7 Signs Your Business is Ready for Marketing Automation

Marketing automation: too many, these words hold the promise of more time, fewer repetitive tasks and improved ROI. Marketing automation enables you to automate your marketing processes and your sales and CRM processes.

However, as with anything, timing is critical. If you implement marketing automation at the wrong time, it could end up falling flat on its face.

So how do you know when your business is ready for marketing automation?

7 Signs Your Business is Ready for Marketing Automation

1) You spend a lot of time on repetitive tasks

Repetitive tasks draw your time and attention away from other - often more important - things. While scheduling sales calls, sending out emails and assigning tasks to your sales team are essential parts of running your business, they don't need to be done manually.

If you're spending a lot of time on repetitive tasks and other areas of your business are suffering, as a result, it might be time to think about marketing automation. Not only will you free up some of your time, but automating some of your work will also reduce the risk of human error.

2) You've set clear sales and marketing goals

Before investing in a marketing automation system, it's essential to know what you want to achieve with it. Otherwise, it's a waste of money.

Increase your conversions? Do you want to generate more leads? Or are you looking to understand the buyer's journey better?

You're probably ready for marketing automation if you already have goals in place. These goals will also help inform you which marketing automation platform is right for you.

3) You have a wealth of content and a good content creation process

If your content looks a little shallow, you're probably not ready for marketing automation.

For it to be effective, you need a wealth of content, such as:

• website content
• blog posts
• eBooks
• whitepapers
• webinars

This content will form the basis of your marketing automation strategy, so you must have enough of it before investing in the software.

4) You have time and resources to dedicate to a marketing automation platform

While marketing automation can save you time, it doesn't happen overnight in the long run.

Do you have resources available for setting up the system and transferring your data? Does your team have the time to spend training on the software?

On top of this, you need to ensure you have the resources to create and maintain campaigns in the long term.

5) You have enough website visitors

If your website traffic is low, you may not be ready for marketing automation.

The software offers functionalities based on visitors' activities on your website, such as lead scoring and segmentation. It can also capture new leads and add them to your database.

6) You've noticed issues with your current marketing campaigns

The stab in the dark approach of traditional marketing comes with several drawbacks.

Firstly, it can be challenging to track the success of these types of campaigns. As well as this, the broader nature of traditional marketing may not be providing you with the ROI you're hoping for.

Marketing automation systems come with built-in reporting and analytics. You can gain insight into how well your campaigns are doing, who they're reaching and who's interacting with them.

The software also allows you to use segmentation and targeting to ensure your marketing reaches the right people.

7) You want to work harder on customer retention

If your customers don't make repeat purchases or - worse - they go elsewhere after buying from you, it might be time you started using marketing automation.

Despite the name, marketing automation is for more than just marketing to prospective customers. It's also for marketing to existing customers. You can use the software to provide a stellar customer experience and keep customers in the loop by recommending complementary products and letting them know about new releases. Using marketing automation to strengthen your customer relationships makes customers more likely to continue buying from you.

Marketing automation can be beneficial for virtually all businesses. But if you implement the software before your business is ready, you may not reap its full benefits.

To find out more about marketing automation and how it can complement your sales and CRM strategies, contact us at Flowbird today.