Marketing automation software is an incredible tool. And, yes, it makes a marketer’s life easier. But, don’t let yourself fall into the trap of considering it to be an end-all solution.
Marketers who consider their work done when they have an automation software in place are in for a rocky ride. The most crucial part of marketing actually lies in tailoring the strategy and messaging from this point foreword.
Marketing automation is, in its essence, a structure or a medium to ensure that the customer has the best possible experience. But, unless marketers choose to fill up such structures with content that appeals to their customers, it becomes an exercise in futility. It would be pointless to an entrepreneur investing in the best satellites and cables to set up a television company but with no content to beam to the audience.
About 80% of online search is for information that could lead to choosing a brand or provider for purchase. This makes it imperative to have great content. With one of the key aims of marketing automation being to ensure that the right information reaches the right people, optimized content that converts an interested web visitor to a prospect or a customer becomes all the more important.
The standard content used to engage a customer includes advertisements, articles, follow-up emails, reports, webinars, infographics, product brochures, videos and more. Marketing automation, however, goes far beyond placing the most relevant content to anyone who shows interest. The ideal content focuses on the customer, seeks out their exact need and hands over the information that would solve their need in an easy and seamless way with minimal or no manual intervention.
The nature of the content would also depend on the stage of the marketing cycle. For instance, the most relevant content for a casual visitor making a first visit would be an advertisement or a video explaining the product benefits. The appropriate content for a prospect on the verge of converting may be a report that features comparison of the brand versus other brands.
The bottom line is that marketing automation and great content go hand-in-hand. Create content that will engage the prospect and lead to a conversion.
Content is truly the driving force behind any sort of marketing. Without that content, the user has nothing that will help drive traffic to the site.