Being able to attribute your precious time to all aspects of your business, used to be very difficult. But thanks to the process of email automation, it’s become easier to optimise your workflow and improve productivity. Today, we talk about how automation can help your business, for staying connected to your customers.
If you’re new to the concept of email automation to market your content, don’t worry. We’ll break it down for you every step of the way. To get your started on this, here’s a juicy statistic. A survey in 2019 shows that organisations in the UK were leaders in adopting business automation. “67% of business executives in the UK reported a successful outcome of their automation initiatives so far – and are experiencing business benefits as a result,” writes Mark Walker on The Fintech Times.
What is email automation?
We’re glad you asked. It is a marketing tool that lets you schedule and trigger personalised emails, based on the behaviours of your customers. It allows you to send the right content, at the right time, to the right customer. The rules to trigger a personalised email are predefined and after that let the automation do its thing.
What’s an example of email automation?
If you’ve signed up on a website recently, you’ve experienced it. If someone’s trying to hack into your social media, you’ve experienced it. But for the sake of clarity, we’ll share an example of a brand that’s been very successful thanks to their very creative use of this service.
Mumsnet is one of the largest websites dedicated to parenting in the UK. They collect information through an online sign-up form about things such as, name of the expecting parent, email address, estimated date of conception, next appointment with the doctor etc. Based on that information, they schedule regular emails with helpful guides. They also use the date of conception to trigger a automated pregnancy newsletter.
This example helps prove two important things. Stay connected to your customer but also their life experiences, be it through content or a service. And, build trust in your brand by demonstrating that you’re there, when they need you.
What are the benefits of email automation?
There are far too many to cover within the span of this article. We will look at a few which can impact your decision to adopt email automation for your organisation if you haven’t already.
- The process is entirely automatic and requires little to no human intervention: You set up your triggers, specify your criteria, ready your content and you’re done. There is no need to click send and the workflow process remains active 24/7.
- Cost reduction: This comes as a boon to all businesses, but small businesses will greatly benefit from this. Since, they don’t have large sales teams or staff to approach potential customers regularly. This further saves the business from paying extra for admin teams to keep the sales team in check.
- Increased revenue: Because email automation allows you to customise, create and deliver personalised content directly into any part of the customer’s buying journey, it can increase your conversion rates. On top of that, automation services provide insights such as, emails opened, click-through rates, and information on which promotional content was performing the best. Armed with this data, you can refine or tweak your marketing strategy to increase revenue.
- Appear organised and responsive as a business: Thanks to automation, your overall outlook as a business improves. Since everything happens at the right time and is personalised to fit your customer’s needs, it makes the business appear organised and responsible. As a result, it helps to drive sales and increases your brand awareness.
There are plenty of ways that email automation benefits your business workflow, besides the ones we’ve covered so far. If you’re looking for a more detailed take on this topic, check out the article on “Mailchimp.”
Next steps
As a business owner, optimising your time and its attribution to the sectors that need it, is very important. And, if there is a tool or service that runs in the background, saves you money, increases your revenue, and segments and targets customers better, it should be adopted by every business. That’s where we come in. We can support your email marketing or with your content. Learn more about our services.
