Why is automation a pillar of inbound?
First of all, it is important to clarify that automation depends, for the most part, on email marketing since almost all automated communication is carried out by this means.
So that is why both are inseparable pillars of attraction marketing.
While marketing automation can be nigeria business email list done without the inbound methodology, it is important to note that automation alone generates benefits in only a few areas while inbound can generate benefits in almost any area of marketing and sales.
So why is this technique a key factor within the attraction methodology?
Connect the buyer persona to the company throughout their entire journey through their purchasing cycle
It may seem like a small thing: linking. It doesn't mean much by itself, but it means everything when throughout the purchasing process the user has been helped with relevant and useful information for their problem or need by the same company.
That's where the emotional part comes in, "if this company has helped me, advised me, guided me and hasn't charged me anything yet, well then when I buy I'm going to want to buy from them."
Free up marketing and sales reps' time from repetitive activities
This is one of the most difficult benefits to measure, because companies often do not accurately measure the time in which each of the marketing or sales activities are carried out.
Which is a problem: they also don't know how much money they are losing due to lack of productivity and efficiency.
It's easier when it's something physical, tangible: if it takes an hour to sew a dress but you do it in an hour and a half, you're doing something wrong, you're not efficient.
But what if a sales rep has to copy the same email and attach the same file 20 times a day and each time it takes 5 minutes to do it? Well, no one would measure that in the first place.
But if they did, they would realize that they only have one hour a day of repetitive activity. That means around 20 hours a month. More than two days of work.
If your sales executive's salary is $1,000 per month, your company loses $125 per month from that repetitive activity alone. If you have 10 salespeople, you are losing $1,250. You could hire another salesperson and still have money left over.
When you look at it that way, it makes sense to measure efficiency and replace repetitive activities that don't require a person to perform directly with automated actions that generate more value for your company and facilitate the generation of results by your team.
It allows the automatic qualification of leads, based on certain parameters, which prioritizes the follow-up time.
Here we are talking about productivity again. And why is productivity important? Well, let's remember that with inbound we work to generate better results with the same investment.
So, if each of your sales representatives has 8 hours a day available, but half of those hours are spent calling and following up with prospects who are still cold leads or who are not qualified, you lose $500 per month for each of your salespeople.
From this perspective, it is already a priority to address productivity, don't you think?
And what better way than through another automated process that frees up your salespeople's time for prospects who are closer to a near-term purchase. This is how successful business is done.
Allows for greater segmentation automatically
Email marketing itself allows for a certain level of segmentation, but without automation many tasks have to be carried out manually.
At this point, this technique comes in to complement and create automatic processes that allow segmenting the bases and generating automatic actions that generate new lists of users with certain characteristics.
This, in turn, can be used to generate new automated actions that nurture each user in a personalized way and help them advance in their purchasing process.
One of the many ways to segment is by behavior. If a user tends to open or is interested in a certain type of content, they can be registered by the system, segmented, and fed with more content specific to their interest.
You'll be providing them with the information they need right when they want it. As a result, your conversion rates—and revenue—increase.
Reduce investment in additional human resources
This is a crucial point. For example, if to achieve your business goals you initially need 5 salespeople but later need to hire two more, it is advisable to analyze whether you really need to do so or whether you would generate savings and greater income by implementing automated tasks.
This way, your current team has free time to cover the activities that the two new members would do, which means on the one hand: you generate savings - you reduce costs - and you increase sales.
In addition, this will allow you to provide more benefits and bonuses that motivate your current team to collaborate and integrate into the new processes.
Increase customer lifetime value
Another key aspect of automation in inbound marketing is that it allows you to increase LTV through reselling and cross-selling.
That is, through automatic communications you can send valuable content that complements what your customers need, generate interest in another product line or renew interest in the same service or product that they previously purchased.
Your sales team will know exactly when to call
In inbound marketing, the concept of timing is essential to generate better results in less time and with the same resources and effort.
Among the many things that can be done with automated processes is, for example, notifying your sales team or a specific member that a certain prospect is ready for a follow-up call, either because they have reached the qualification indicated as a trigger or have performed a specific action.
There would be no other way to do it if it weren't for marketing automation, another reason to recognize its importance in inbound.
Reduce lead conversion time
If the nurturing of a sales opportunity is adequate, it is possible to reduce the traditional time of a purchase cycle.
This is because it allows the user to more quickly obtain the information they need to make a decision and, on the other hand, because they receive timely follow-up during the process.
Increase ROI and decrease CAC
Two of the most important benefits of inbound depend largely on automation: improved return on investment and decreased cost of customer acquisition.
Without automation, it would not be possible to generate economies of scale that allow significant savings in some processes and areas while generating better results in sales, income and profits.
