We all know that running a small-medium enterprise (SME) is not all rainbows and sunshine. Being an SME comes with its own set of challenges: juggling between having budget restraints whilst trying to increase revenue, having to do 101 things in a short time span and many more!
But all brands, big or small, start from somewhere with goals of growing. Fortunately, there are various tools available for SMEs to start their journey towards success. Want to know how businesses can save time, lower costs, whilst improving efficiency?
Marketing Automation: The basics
Marketing Automation is the usage of software platforms to help businesses, big or small, automate an array of marketing & sales engagement activities and processes. The end goal is to save time, save cost, and improve efficiency that will eventually lead to increase in profit.
Research shows that an average marketer spends around 16 hours a week on their marketing tasks: with sending emails taking 3.48 hours a week, and creating landing pages taking 3.2 hours a week.
So...how does it help with:
1. Saving time
‘Time is money’ is an infamous phrase that we’ve all heard of before, and it’s true! Every second spent on manual and repetitive tasks (that could otherwise be automated) is time wasted that you could’ve spent on tasks that require brainstorming or creativity!
There are many repetitive tasks that take up a whole lot of your time, including:
- Sending ‘thank you’ emails to people who have signed up for your newsletter
- Reminding your salespersons to do follow-up calls
- Generating sales and marketing reports manually
And many more!
Did you know?
88% of marketers believe that automation helps them in reducing the time spent on preparing reports and analysis, allowing them to have more time working on campaign strategy.
Most Marketing Automation tools such as Constant Contact Lead Gen and CRM have Email Automation and Automated Reports & Analytics features that will help you save time! Email Automation allows specific emails to be sent as appropriate times when certain actions (i.e., triggers) are done by users. Automated Reports & Analytics will allow you to get insights on how well you’re doing in terms of sales and what are the next steps for your business without having to open an Excel Sheet!
2. Lowering costs
Does your heart sink every time you look at the figures spent on campaigns, SEO, and ads? Not to mention the amount spent on your overheads (if any). Being a SMEs, budgeting always hinders your business’ means to scale; it’s no easy task balancing between trying to cut corners where necessary whilst still trying to scale up.
Did you know?
78% of successful marketers say that marketing automation is most responsible for improving revenue.
Lowering costs is at the heart of all-in-one Marketing Automation platforms such as Constant Contact Lead Gen and CRM, where SMEs can decrease their headcount by handling everything within the platform itself! From features such as email, landing page, and form builders to behaviour tracking capabilities, you can save cost on engaging with 3rd parties to help you with these and instead, DIY!
From the cost saved from unnecessary overheads, SMEs can channel resources into research & development, content curation, and even campaign ideation (i.e., tasks that require more creativity and a human touch).
3. Maximising efficiency
Marketing Automation tools are packed with features that will help you perform your marketing tasks more effectively and efficiently. This includes:
- Lead scoring: Assign scores to your leads based on specific actions that they have carried out with your brand. This way, you can spend less time figuring who is likely to convert and encourage those most likely to convert.
- Workflows for sales performance: Create workflows that work themselves out with minimal supervision. All you have to do is monitor them from time to time and tweak visual workflows where needed! Never have to manually send ‘thank you’ emails nor inform your sales people to follow up ever again!
Did you know?
77% of business owners had an increase in conversions after using marketing automation software.
What's next for you?
We all know that 24 hours a day just isn’t enough. Hence, you need to be able to do more with less time, whilst ensuring that the output of your work is maximised without compromising on quality! Being a marketing tool powered by OpenMinds, we’ve helped clients all the way from generating leads down to the sales pipeline. All while minimising cost and maximising efficiency. Reach us out and we will help you to understand how marketing automation tools can benefit your business.
It might be overwhelming–wanting to save cost, save time, and increase efficiency–when you don’t have that much budget or manpower to begin with. However, with the help of Marketing Automation tools, you can do less with more and maximise your results!
