This might seem like a complicated and expensive process. But it doesn’t have to be. You can start with small steps and continue automating other processes as time and resources permit. Best of all, statistics promise you’ll see major results: 76% of companies that implement marketing automation generate a return on their investment within the first year, with 44% seeing a return in just six months.
In this blog post, we’re breaking down lead funnel automation and giving you clear, actionable tips to implement this type of automation in your business. Here’s what you need to know.
What is a lead funnel?
A lead funnel is the process of attracting new customers. With this systematic approach, a potential customer becomes aware of your brand, expresses interest, and then moves through the steps in your funnel to eventually become a paying customer.
While the steps in a specific funnel can vary, most leads can be sorted into one of three categories. They start at the top of the funnel in the awareness stage before moving to middle-funnel leads, or consideration. Finally, they (hopefully) become bottom-funnel leads, or conversions.
Why you should automate your lead funnel
The number one benefit of automating your sales funnel is that it saves you time. A good marketing campaign can take 17-25 hours a week to create and distribute. Those numbers equal out to 85 hours a month — and that’s a lot of time. Automating this area of your business frees up a substantial amount of your time, so you can invest more in other tasks.
Growth potential is another major draw. 80% of companies report an increase in leads thanks to marketing automation, with 77% of companies also seeing an increase in conversions. Bottom line: Automating your funnel can help your company grow.
Finally, when you automate your funnel, it’s easier to get the key insights and data you need to retarget prospects. Capture customer data through your automated funnel and store that data all in one place so you can easily identify who your audience is and how to best serve them.
Tips for automating your lead funnel
Make the process easy and effective with these helpful tips.
1. Choose the right tools
There are plenty of sales funnel softwares on the market that offer automation options to make your life easier. Most customer relationship management (CRM) tools today include automation. As you’re looking for a tool to use, select one that includes capabilities such as re-engagement, data sync, and email drip campaigns.
2. Create effective content
A lead magnet is a big part of any lead funnel. A lead funnel is a piece of content you give to someone in exchange for their email address or other contact information. This free resource comes at the very beginning of your lead funnel. Common examples include an ebook or a case study.
Make your content better throughout the entire funnel by using automation. One email marketing report shows that the top three most used marketing automation techniques are email automation (64%), profiling and targeting (26%), and personalization through dynamic content (23%). Personalized content is more likely to be effective as it reaches your audience right where they are.
3. Measure and optimize
It’s essential to keep a close eye on the results of your automation, continuing to measure the effectiveness of your lead funnel over time. This will allow you to redirect where necessary so you can convert more leads.
Measure returns from marketing automation using metrics such as click-through rates (CTRs), open rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe or bounce rates.
4. Re-engage prospects
Use data to your advantage to re-engage inactive leads. A targeted re-engagement campaign is a good method of getting these prospects back. Send a series of compelling messages, offering an incentive (such as a coupon, a giveaway, or a free gift as a reward for taking a survey) for them to interact with your company again. This is where all that data comes in handy. For example, use data to send personalized product recommendations to each person.
Keep at it
Automating your lead funnel is going to take some time. You’ll need to keep an eye on this process instead of setting it up and walking away. If you don’t have much time to invest upfront, it’s okay to start off by simply automating one or two processes or steps. You can continue working on your funnel when you have time.
The Extu Digital Marketing Program can help you boost sales in less time by automating your lead funnel for you. With this program, you can generate leads in less than five minutes per month. And it’s 100% vendor-funded. Attract more business without having to make a major investment of money or time. Reach out to our team via our IT partners or brokers program page to learn more today.
