Marketing Automation in Action

Last week we talked about what Marketing Automation is. To illustrate how effective it can be, we provided a general example of the journey a customer takes through some of the most important components of Marketing Automation: Lead identification, lead scoring, trigger messages based on a lead’s actions, and personalized follow-up that allows the sales team to customize a sales pitch. The customer journey that we used as an example was a simplified version of a marketing automation workflow.

With specific marketing strategy and customized messages, needs can be so different from customer to customer. A lot of context is needed to form the individual experience for each one. No two customers can be expected to take the same journey. Marketing Automation workflows are pre-set systems that are reactive to customer behavior. A workflow can be as complex as sending prospects off in a variety of directions based on several possible actions or behaviors, or it can be as simple as one sequence of emails based on the prospect’s pattern of opening or clicking on those emails.

A well-organized workflow with set rules helps your sales team reach the right customer with the right message at the right time. For example, you wouldn’t want to send a customer who has purchased from your dealership several times a “10% off your first purchase” emailed coupon. Or, as another example, it wouldn’t be wise to send a customer who has consistently shown interest in a particular brand a promotion for an entirely different brand. With the generic email marketing structure that existed before Marketing Automation, all customers received the same one-size-fits-all email. With Marketing Automation in place, email recipients only receive the communications that are meant for them. As the customer moves along the workflow, his or her actions are tracked so that they only receive the messages that make sense for their interests and needs.  

Let’s look at an example of a Marketing Automation workflow in action:

• Step One: An online visitor comes to your site and fills out a lead form indicating that they are interested in a new vehicle.

• Step Two: The next day, the same visitor (lead) returns. With Marketing Automation in place, the lead’s actions are tracked, which contributes to the person’s lead score. The visitor chooses to view your Yamaha inventory pages, as well as your ATV inventory page.

• Step Three: The lead’s actions trigger an email campaign, and the lead receives a targeted email about Yamaha inventory.

• Step Four: The lead clicks on the email, triggering a second email about best-selling Yamaha ATVs.

• Step Five: At this point, the lead score for this person is very high because they have engaged with multiple marketing efforts. Your sales team receives a notification to reach out to this customer and talking points for the sales pitch are ready to go.

Though they do require setup, workflows do much of the prep work for your sales team. Marketing Automation workflows save time and allow the salesperson to have access to all collected information about a customer. This makes the salesperson’s job easier and increases their likelihood of success in closing a sale.