Embracing digital marketing automation seems like a smart move. However, this isn't without its own set of challenges.
Before we jump in, let's first break down what automated marketing is all about.
What's Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation is a strategy that allows your marketing teams to use tools to strengthen relationships with existing customers, create strategies to attract new ones and offload many repetitive tasks, allowing teams to focus on more creative aspects of marketing.
Rapid technological growth, particularly in Artificial Intelligence (AI), has accelerated the adoption.
While marketing automation can be a great helper to any business, it does have its downsides.
The Mixed Bag of Automated Marketing
Here are a few potential pitfalls that can help your team use these tools more wisely and effectively.
Keeping Customer Engagement Real
Many manufacturers and dealers have started using automated responses to customer queries through various channels such as emails, social media, or website chatbots.
While these can reduce the need for human involvement, relying too much on automation can create problems if not managed well.
A balanced approach, where customers can move seamlessly from automated responses to human service agents, offers a smoother and more personal customer service experience.
Handling Social Media the Right Way
Social media has become a vital platform for car businesses to connect with customers. As a business grows, managing social media can become more time-consuming.
Many smaller companies use automated services to help address this, but relying too much on automation can create problems down the line, potentially harming your brand's reputation.
Humans must still monitor and manage social media performance, ensuring timely and human interactions are maintained.
Budget Considerations
While most marketing automation platforms can solve immediate issues effectively, they can become expensive over time, mainly if used to address minor problems.
Carefully evaluating today's and tomorrow's costs is essential to ensure they don't become prohibitively expensive when their usage grows.
Keeping your Brand's Unique Voice
Companies are constantly seeking new ways to personalise messages to customers. Automated tools, including AI algorithms, can help target the right audience with customised messages.
However, finding the right balance between automation and a personal touch is crucial. Over-reliance on automation can make you lose your unique voice and authenticity, making messages feel repetitive and robotic over time.
Recommendations
Embarking on the marketing automation journey is an exciting opportunity and a substantial commitment.
In today's market, hundreds of marketing automation tools are available, making selecting the perfect one challenging.
If you're just dipping your toes into the water, starting with a straightforward and budget-friendly tool to automate some of your existing email and SMS campaigns might be the best start.
This initial step will be a great learning curve and help you gauge what functionalities you'll require in the long run. As you grow more comfortable, you can gradually transition to a more comprehensive solution capable of handling web personalisation, push notifications, direct mail, and paid advertising strategies.
If diving right in seems a bit too ambitious, take a step back and envision the ideal customer experience you aim to cultivate in the future. Once you have a clear picture, craft detailed customer journey maps to bring this vision to life. Prioritise these journeys and seek a tool that aligns with your roadmap, offering the necessary functionalities for your current and future needs without wasting your budget. Ideally, you want to avoid paying for features you won't need until a few years later.
Best of luck with your selection process, and remember, we're here to assist you in any way we can – don't hesitate to reach out!
