The 8-Step Information to Create the Good Advertising Automation Workflow

Ever end up caught within the unending “forms” of selling processes? Leads slip by the cracks, conversions falter, and also you’re left feeling defeated.

Seize your espresso as a result of we’re about to remodel your advertising chaos into systemized success with advertising automation workflows. These instruments save time, increase effectivity, appeal to extra leads, and drive gross sales — all with out the soul-sucking guide duties.

However how? Dive into this 8-step advertising automation workflow information that may lay down the muse for fulfillment, full with 5 workflow examples to get you began.   

In response to Marketo, 80% of entrepreneurs contemplate advertising automation to be the highest contributor to their success. Advertising automation workflows free you from these tedious, redundant, low-value duties so you possibly can deal with what actually issues for your small business.

Investing in advertising automation is a great determination for any firm, with many companies seeing a whopping 451% enhance in leads after implementation. 

Right here’s why companies ought to use advertising workflows: 

• Productiveness: Save time and sources by automating repetitive duties.
• Reminders: By no means miss a factor with well timed reminders and notifications.
• Scalability: Handle giant volumes of duties, enterprise processes, leads, and prospects effectively.
• Improved ROI: Get your funding again by increased conversions, diminished gross sales cycles, and improved retention. 
• Alignment: Enhance collaboration, deliver groups collectively, and cut back mismanagement.

Supply: EngageBay

• Why do you want a advertising workflow? 
• What are you hoping to attain? 
• What key efficiency indicators (KPIs) do you have to measure? 
• What’s the price range? 
• Who must collaborate with whom?

For instance, if your small business needs to create a advertising automation workflow to draw extra paid prospects by downloadable content material, the purpose might be to transform 20% of downloaders into paid prospects by a focused lead-nurturing electronic mail sequence with personalised content material. 

2. Set aims that will help you obtain your purpose

Whereas setting clear aims can deliver readability and focus, how do you outline aims that correctly align together with your objectives?

One of the simplest ways to set clear aims is to determine your target market. That is very true for workflows that contain lead era, buyer acquisition and retention, upselling and cross-selling, and cart abandonment. Perceive your perfect buyer profile (ICP), their preferences, and the channels they use to work together together with your model.

Right here’s the way you set aims:

• Outline roles and duties: Ensures everybody is aware of their function, leading to simpler accountability.
• Set milestones: Monitor progress and necessary KPIs, making it simpler to regulate your workflows to attain the tip purpose. 
• Present a street map: Aims act as a roadmap, guiding you and the group towards the tip purpose with out deviation. 
• Assign duties and deadlines: Outline crystal-clear, particular duties for group members primarily based on necessities and experience. Monitor progress by KPIs. 

3. Establish key buyer touchpoints

Buyer touchpoints are any interactions prospects have together with your model, resembling web sites, commercials, emails, blogs, social media, overview platforms like G2, and extra. 

Map out all key buyer touchpoints and interactions from the attention stage to post-purchase help. This helps you perceive the general buyer journey and determine key set off factors on your automation workflows, permitting you to interact with prospects at numerous phases.

4. Sketch the logical movement

Earlier than implementing the software program workflow, sketch the primary logical movement on paper. This prototype workflow can assist you shortly determine any mandatory changes.

Steps to sketch the logical movement: 

• Establish key phases of your advertising automation: Define the primary phases of the method, like lead nurturing, conversion, retention, and others. 
• Outline triggers: Establish all the important thing set off occasions and incorporate them in your sketch. 
• Make the most of conditional logic: Apply conditional logic primarily based on eventualities and triggers, and map out the completely different paths your logic might take primarily based on the client journey and triggers. 
• Evaluate, tweak, and overview once more: As you proceed, overview the prototype workflow to determine points, gaps, and areas for enchancment. Make changes so your workflow aligns together with your aims. 

5. Use a advertising automation software program

Advertising automation software program is the core software for constructing workflows. It permits you to seize, nurture, and rating leads, handle contact lists, guarantee constant messaging throughout a number of channels, and, above all, automate vital advertising processes. 

With tons of of automation software program for numerous industries, budgets, and group necessities, selecting the best one can typically be difficult. 

Right here’s a step-by-step information that will help you choose the precise one: 

1. Price: A very powerful and sometimes limiting issue when selecting an acceptable platform is the pricing. Most software program operates on a sliding scale mannequin (pricing primarily based on the variety of contacts) with completely different tiers for various characteristic units.
2. Scalability: As your small business grows, you’ll must handle extra contacts and require extra options. Select software program that may develop with you.
3. Person interface: An amazing person interface can diminish productiveness and make it troublesome for you and your group to study the ropes. Go for software program with an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. 
4. Options: Checklist important options your organization wants earlier than trying to find an acceptable platform.
5. Integrations: Can it combine with the present platforms and applied sciences? The software program you select ought to be capable to combine natively together with your present property, as this will join and transfer knowledge seamlessly.
6. Buyer help: To familiarize your self with the platform, you’ll want all the assistance you will get. What sorts of help does it provide? How fast is the response time? Does it provide onboarding and migration help? 
7. Person critiques: Find out how others use the software program and the problems they might face. This can provide you an inside peek that may’t be discovered by skimming by the official pages. Undergo case research, testimonial movies, and overview platforms. 

By integrating together with your CRM system, these workflows can present priceless insights into buyer interactions and behaviors, enhancing your advertising methods.

6. Craft compelling content material, visuals, and creatives

As soon as the workflow is ready up, it is time to create the precise property. Compelling content material can appeal to your target market, increase engagement, and result in conversions. 

All the time phase your viewers into numerous lists primarily based on demographics, habits patterns, buy historical past, and different components, and rating them. This helps personalize and tailor your content material to particular person preferences. 

Use visuals to reinforce your narrative and seize consideration shortly. Visuals can embody photos, infographics, movies, and GIFs. Extra importantly, guarantee your content material and creatives align together with your model identification. Consistency is vital right here because it engages your viewers, fosters model fairness, and improves conversions. 

For instance, if you’re creating content material for an electronic mail marketing campaign, do the next:

• Phase your viewers
• Write personalised and tailor-made content material for every phase
• Make use of attention-grabbing visuals
• Embody a call-to-action
• A/B check your emails

7. Measure your success (or failure)

Now that your advertising automation workflow is reside, it’s necessary to maintain observe of KPIs and tweak your campaigns to take advantage of out of them. Your advertising automation software program does the heavy lifting for you by analyzing KPIs. 

Listed here are important KPIs to maintain observe of: 

• ROI
• Open charges
• Click on-through charge (CTR)
• Inbox hit charge
• Social media engagement
• Bounce charge
• Lead scoring
• Lead conversion charge

Most automation software program gives dashboards and studies with qualitative and quantitative knowledge out of your campaigns. See what’s working and what’s not, and make the required changes. Constantly split-test your workflows and campaigns to attain higher outcomes after every iteration.

8. Evaluate and optimize

That is the final, albeit essential, step to creating the proper workflow. 

After you get all of your metrics, analyze them, overview, and optimize your workflows – the cycle goes on. That is the place your clearly outlined objectives and aims come into play. After analyzing your metrics, evaluate them together with your objectives to see in the event you’ve hit your targets.

If not, optimize, measure, repeat. 

Supply: EngageBay

That is what a typical welcome electronic mail workflow seems like: 

• Set off: A brand new person indicators up.
• Electronic mail 1: Thank them for signing up.
• Electronic mail 2: Share extra details about the model and embody testimonials to construct connections and foster loyalty.
• Electronic mail 3: Optionally, ship an electronic mail to replace person preferences.

2. Lead magnet workflow

A lead magnet is a free advertising asset provided to prospects in trade for his or her contact data. A lead magnet workflow helps you interact with leads and construct belief over time, enhancing conversions.

Here’s a pattern of lead magnet automation workflow: 

Supply: EngageBay

That is what a typical lead magnet workflow seems like: 

• Set off: The person fills out a submission kind with an electronic mail to obtain the lead magnet.
• Electronic mail 1: Ship a thank-you electronic mail expressing gratitude and reinforcing a optimistic model picture.

3. Re-engagement workflow

A re-engagement electronic mail collection goals to resume relationships with prospects who’ve stopped partaking together with your model.

As time passes, folks will inadvertently decelerate engagement and switch into chilly leads. This may negatively have an effect on the sender’s status and decrease open charges. This workflow can revitalize your bond with them by a refreshed marketing campaign. 

Right here is a straightforward re-engagement automation workflow: 

Supply: EngageBay

A typical re-engagement automation workflow goes as follows: 

• Set off: Buyer is inactive/has not engaged for some time.
• Electronic mail 1: Ship a “We miss you” electronic mail to re-establish contact.
• Electronic mail 2: If there’s no response, ship a collection of fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) emails with rising reductions or unique promotions.
• Electronic mail 3: If there may be nonetheless no response, ship a goodbye electronic mail and take away the particular person from the e-mail listing.

 4. Deserted cart workflow

Typically, folks add gadgets to their carts however depart with out finishing the acquisition. An deserted purchasing cart automation sequence can nudge these customers to complete the transaction.

Right here’s a pattern cart abandonment automation workflow: 

Supply: EngageBay

That is how a typical cart abandonment workflow performs out: 

• Set off: Person abandons cart.
• Electronic mail 1: Ship a reminder electronic mail encouraging the client to finish the acquisition.
• Electronic mail 2: Ship additional incentive emails to steer the client to finish the acquisition.
• Electronic mail 3: If the order stays incomplete, ship a suggestions request electronic mail to grasp why the acquisition was not made.
• Electronic mail 4: If the order is accomplished, exit the workflow and transfer to an upsell/cross-sell workflow for extra engagement.

5. Lead scoring workflow

A lead scoring workflow assigns a ‘rating’ to every buyer motion. This workflow qualifies your leads for different campaigns, together with lead nurturing.

Here’s a pattern of a lead scoring workflow: 

Supply: EngageBay

Lead scoring is often completed on this style: 

• Set off: Person engages in actions.
• Constructive Actions: When a person engages in optimistic actions (e.g., visits a gross sales web page or opens a welcome electronic mail), they earn a optimistic rating.
• Unfavourable Actions: When a person engages in adverse actions (e.g., unsubscribes from an electronic mail or abandons a cart), they earn a adverse rating.
• Rating Weight: The load of the rating will depend on the importance of the actions. 

Unlock the way forward for advertising—uncover AI’s function within the greatest advertising automation tendencies!

Edited by Monishka Agrawal