What is Email Marketing Automation?
Email marketing and automation platforms have multiple purposes, one being to drive sales, another to increase conversions, qualified leads and other factors also predetermined to be goals.
Focusing on email marketing, traditional platforms essentially allow you to send email blasts and track parameters like click through and open rate.
Adding automation to your email marketing campaigns enables you to first set conversion goals, and second – automate many of the elements of an email campaign, including:
- Sending thank you emails after a purchase is made
- Gaining insight as to which emails contacts open
- Sending special offers including discounts
- Sending abandoned cart reminders
Marketing automation software is capable of monitoring every digital interaction a lead has with your business, making it more sophisticated than traditional email marketing platforms.
Lead Scoring
Another important component of email marketing and automation is lead scoring. Lead scoring is the process of assigning a value to leads which represent the stage they are at within your conversion funnel. This important aspect can lead to more targeted marketing efforts and cohesiveness between the marketing and sales team, which will in-turn result in increased sales.
Automation creates a sense of connectedness for those on your email list, leading them through the complete marketing journey until the desired action is taken and a conversion occurs.
Finally, you can think of automation in terms of inbound and outbound marketing. Traditional email marketing doesn’t allow marketers to do much but send email blasts, collect minimal data and use it to make optimizations to text in upcoming emails as a result. This process is outbound only.
Automation, however, sends a different message, and quite literally, creates an inbound marketing experience where two way communication is not only something that is sought out, but encouraged.
How to Compare Email Marketing Software
There are a few key elements to be on the lookout for when comparing and selecting the best email marketing software for your marketing needs:
- Pre-designed Mobile-Responsive Templates
- Third-Party Apps/Integrations
- List Segmentation Abilities
- Personalization Capabilities
- Advanced Analytics Tools and A/B Testing Tools
- Heatmaps
- 24/7 Customer Service
- Lead Collection Tools
- Ease-of-use