How to make sense of which automation solution is best for your business.
Marketing automation platforms can help businesses grow their marketing reach – here’s how to find the right fit for your business.
Marketing automation can be one best ways to benefit your business, but it’s an investment that you should be educated on before making a decision. There are many marketing automation tools available and it can be had to know which solution will work best for you brand.
When it comes to finding the best marketing automation tools for your business, it’s important to ask yourself a few questions about your current marketing, your goals, and what resources your company is already working with. Here’s how to choose a marketing automation platform to help your organization.
Know Your Budget
Like most subscriptions, vendors, and partners, marketing software varies greatly in price. It’s important to know your budget for this kind of investment is before committing money and resources to one product. According to one report from the CRM Switch website, the cost of market automation software can vary from just under $1200 a year for a basic plan from a lesser-known vendor to $48,000 a year for a full suite of solutions by software giant Oracle. Knowing exactly how much money you have to use to finding the best marketing automation software is an important first step.
Know Your Goals
Once you know how much money you have to work with, you can start to think about what your business wants to accomplish with marketing automation. Marketing automation software offers businesses a lot of benefits, but not all marketing automation systems are created equal. When your business is trying to figure out how to choose a marketing automation platform, you want to ask what each platform can offer your business. Do you just want to automate certain processes, like emails? Do you want to grow your lead database and improve analytics? Do you want to start nurturing leads and building relationships with contacts? Being able to identify your business and marketing goals can help you find the right marketing automation solution for your company.
Know Your Software
If your business is asking how to choose a marketing automation platform, make sure to audit the software and solutions you already have. Some marketing automation systems work seamlessly with other business software. For instance, many platforms work with the Salesforce CRM that many businesses use in their sales and account management departments. Salesforce created its own marketing cloud software to work with their CRM program and help with marketing automation, but other marketing systems integrate well with the popular CRM tool. Additionally, taking stock of your current business software, subscriptions, and programs means you won’t be paying for redundant programs – two analytics programs, for instance. If your new marketing automation tool offers built-in analytics and reporting, you don’t need to be paying for or utilizing a separate reporting tool that only does that function.
Finding the right marketing automation tool for your business can make all the difference, from helping you track the success of marketing campaigns to growing your potential customer base to increasing revenue and sales. Being able to follow these steps and answer these questions can help you get on the right track to knowing which automation tool to choose.
