We Know Your Secret ... You're Still Not Using Marketing Automation

Triggered email, drip campaigns, automated email ... whatever you want to call it, you know you need it. And the longer you go without it, the further behind you're falling with your customers. Worse! You're missing major opportunities to move the needle, qualify leads, or close a sale.

On the Portent blog, Matthew Taufa'Asau is calling you out. And he's right. "Companies that use marketing automation see a 451% increase in qualified leads. So, why would you leave money on the table? Money that you’ve likely already spent attracting people to your website?"

There's also an infographic from the Annuitas Group, so we know it's true (sarcasm).

But a 451% increase is nothing to scoff at. 50% would be too high.

You know you need to do this. You may have even convinced your boss that your thank you email is the beginning of an automated email series, but we both know it's not. So you're late to the party, who cares? Start now.

Here's what to do:

1. Look for any contact forms or information sign ups on your site. 
2. Connect them (via MailChimp, Hubspot, or another marketing CRM) to an automated email pathway and ensure that you can measure actions (opens, click throughs, etc.).
3. Part of the reason you haven't done this yet is likely because you have multiple offers and sign-ups on your site and you want to personalize your email series for each one. It's admirable, and you can do this later. But first you need to start, and something is far, far, far, better than nothing.
4. Write 3-5 emails. Welcome people, tell them about how to find what they need, send them information they're looking for, tell them what to expect, offer them a discount, invite them to subscribe to your blog. With each email, take them deeper into a relationship with you and prepare them to take an action.
5. Measure, test, experiment. Now that you have something going, you can improve on it. It's far easier to tweak emails across a series you've already created than write multiple email pathways from scratch. Give yourself a break and remember that perfect is the enemy of the good. 

The reality is that your competitors either are already doing this and you are falling behind more every day, or they aren't and you can easily move far ahead of them by starting. Go get 'em.