How Automation Is Helping Digital Marketers Improve Efficiency

At one time, automation was associated solely with warehouses, assembly lines, and manufacturing. Or, you conjure the image of robots at the mention of automating any work-related task.

Now, marketing automation is a standard benchmark in any company, and most business owners get consumed with how to improve efficiency. The evolution of automation has led to numerous tools and programs to help marketers find the balance between maintaining personalized communications and reducing the number of hours spent on mundane, repetitive tasks.

If marketing automation is on your to-do list, make sure you’re taking advantage of all the ways it’s helping digital marketers improve efficiency.

[lwptoc]

Automating Workflows Improves Productivity

Automating a single task like firing off a reply email based on the subject line or creating a new calendar item when someone generates a specific Slack message is helpful. Anytime you can create efficiencies by reducing repetitive tasks, it’s a positive.

However, there’s an even greater value in automating an entire workflow. For instance, social media publishing can be an arduous task for marketing teams with several steps and phases. From research to content creation, graphics, scheduling, and monitoring results, all moving parts require attention to detail and excellent communication among teams.

However, companies can automate a great deal of the entire workflow. Even basic and free tools like Notion enable teams to set up systems to notify team members for scheduled tasks or when a new assignment is created or coming due. This automation reduces the time between tasks and keeps teams focused on the project at hand.

Workflows are essential with SEO work and keyword research. For example, before a team member or consultant can audit your website to make improvements, the content must be scraped and input into a program to analyze missed keyword opportunities.

Teams can automate this process using python web scaping, combined with other SEO tools to extract keywords, assess competitor keyword performance, and make content marketing decisions based on the output.

Traditionally, this type of SEO work could take weeks or even months to complete. Now, however, thanks to marketing automation, it’s feasible to complete in just an hour or two.

Marketing Automation Builds Capacity

Anyone in digital marketing will tell you that there’s simply not enough time each day to get everything done when it comes to sales, marketing, promotions, and branding. Even with new tools launching daily, the work of building and maintaining an online presence is challenging.

Teams are constantly searching for ways to build capacity, and new marketing automation strategies are changing how marketers build their teams. For example, where a staff member previously handled incoming customer and prospect questions or concerns, live chat automation has solved this problem to a large extent.

It was once someone’s job to ensure the company’s best customers received personalized messages on business anniversaries, and now, automation can handle that task. Instead of hiring low-level team members to handle mundane tasks, companies are seeking higher-level executives focused on strategy and visionary planning.

Automations Help Build Credibility

Establishing credibility in your business includes incorporating social proof on your website. Manually gathering this data is time-consuming and typically unsuccessful. The research around conversion rates and social proof supports the idea that tasks like soliciting reviews and creating related visual content can lead to higher sales.

According to research published on Opt-In Monster, 92% of consumers are more likely to trust non-paid recommendations than any other type of advertising. Yet, many businesses do not prioritize collecting reviews or product recommendations due to time constraints or other priorities.

However, automating the process with tools like Proof Factor or TrustSpot can make it much more efficient, allowing businesses to increase their credibility quickly. In addition, when collecting the information is automated, your team can instead focus on serving customers well.

Final Thoughts

Automation marketing is crucial for any business with growth and scaling mindset. As you work to automate more of your marketing workload, ensure you continually evaluate your processes and workflows to identify new opportunities and document the automation process as you go.

Finally, invest in the right automation tools to ensure the new processes are completed accurately and not unintentionally sacrificing effectiveness for efficiency.

Read more: The Importance Of Webinars For Digital Marketers