Small Business Marketing

Software That Markets For You

Written by Jay Shapiro for Gaebler Ventures

Time consuming tasks cost your business money. But they need to be carried out, especially your marketing campaigns. Can you wave a wand a work some magic? Software that does it for you might sound like a dream, but it is a reality.

For some the magic of automation software makes it the Aladdin's lamp of technology and e-commerce.

Make the wish, set everything in motion and have all those laborious marketing tasks done for you. Here's a guide to what marketing automation technology may be able to do to make life easier for you.

It all sounds a bit Brave New World and for those of you who are reticent about automation and prefer a human touch it might seem an impersonal way to handle things. But, there are benefits to using automation software, and doing so can free up your valuable time, thus allowing you to really keep things personal in the areas of business where that's important.

Imagine being able to quickly and easily:

• Oversee your multi channel marketing
• Create up-to-date messaging to sales
• Stay abreast of lead activity to be sure that no opportunities are overlooked
• Access real-time analytics data and reporting
• Accurately evaluate data and build marketing campaigns that are based on facts and figures, not supposition

We're all aware that sometimes two heads can be better than one if we're looking for solutions to problems or wanting to get jobs done more quickly and more efficiently.

When you need to create marketing strategies for your business, some think the very best 'second head' you can bring in to help you is marketing software. Those who are fans of automated systems feel it's like knowing you have a dependable assistant to hand to tackle all those time-consuming and irritating aspects of organising marketing campaigns.

Advanced marketing software can handle the following tasks:

• Marketing campaigns
• Branding management
• Analytics
• Integration and customization
• Publicity submissions
• Following up of leads

Marketing automation software lets you set it up to recognise your business's needs. Set the criteria right and you let it do its stuff. The better versions allow you to make adjustments at will; also additions and alterations to precedents can be applied.

The benefits of automated marketing software:

• Most software of this type is customisable
• User friendly interfaces mean most team members can grasp the concept
• Increased workplace efficiency
• Improvement with tracking and admin
• Time saving

Marketing automation software might be likened to a robot that behaves with human intelligence, but that human is you. Input your criteria, everything else is taken care of for you.

Further advantages of automated marketing software:

Marketing automation software adapts to suit you and can be used by work teams of any size to create fine tuned campaigns using the following techniques:

• email marketing blasts or newsletters
• direct mail shots
• telesales
• press release submissions
• article database submissions (multiple)
• other media channels

Used correctly, marketing automation software will give business people the power to significantly increase their productivity without having to increase staff numbers. It also provides the business owner with an efficient way of tracking the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

Jay Shapiro is a freelance writer based in the UK. Jay has a particular interest in the emotive aspects of the entrepreneur's character. "Alongside the nuts and bolts of business, the character of the person is often the ingredient responsible for success."

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