Don’t you just wish there were more than 24 hours in a day? As an entrepreneur, you have SO MUCH on your plate. And sadly some of these tasks don’t even require your professional skills. It would be so much easier to set something on autopilot. But this solution exists. It is called marketing automation.
Marketing automation is a series of emails that go out without any manual effort. You write a set of emails once and then they go to different people when they need it most.
Automate routine communications and get more time and energy for the strategic work only you can do
Do more of what you do best: with scheduling hassles and interruptions gone, your day is cleared for accomplishment.
The key benefits of email marketing automation are:
- automate repetitive tasks and save time
- get more leads
- scale your business
What is a sales funnel?
The famous term ‘sales funnel’ means the combination of several steps.
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- Create a lead magnet to collect emails from potential buyers (leads)
- Build trusted relationships with your leads by sending them useful information on a regular basis
- Introduce your offer relevant to the previous email series
- Close a sale
1. Lead generation – collect targeted emails
The emails you collect will determine the success of your funnel. You may collect thousands, but nobody will buy anything. And vice versa, you may have just a couple of hundred subscribers, and 60% will happily buy your service (or product).
That is why it is especially important at this stage to remember your target audience and your customer persona. When creating a lead magnet, keep in mind their problems and needs. Your lead magnet must offer an easy and quick solution to those problems.
This way you will be able to provide them with even more relevant content in your messaging and eventually close the sale. Because you have attracted people who need your help from the start.
Creating the right lead magnet is a highly strategic step of your sales funnel. So take time to think it through and create valuable content. Don’t forget about the design – packaging is an important part of every sale. To save time and money on the design you can use lead magnet templates in my previous post.
2. Lead nurturing – build trusted relationships
Send your leads relevant information to establish yourself as an expert. Make sure this information is valuable to your readers and relevant to their needs. And stay consistent. Consistency is the key to successful email marketing.
Consistently delivering high-quality content is often hard though. It takes time to generate ideas. create effective copy, and design engaging visuals. This is where automation comes into the picture.
Instead of coming up with new ideas every week or even a few times a week, craft a perfect sequence once. But give it your best shot. Carefully plan your emails as if you were answering a potential buyer’s questions. Remember: you do not simply write for the sake of writing something and staying visible. Make sure your messaging is aligned with your clients’ needs. Gently move them down your sales funnel – one step at a time.
The number of emails in your email funnel may vary. 2 emails could be too little. This is not enough to establish a trusted relationship with your audience. On the other hand, 10 may be too much. Be prepared to lose some leads along the way. The longer you wait, the more people you will lose. The best amount for an email marketing funnel is 4 – 6 emails.
3. Sales pitch: introduce your offer
Once you have built a trusted relationship with your audience it’s time to sell. Present your offer in the right way. There is an art to selling, you know 🙂 While people feel comfortable getting your free advice, they may feel less comfortable when you invite them to open their wallets.
Here is how you make a compelling offer:
- Write at least five emails – a proven way to get your customers’ attention
- Make sure the first email in your sequence focuses on a SPECIFIC problem your client is facing.
- In your next emails give them good reasons to buy (perhaps, testimonials, success stories, or a money-back guarantee)
- Create urgency: invite them to buy now in each email. Set timer.
4. Payment: close a sale
Now that your client is ready to buy, make sure your payment solution is working. Make it hassle-free for your customers. If you are using my preferred tool GetResponse you can connect your PayPal and Stripe accounts. This means your clients can pay with a card or via PayPal.
Email marketing automation
All of the above works exceptionally well. The ROI on email marketing is 4400%. This means for every dollar invested, you get 44 back.
It also sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it?
But it doesn’t have to be. You can automate your marketing. Create a perfect sequence that goes to your clients. Like a sales robot that works 24/7 to make sure your business thrives.
Guess what, this robot exists. It’s called marketing automation.
All you need to do is write a perfect email sequence once and it will go to your customers automatically – when they are ready for it.
The first and most important automation you need to set up is a welcome sequence. Once someone signed up for your lead magnet, send them useful content that resolves their problems, as mentioned before in this post.
The difference is you don’t need to do it manually. Once someone signs up, they automatically board on a client journey you have created for them.
Here are a few benefits of the automated sequence as opposed to manually approaching people:
- Save your time on tracking new signups and sending them your content. Instead, focus on the strategic tasks only you can do.
- Personalize your emails. Whether you are a love coach or a career consultant, our clients are at a different stage of their journey. With automation you can make sure, you reach your clients at the right stage when they are ready to buy.
- Craft a perfectly performing email. Using the analytics on your emails you can see which parts work best and which parts need improvement. Fix your messaging to meet the expectation of your customers.
Automated email marketing has proved to be much more effective than regular newsletters. Here are some useful stats
- 33% more long-term engagement with your company
- 4x the open rates and 5x the click rates compared to general newsletters.
- 3x the transactions and revenue per email compared to regular promotional emails.
To set up email marketing automation you need a reliable email marketing platform. I have reviewed the 7 best email marketing tools. See which one works best for you.
Need support with your email marketing? Take a look at the email marketing services I offer. Send me a message and let’s see how we can work together to get you more clients.
