So, you’ve succeeded in bringing visitors to your website - great! You’ve even managed to turn some of them into paying customers - even better. But how do you now keep your business blossoming?
One tried-and-tested method is marketing automation. This technology automates a variety of marketing activities, so you can rest assured that your customers are receiving the attention they deserve. Not only will you provide them with a personalized experience, but your business will also reap the benefits.
In fact, out of the 284 million site visitors we tested, we found that the ones who received an automated response were 42% more likely to make a purchase on that website.
Whether you already run a fully functioning business or are in the process of finding a professional website builder to bring your vision to life, this guide to marketing automation will explain how this method can greatly benefit your business, and which features you’ll want to use:
What is marketing automation?
Marketing automation is a platform that enables the automation of marketing tasks across different online channels. Businesses can use it to target users at strategic points throughout their customer journey, sending them automated messages via email, live chat or other modes of communication.
While this marketing tool can be implemented across many different channels and campaigns, from social media marketing to landing pages, it’s especially common in email marketing. For example, you can send an automated email to a customer that has just purchased tickets to an event of yours, or follow up with them after the event to ask for feedback. Likewise, you can send automated email drip campaigns to engage new subscribers and drive sales.
Marketing automation software, such as a CRM, can be used to make processes within your business run more efficiently, as it reduces the amount of time spent on repetitive tasks. It also lets you provide customers with content that is more personalized and specific to their needs. In turn, this can help you nurture leads, convert website visitors into customers and maintain positive relationships with existing customers.
Main uses for marketing automation
Whether you own an online store or a fashion blog, your business can benefit from this technique. While the offering varies across platforms, the following marketing automation features are all part of Wix marketing tools:
Online stores: Automatically email your customers after they’ve made a purchase, with anything from a receipt, to a thank you note and more. Additionally, if a site visitor has added an item to their cart, but not proceeded to purchase it, you can send them a friendly reminder. By customizing the design of your email and nailing the copy to fit your brand identity, you can build a positive relationship with the customer, without being too forceful.
Bookings: If your website enables online scheduling, you can utilize marketing automation to check in on clients that haven’t attended a class or session in a while. This extra bit of personal attention will make them feel valued. And if you want to go a step further, why not treat them to something special once they’ve participated in a certain number of sessions?
Events: Hosting a party, conference or concert? If you have an events website, you can win your guests over by sending them automated emails once they’ve purchased a ticket, RSVP’d to an event or been added to a waiting list.
Forms: Online forms are a known method of generating new leads. Whether your form encourages visitors to subscribe to your newly started blog, or functions as the main feature of your landing page, make the most out of it using marketing automation. Once a visitor has submitted a form on your site, you can send them an automatic message, welcoming them to your business.
Member’s area: Have a special area of your site dedicated to members only? Treat your most loyal customers as VIPs by sending them automated messages once they’ve signed up for the first time, or each time they log in. What’s more, you can set triggers to automatically create a task for yourself or your team members, reminding you to follow up with a phone call, for example.
Invoices: When it comes to making purchases online, people like to know exactly how much they’re spending for each item. You can use an invoice generator to keep your customers up-to-date on the status of their payments. After adding relevant details about your business, you’ll be able to create a fully customized invoice that can be emailed to your clients directly.
Best practices for marketing automation
You may have your email automation strategy down to a tee, but when it comes to marketing automation, there are different aspects to take into account. Here are a few tips on perfecting your automations:
Tailor each customer’s experience to make them feel like an individual. Make sure you’re contacting them in the right context to keep it personal. For example, consider sending a welcome email to a new subscriber, or a follow-up message to see how a client is feeling after a yoga class.
Keep generating new leads. While marketing automation is great for nurturing existing leads, make sure you’re not abandoning your inbound lead generation strategy (or in other words, the marketing activities you use to promote your website and bring more eyes to it). This way, you’ll keep your options open and grow your leads, while simultaneously tending to the leads you’ve already attained.
Define goals that are specific, realistic and measurable. Ask yourself what you set out to achieve through marketing automation. Do you want to increase sales by 20% within the next six months? Or utilize an email marketing campaign to improve customer retention by 10% this year? Once you’re clear on your goals, you’ll be able to check your progress, instead of aimlessly sending out content to leads and customers.
Measure your progress by checking your automation statistics. Are people responding better to a certain type of message? Have you noticed specific leads who are more regularly engaged? Or any that haven’t opened your emails at all? Insights such as these can help you adapt your strategy accordingly, to make sure you’re targeting the right prospects and optimizing your efforts by keeping things fresh and relevant.
How to access automations on Wix
Any marketeer will tell you that having a top-notch website design is one thing, but if you really want to grow your business, you’ll have to do more than that. As well as making use of these Wix marketing integrations, here’s how you can access automations on Wix:
Head over to your site’s dashboard.
Click ‘Customer Management’ on the menu on the left-hand side.
Click ‘Automations’ to reach the marketing automation page.
Use one of the recommended templates or create your own automation. You’ll then be asked to set a trigger (the event that initiates the automatic response) and an action (the reaction, for example sending out an email or a live chat message, creating a task for yourself and so on).
Once you’ve created your automation, you’re good to go. Remember to analyze the performance of your automations so that you can keep optimizing and successfully growing your business.
Marketing Automation FAQ
What are examples of marketing automation?
Examples of marketing automation include reminder emails, survey and feedback requests, and trigger campaigns that nurture leads throughout the buyer's journey.