Here Is A List Of What To Look For When You Are Choosing Your Marketing Automation Tool
Your marketing automation tool should have the ability to …
• Create “ if-then ” sequences and automate the management of those sequences based on what the prospect / client does .
• Provide a variety of “ triggers ” for the sequences , such as link clicks , web form-fills , purchases , appointment bookings , no responses , and more .
• Have all leads that opt in to ANY web form be instantly entered into your customer relationship management system . It should create a series of tasks that enables someone to qualify the lead and call to follow up . It should also automate an email follow-up sequence which then STOPS if they book an appointment , say they ’ re not interested , or don ’ t buy .
• Automate a variety of campaigns , NOT just email and digital . Can it automate direct mail campaigns , event promotion and follow-up , webinars , telemarketing campaigns , and other multimedia campaigns ?
• Conduct Boolean searches and reports BASED on ANY contact data , such as industry , products owned / services they have , purchase history , campaign response , date entered , call status , title , and more .
• Run searches and reports QUICKLY ( as in within a few minutes ) to create a list segment to target for a campaign .
• Plug in a dialer so your inside salespeople can make calls faster AND allow you to track their call activity , track their call outcomes , and record the call ( and the audio file of the recording ) right in that prospect ’ s record .
• Plug in an online calendar to allow prospects and clients to automatically book an appointment with you 100 % on their own .
• Plug into your primary line-of-business application as well as other commonly used applications . Does it have an open and developer-friendly application program interface ?
• Track all email activity as well as RESPONSE TO ALL CAMPAIGNS , phone calls , and purchase history on ALL campaigns ( direct mail , social media , web forms , phone calls , in-person meetings , etc .).
• Handle your opt-outs , bounces , and spam reports automatically .
• Provide robust reporting on conversions for ALL touch points in the marketing and sales cycle .
Marketing automation will absolutely save you time and headaches in marketing by removing manual work and making you more efficient , but it also enables you to make smarter business decisions based on the insight it gives you into your marketing and sales — if and when you choose the RIGHT tool . Be selective , picky , and discerning when choosing yours . n
Full disclosure : We do have a horse in this race . We design , resell , and support an MSP-specific version of Infusionsoft ( a TRUE marketing system ) to our clients called Robin ’ s MAP Infusionsoft . For more info on MAP , check out MSPMarketing- CRM . com .
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 7 • MSPSUCCESSMAGAZINE . COM | 9