in your audience’s hands help you retain more of your market. By letting email recipients set the terms of your communication with them, people who might otherwise have opted out now stay connected.
Provide Value with Content
What makes a novel a page-turner? The plot may be exciting and the characters compelling, but unless you learn something new about them, you’re going to lose interest. Your content serves the same purpose, keeping leads engaged and flowing through the sales pipeline.
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