Are you making the most of email automation in your marketing? Email automation is like having a personal assistant for your marketing. It helps you send the right emails to the right people at the right time to build better relationships with your customers without spending all day on it. You'll save time, be more efficient, and get better results, all while your emails do the work for you.
But how exactly does email automation work, and why is it so effective? In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of email automation, share practical examples, and show you how to integrate it into your strategy to achieve measurable results.
Email automation works alongside software to send pre-scheduled or triggered emails to your audience based on specific actions or timelines. Unlike manual email campaigns, automation ensures your messages are timely, relevant, and personalised without requiring constant oversight.
For example, a subscriber who signs up for your newsletter might instantly receive a welcome email with helpful resources. Or, a customer who abandons their shopping cart could be sent a reminder with a special discount to complete their purchase.
By automating these touchpoints, businesses can provide their audience a seamless and engaging experience while freeing up time for other high-value tasks.
1. You show your customers they’re important. You can do that by using separate automations with targeted content for different audience segments. This way, you’ll show your customers and prospects that you really do understand them, rather than just lumping them all in the same “monthly newsletter” bucket.
Example: don’t just send a monthly newsletter to EVERYONE in your mailing list. Create a few separate emails for your different segments (whatever they may be). You might change, for example, the introduction, the first piece of content or the subject line. You don’t have to create a whole new email – even a little effort to set it up will be well worth it. Segmentation has been demonstrated to reduce unsubscribe rates by ensuring customers only receive content relevant to their needs and interests.
2. Through email automation, you can get precise data on who downloads your content so you can nurture your prospects with the information they want. If you’re someone that loves stats and figures, you’ll be able to report on who downloads what and who clicks on what links. Over time, this will enable you to create clearer customer profiles.
Example: You should show your content on a spectrum from the top of the funnel to the bottom. You can then overlay your data to determine how far down the sales cycle your prospects are. Your sales team will love it! This data can also help refine your overall marketing strategy, such as tailoring social media campaigns or updating website content to align with what resonates most with your audience.
3. Email automation saves time in the long run. I’m not going to argue – it takes time and effort to get successful automations up and running. But the thing is, once they’re done, they’re nurturing your prospects and customers for you with little input needed.
Example: you could ‘outsource’ your onboarding cycle for new customers with a well-crafted automation sequence. It might take you a week to set up, but it’ll save you months in the long-term. And you don’t have to lose the human touch with some effort on your tone of voice. Automation can handle tons of subscribers, no matter how big or small your business gets! It doesn't care if you have a thousand people on your list or a hundred thousand; you'll still get that smooth, consistent communication.
4. It can shorten your sales and marketing cycle and help you make the most of the resources you have. Instead of a continued “just following up” email or call, your sales team (or you – if you’re a solopreneur) can instead focus on adding value to your prospects through the use of targeted and informative content.
Example: Your killer piece of sales content could be delivered to prospects suffering from inertia, while those who have just signed up can keep the good vibes flowing with a feel-good video or personal story. By integrating your email automation with your CRM system, you can ensure that your sales team receives real-time updates on lead behaviour, enabling them to prioritise high-value prospects and close deals faster.
5. You can sort the valuable leads from the not-so-valuable. Over time, you can monitor your contacts' interactions with your email automation and provide them with a score as to how beneficial a lead they are. You can get the whole company involved with a clever addition or two.
Example: most CRM systems with lead scoring will let you set notifications and actions based on score changes. So, if a lead’s score jumps over the weekend, your sales team will have a reminder waiting for them on Monday morning to get in touch. In addition, lead scoring insights can guide your content creation efforts by showing what resonates most with your high-value prospects, allowing you to produce more content that drives results.
6. You’ll increase customer retention. We all know the saying, “It’s cheaper to maintain an existing customer than win a new one.” Automated campaigns created using targeted and valuable content can go a long way toward demonstrating to your existing customers why they should stay with you.
Example: Regular emails are a great way to stay ‘top of mind’. As you develop your sequences, you can subtly communicate what’s relevant to long-term customers – how good your service is or your exciting new product or feature. Retention-focused automation doesn’t just maintain relationships; it can also drive additional revenue. For instance, targeted emails about complementary products or exclusive upgrades can encourage repeat purchases and deepen customer loyalty.
As business leaders, we generally get a lot of emails every day. So, the one thing you want to ensure your email automations do is to set you apart from other companies or contacts.
Be creative, but also ensure you choose the right audience for the right topic. Email automation doesn’t have to make you cringe, and it can, in fact, be highly beneficial to both you – and your intended target. Go about it the right way, and you’re further on your path to marketing success.
How about adding email automation to your marketing? Here’s how to get started:
Choose an email automation platform that suits your business needs and integrates well with your existing tools.
Identify what you want to achieve, such as increasing sales, nurturing leads, or boosting engagement.
Divide your audience into smaller groups based on demographics, behaviour, or interests.
Create automated sequences for key customer journey scenarios, such as onboarding, abandoned carts, or event reminders.
Continuously analyse your campaign performance to spot opportunities, make improvements, and boost your ROI.
At The Marketing Project, we specialise in making email automation work smarter for B2B businesses. We focus on personalised workflows, impactful content, and data-driven improvements to ensure your campaigns deliver accurate results.
TMP has a team of experts with experience across various industries who can develop a customised email automation strategy to achieve your business's specific goals and challenges. TMP can help you achieve measurable success with email automation, whether you're just starting or looking to improve your current strategy.
Ready to level up the benefits of email automation for your business? Contact TMP today, and let’s create a strategy that works for you.
Let's talk!
