Automated Marketing

I.R. Gilyeat & Company

A advisory firm that creates blueprints for company growth

Automated Marketing is an approach to demand generation that relies on content, business rules, technology and business processes that seamlessly and automatically enable a series of interactions to occur between a buyer and a seller of goods or services.

Automated marketing epitomizes a customer experience that is personalized, measurable, transactional and integrated. It occurs by design and not by accident. It frequently resembles a sequence of events that mimic the human experience or mother nature. It is built for the purpose of developing ongoing relationships and creates value for those companies and individuals who embrace it.

Some find it helpful to think in terms of problem solving or improvement of specific business situations. A few examples:

Poor lead followup. This is a common problem in many companies and it doesn't matter whether your company is in the "go-go" stage and you have more leads than you can effectively handle, or you're a Fortune 1000 company and everyone pays attention to your big customers but ignores the little guys. Poor lead follow-up can be an embarassing problem and quickly makes waste of marketing campaigns that are effective or sales resources that just have too much to do.
Low lead conversion rates. Inherent in poor lead follow-up is a sales cycle that loses the opportunity before you get a chance to close the deal. Sales opportunties die quickly if follow-up is not consistent, professional and in cadence with the prospect. Think of links like fresh produce. Both items are perishable and they need to be taken advantage of while they are fresh.
High customer churn. If you have a large customer file and some segments are simply being ignored due to limited resources, it's very likely that you have customers that are leaving - and at a high rate. It doesn't have to be that way, but limited resources are a reality of business and automation can help stretch your dollars.
Low customer conversion. Customer conversion is different than lead conversion and needs to be managed separately. Lead conversation is frequently about a specific deal or opportunity. Customer conversion is all about getting a customer to come back again and again. In some industries a customer is at high risk of defecting until they make their 7th purchase. In others, its as simple as getting them to make a 2nd purchase. Whatever it is for your company, you need to know it, pay attention to it and diligently work to improve it. If not, this will be a major breaking point in the profitability of your prospecting and acquisition efforts.
Low customer satisfaction. Many companies still rely on survey samples to determin customer satisfaction ratings... and yet, with today's technology there is little reason why every customer cannot be asked for their personal opinion as to how well your company is performaning. If you have unhappy customers - talk to them. Ask them why and then do something about it.

Each of the above problems can effectively be improved through adoption of automated marketing processess.

As human beings that are engaged in trading money for goods and services we must always remember that personal choice is the foundation of all relationships and that technology is simply an enabler of making choices.

eMail marketing is perhaps the easiest and most common method to embrace automated marketing. eMail service providers abound. They offer stable and rich capabilities for the creation of messages that allow an individual to respond. Business rules that send simple messages like, "Hello, it's so nice to have you as a new customer" and "Thank you for visiting our showroom yesterday" are easily designed, customized and sent.

And yet... automated marketing is so much more. Think about YouTube, HyperTargeting from MySpace and the integration of Second Life with your real life. The blending of digital media into clothing, telephones and your automobile. The ability to design a series of interactions between a buyer and a seller, really is about the relationship and how each entity in the relationship exercise choice. Think about it... then call us.