Some say that marketing automation and social media make the perfect pair. I have to agree.
Automation software has come a long way over the last handful of years, making it accessible for both small and large businesses. It’s an effective way to manage and track all types of marketing efforts across all types of channels.
When it comes to social media, automation is especially advantageous because you can use it to analyze leads and sales. It’s a great way to validate what you are doing on your social channels.
If you haven’t made the most of the marketing automation-social media relationship, this post is for you. We are going to explore how automation and social media can work together to make magic happen for your business.
Understand Where Leads are Coming From
To begin, let’s discuss how what an automation program can do in this sense. In a nutshell, marketing automation can track how people get to your site, which pages they view, what emails they open and so on.
Using this information, you can nurture your prospects and turn them into qualified leads. With further nurturing and the right offers at the right time, you can turn leads into customers, and customers into loyal advocates.
The reason why marketing automation is such a powerful tool in this manner is because you can identify where your leads are coming from and the state of mind they are in. It makes a difference if a prospect is coming from Facebook versus LinkedIn, and being able to determine this and modify your message can have a huge impact on whether the customer buys your product.
Track Social Media Activity
In order to understand what is going on on your social media channels, you will have to set up the basic marketing automation features to get a tracking code. When your campaigns and tracking codes are in place, you can begin tracking your social media channels.
For instance, if you post a link on Twitter, you have the option to add a tracking code to the end of that link. When someone clicks on the link, they are taken to your website, and the marketing automation software will document that the lead came from a social media channel and which channel it was. (FYI, you can use a URL shortener service like Bitly.com to shorten your link so that it’s not too long.)
Make Sense of the Data
When people click on your link, you will acquire a wealth of data. As you analyze the data, identify which channels bring you the most traffic. For example, if you find that Instagram is one of your top channels, you can focus more on your Instagram audience. On the other hand, you might find that some channels can be cut back on.
Not only should you be looking at the traffic that is coming to your site, but also what channels are giving you the highest conversion rates, and what types of posts and messages encourage prospects to take action. With this information, you can fine tune your messaging to fit the needs of your audience.
Build Stronger Relationships
Marketing automation and social media can also work together to establish stronger relationships with customers. Both have similar goals of communicating and building connections, so using them in tandem allows you to deliver information effectively and efficiently.
Essentially, social media is the first touchpoint that introduces a customer to your brand and brings them to your website. After the customer arrives at your site, it’s up to marketing automation to capture their data and nurture them through the funnel using content and incentives.
Conclusion
Marketing automation is an amazing tool that a lot of businesses have implemented. Social media and automation are now a dynamic duo that can be used to personalize experiences for customers and increase sales. As the busy holiday season approaches, now is a great time to understand how you can integrate these two platforms to make the most of the relationships you have on social media.
