3 B2B Marketing Automation Mistakes SMBs Are Making in 2022

After surviving the pandemic, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) around the country are strapped for resources. Teams are smaller, and there’s less money, but there’s hope as we look toward the future. Acquiring more customers is integral to any business, and marketing automation may be the best way to help.

Marketing automation uses technology to automatically manage online marketing processes and campaigns across different channels. It also employs workflows or specific messages that can be modified to push potential consumers through the sales funnel. The overall goal is to efficiently find as many leads as possible to increase revenue. Instead of marketers manually writing, changing, qualifying, and moving consumers to different stops in the funnel, marketing automation is designed to do it all.

While marketing automation may sound complex, 56 percent of companies are using it, according to EmailMonday. Even though businesses are using marketing automation for various reasons, one thing’s certain: They’re seeing significant benefits, including saving time and lead nurturing/generating. As helpful as marketing automation is, if it’s not used correctly, the business can suffer the consequences. Organizations find themselves making mistakes when they’re not trained to use the tool effectively, do not have a content strategy, or ignore customer data.

Lack of training

Bringing automation into any organization is a big task, especially for SMBs that can significantly benefit from it but may not have the resources to train the staff. If the marketing team isn’t trained in how the tool works, it can take more time to set up campaigns and result in a negative performance. One way to combat this mistake is to choose a platform that provides great customer support and helps the team learn how to manage the tool from start to finish.

Poor content strategy

Another mistake SMBs make is not having a solid content strategy. Automation is helpful to streamline campaigns and monitor all components in one platform. However, if the content strategy isn’t targeted or is filled with generic ads, the organization won’t see the expected ROI. Experts estimate that most Americans are exposed to around 4,000 to 10,000 ads a day. The content must be creative, relevant, and reach back to the organization’s original goal to reach the target audience. Before jumping into automation, conducting a content audit would help ensure that moving forward works towards the goal.

Ignoring customer data

Finally, ignoring customer data is a mistake SMBs should avoid at all costs. As previously stated, Americans are overloaded with digital ads. If the company sends email blasts with generic copy and boring assets, the consumers won’t move down the sales funnel. In fact, there’s a chance they remove themselves from the list. Avoid this issue by utilizing the company’s CRM and lead-generated customer information to create email segmentations. Segmentations increase click-through rates and open rates by 50 percent and 30 percent, respectively. Taking the extra time to organize email lists can determine how the consumer engages with the organization.

While SMBs can use all the help they can get, it’s essential to be prepared for marketing automation before diving in. Once everything is set, and mistakes are avoided, the company will be on its way to the best quarter yet.