Why is email automation important in marketing?
Nurturing sales leads is a key part of any marketeers strategy. A traditional email marketing campaign is generally sent to all or some of your database on mass (perhaps to promote a valentines day offer or as a newsletter), while this is a great, sometimes you want to build a relationship with a lead over a period of time, typically when they have first subscribed to your marketing or made purchase.
Email automation uses ‘triggers’ to create a series of automated emails based on recipient responses.
As these sign-ups or purchases are likely to be sporadic, email automation allows you to use these events to trigger a campaign.
What is an example use case for email automation?
As an example, if I was to purchase a coat through a website, it could trigger a campaign that makes sure I am happy with my purchase after a few days, and then offers me a discount if I refer a friend or purchase another product.
Is email automation hard to use?
It is certainly at the trickier end of the tools that marketeers have a their disposal – but, like anything worth doing, learning how it can be used will pay dividend over time.
Imagine EVERY customer getting a personal follow up after a purchase, or having your marketing message run automatically without your needing to do anything at all?
What email automation tools can I get with my Really Good Website?
At the time of writing, the two main versions I offer to clients on the maintenance agreement are:-
MailPoet
MailPoet is a really powerful email marketing tool, but it also features some basic automations which are usually more than sufficient for most website owners. These can be simply ‘send an email after something happens’ or can be a little more sophisticated like an email drip campaign where a series of emails are sent at predetermined intervals.
Fluent CRM
Fluent CRM offers a far more complex automations with triggers, timings and conditions that can be combined to create some complicated automations. It also pairs with a more traditional CRM system so that email interactions can be stored against each email record which makes it popular for companies using email as outreach to generate leads or sales.
