Imagine the following scenario: You decided on inbound marketing some time ago and have already been able to generate a few leads. But now you are faced with a problem: You are unsure how to deal with the leads you have gained. You also slowly lose track of your contacts. And what good are leads if you can’t convert them into customers? Right – not much. But inbound marketing has a solution to your problem: With marketing automation or, more precisely, with marketing automation workflows, you can plan how to deal with your leads and thus successfully turn them into your customers.
What are Marketing Automation Workflows?
Before you set up marketing automation workflows, you should know what they are all about. Let’s start from the beginning.
Inbound marketing describes a form of marketing that, in contrast to cold calling, is designed to attract customers by letting them come across a company themselves and be convinced by it. There is a myriad of methods and features that support this process. Here, the topic of MarTech plays the main role: technology solutions that can be used for a variety of purposes in marketing. Content creation usually comes first and is supplemented by CTAs (calls to action), landing pages or forms that a visitor fills out when downloading an offer. All these parts have to be put together and the “nurturing process” automated.
This is where workflows come into play. Workflows simply describe the organization of work processes in a company. Tasks to be completed are divided into parts, described in detail and their processes are defined. The result is a sequence of operations to which either executing persons or – as in our case – automated mechanisms are assigned.
In inbound marketing, workflows are set up with the aim of guiding people through the inbound marketing funnel, i.e. transferring them from lead to customer using relevant content, so-called lead nurturing workflows. This is usually done via email. Old school you think? On the contrary! Read this article for more information .
There are two ways of triggering the workflow, i.e. triggering it:
First, leads can be manually added to smart lists. This creates a so-called digital profile of the lead – what makes him special, what has he already been interested in and what could interest him in the future? With the answers to these questions, you can then tailor the content of your workflow perfectly to your target group.
On the other hand, filling out a form can start a workflow. Each lead that makes use of a specific offer is added to a workflow tailored to it.
Set goals
The goal is at the beginning of every project. We’re sure your marketing strategy has some long-term goals. So why not also the campaigns that you start using workflows? Only when you know what you want to achieve can you work towards it.
In addition, each workflow requires a fixed endpoint. As soon as the set goal is reached, the campaign for the relevant lead is stopped. After all, you don’t want to provide your lead with irrelevant content or content that they’ve already responded to, such as through a download. Targeted workflows guide your lead through the individual process stages and stop them as soon as the defined goal has been reached.
Streamline your workflows
The first question that arises with every workflow is whether it makes sense. First of all, count the active contacts in your workflow – if there are only a few contacts that you supply in your workflow, it may not be worth the effort. You should either delete the workflow entirely or work on filling it with leads – for example by creating additional helpful content.
Low click rates are also an indication of the lack of success of a workflow. You should check these at regular intervals. If you find that the click-through rates are too low, you should work on optimizing your email.
Use your workflows in a variety of ways
An automated workflow is not only helpful when it comes to sending e-mails. It can also be helpful to use workflows when connecting marketing and sales. Certain lead actions can trigger a workflow, which in turn informs a sales employee about the action. This enables him to precisely assess the stage of the lead and respond to it with inbound sales .
In addition, workflows can be set up with the help of which your database is regularly cleaned automatically. This is especially useful when forms have been filled out with incorrect data. Helpful don’t you think?
Conclusion
Why make life difficult when you can make it easy? Exactly, actually there is no reason. Precisely because of their power, marketing automation workflows have become a popular marketing tool – maybe soon in your company too!