Marketing Automation and Email Marketing Services

The Right Message at the Right Time

The days of “spray and pray” email marketing are over – if you want to use email to generate new business and keep customers in the loop, you’ve got to get it right. The problem with the old way of sending newsletters and promotions is that it only resonates with your average audience member. Go ahead: ask your new prospects if they’d like to be thought of as “average.”

The companies that win big don’t shoot for the middle. They take risks by talking like they mean it to the people who are listening. Getting the language right isn’t always easy, but saying just the right thing to just the right people is worth the effort. That said, until very recently even the most skilled email marketers could spend years nailing down the perfect combination of messages and rhythm for specific segments.

Marketing automation changes the game. By hooking up rule-based email sequences with pinpoint tracking and personalization, your organization can nurture leads and optimize marketing spend with the agility of a company 10 times your size.

Marketing automation gives you the power to:

• Get unprecedented intel on your web visitors. Know what pages and content prospects interact with – as they’re doing it.
• Send one-to-one emails in real-time. Automatically personalize email content based on the information you collect about prospects.
• Feed your sales team qualified leads. Trigger notifications to sales when the time is right, and provide them more information on leads than they’ve ever had before.
• Iterate, improve and expand. Split test, adjust over time to maximize program effectiveness.
• Integrate with your site, CRM and phone system. Bridge the gap between your website, advertising, phone and CRM to understand what marketing actions lead to sales.

This critical component can completely change how you turn leads to customers. But what should you look for in a marketing automation agency?

• Experience. Marketing automation is a brave new world – but don’t be surprised when agencies act like they’ve been doing it forever. Ask to see client programs in action to find out whether suitors walk the walk as well as they talk the talk.
• Flexibility. Most agencies pick one marketing automation platform and force-feed it to clients as the end-all-be-all solution for every business. We think you ought to be able to make choices. Upward approaches every client’s situation with fresh eyes to recommend the right tools for the job – even if it costs us a vendor commission.
• Longevity. Automation is a marathon, not a sprint. If your agency talks about your email strategy like a series of campaigns instead of a self-sustaining program, it’s time to find a new agency.

Learn more about what makes marketing automation special – and what your organization should expect from an agency to make it worthwhile. Contact us for a free evaluation of your current email practice – or a free set of recommendations for how to get started.