Marketing automation is a powerful tool for businesses to use to generate leads. Marketing automation software, like Keap, helps you automate many of the repetitive tasks involved in lead generation and marketing, freeing up your time so that you can focus on more important aspects of your business. You don’t have to be a marketing guru, or an IT expert, to create automated campaigns. Marketing automation is the best way for small business owners with limited time and resources to generate leads that convert into sales. In this article, we will discuss how marketing automation can help you get more customers by generating leads and nurturing them until they are ready to buy!
Not everyone is ready to buy on their first interaction with you, so it’s important to continue to nurture them, building relationships and trust all along the way until they’re ready to become a customer. Think of a garden full of green tomatoes…there is nothing wrong with the tomatoes, they’re just not ripe yet! It would make no sense to rip them out of the ground and start over simply because they’re not ripe yet…they just need a little water and some tender loving care, until they become red and ripe and are ready to eat.
And yet, small to medium-size business owners often seem to think they need more leads…more leads…MORE LEADS! …in order to grow their business, when nothing is wrong with the leads they have in the first place, they’re just not ripe yet – they’re not yet ready to buy.
So how do we capture more leads and nurture them into paying customers?
Step One
Step one is to take the time to identify what’s important to your customers. Who are they? Where do they hang out? What do they read or who do they follow? What PAIN do they have, and how can you help them solve it? What are their fears, and what are their possible objections to the sale? The better you understand your audience, and the more specific you can be about who your ideal customer is, the more they are likely to hear you and connect with you. They will seek you out!
After you’ve identified who your ideal customer is and what’s important to them, then you need a strategy. You can’t just “wing it” and hope for the best – that never works!
Once you have your customer insights and strategies in place, then it’s time to execute these ideas with a marketing automation software like Keap. With Keap you can create automated campaigns that are personalized and relevant to the individual. Imagine a pet store with customers who own dogs, cats, and fish. The dog owners don’t care about cat food, and cat owners don’t care about fish tanks. With Keap, you can send dog owners relevant information about dogs, and cat owners relevant information about cats. This is called “market segmentation” and helps your customers pay attention because they are receiving only relevant information from you about things they care about.
Step Two
Step two is to set up an automated system that can segment your leads according to their interests, nurture them with relevant information, and give them a “Call To Action” – a small offer that’s easy to say “yes” to. Remember – the most difficult buying decision your prospective customers will ever have to make is the first one, because it fundamentally changes their relationship with you. So make the first purchase an easy one!
Step Three
Step three is to track everything. Metrics are important – knowing where your leads are coming from and what they respond to allows you to better focus your efforts and resources on what’s working best.
To sum up: The best way for small business owners with limited time and resources to generate leads that convert into sales is through nurture powered by marketing automation.
For more information about Marketing Automation or for a free trial of Keap, visit www.zebramarketingsolutions.com.