Bertha's Blog: Marketing Automation 2.0: 3 Tactics to Go to the Next Level [Free eBook]

In Erik Qualman’s second eBook for GetResponse, he moves beyond baseline tips to get a business started using marketing automation to tips to help businesses stay competitive in the ever-changing marketing landscape.

This eBook focuses on three main tactics:

Keeping the customer top of mind.
Creating a plan.
Tracking your customers for success.

Keeping the customer in mind works best when anything you want to do starts with your customers’ needs and wants – not what you want your customers to do or buy. That’s a form of self-promotion, which defeats the whole purpose of a strong automation program. Thinking outwardly – keeping the customer top of mind – and then working backwards is a better way to create campaigns. This process sets you up for success in lead nurturing, which is how (through automated emails) you build a relationship with your subscribers. That relationship usually leads to sales. People buy from people, not companies – especially in the B2B world.

As with everything marketing, having a plan is absolutely vital to success. Clear goals, even small ones, will help guide your path as you scale your efforts. Small is actually a great way to start. It’s manageable, and more importantly, small is flexible. Small gives you the opportunity to test, tweak, adjust, and improve, well before you’ve grown bigger. Call such small campaigns “beta tests” internally and externally. “Beta test” lets your audience know you’re still working on a project, and they can expect changes as time in beta goes on.

Tracking your customers’ activities on your website sounds a little Orwellian, but it’s really about continuing to build your relationship with them by offering value. If you know (through tracking) what your customers are doing on your website, you’ll be able to know what kind of personalized content to deliver. You’ll do this through segmentation. Each action you’re able to track allows you to further segment your customers – thus delivering them more and more relevant, valuable, and personalized content.