In marketing, less is more. And if you can get more done by doing less work, you will have moved into marketing automation. Marketing automation is a process where technology is used to automate several repetitive tasks that are undertaken on a regular basis in a marketing campaign. 

This is a platform that allows marketers to design, execute and automate a time-bound marketing workflow – both online and offline. It replaces manual and repetitive marketing processes – such as emails, social media and certain website actions – with purpose-built software and applications geared toward giving you the best performance.

As your company starts to grow, maintaining customer relationships with everyone becomes increasingly challenging. With marketing automation, marketers have the ability to create consistent, one-on-one cross-channel journeys that deliver a consistent, connected customer experience. This innovative, digital marketing tool is used to make campaigns more accurate and empowers your sales team with better leads to achieve greater return on investment.

 Marketers are now better able to qualify leads and pass them onto sales – resulting in higher revenue and greater growth.

One of the primary purposes of marketing automation is to deliver the right content, at the right time, to the right customer – in turn nurturing their trust for the brand.

What are the benefits of marketing automation?

Marketers use marketing automation software in order to build quality leads for sales. These are the benefits of marketing automation:

• Central marketing database: Marketing data with customer interactions and behaviours are stored and nurtured to allow marketers to segment and target the right message to each customer.  A central marketing base also gives all stakeholders access to valuable data.
• Engagement marketing engine: Conduct marketing processes and conversations across online and offline channels.
• Analytics engine: Test, measure and optimise marketing return on investment and impact on revenue.
• Target content specifically personalised to a customer’s specific user profile.
• Group customers and prospects by what they like, i.e. common behaviours, interests and demographic details.
• Test different variables such as email send times and subject headings.
• Integrate marketing channels like customer relationship management databases.

What are the key steps towards marketing automation?

Once you establish a workflow, you can implement automated marketing processes. This allows your team to be ready for new processes and ensures that automation brings the best results for your brand.

Let’s take a closer look at actions you can take to incorporate marketing automation into your overall digital marketing strategy.

• Identify the right tasks: Your team’s most repetitive marketing tasks are where you’ll find the biggest gains for automation. Simply automating response emails can substantially reduce the administrative burden on your team. So, plot out all of your current marketing tasks and pick out those that are time-consuming and compatible with automation.
• Select appropriate automation software: With an infinite number of choices when it comes to marketing automation software, filtering the best ones can be challenging. Make sure you identify the marketing automation software that is specifically tailored to your industry in order to get the best results. Expand your research taking this into mind before you commit long-term. Take the time to explore the free trials on offer in order to home in on the marketing automation software that best fits your brand.
• Train your team: Although marketing automation immediately makes marketing more efficient, introducing new software and processes in your business requires an investment in training your staff. Team members must refocus their roles and get an understanding of how automation fits into their working day. Emphasise the benefits of automation and allow staff to thoroughly test out new systems and express any concerns they might have about how it works. Marketing automation is predicted to become one of the most important marketing skills and businesses are hopping on board with increased investment now and in the future.
• Evaluate automation effectiveness: Implementing automation is just the beginning. Your business should conduct a periodic review of what’s working well, what can be improved and the impact of automation on key performance indicators. This will allow your business to make the appropriate adjustments at the right time to perform at its best.

Search engine optimization or SEO aims to improve your site ranking, not only to drive traffic and generate leads but also to establish a long-term relationship with your customers and investors. That’s why a good SEO practice is paramount to getting organic traffic that can provide a domino-like effect on all site metrics.

You can entrust your site to an SEO company to benefit from their expertise, experience, and skills. Here are the questions you can ask before hiring an SEO company:

1. How do you deliver SEO results?

It’s crucial to check an expert site that can provide complete information about SEO and related services, so website owners can be helped how to hire SEO companies the right way. A good SEO company will clearly explain how they’re able to deliver promised services to gain the best results.

Here are the three major components of a good SEO strategy:

• User experience (UX) — It refers to a major component of SEO that involves content optimization. A good SEO company can explain how they analyze user experience and the tools they use to improve site navigation, keyword optimization, and monitor UX metrics during an On-page SEO review.
• Technical SEO — This facet of SEO focuses on technical aspects like site speed, structure, scripts, and codes. As much as possible, you want to avoid 404 errors and resolve redirects quickly. Choosing an SEO specialist who has in-depth knowledge and skills in technical SEO will ensure that search engines can detect your site.
• Off-page SEO — One major SEO goal is to increase domain authority, and you can attain this goal through Off-page SEO. So, it helps to hire an SEO expert who can provide your site backlinks with high-quality properties. Increase brand awareness, improve site popularity, and establish strong site partnerships through site links.

Note: Modern SEO is a holistic approach, so make sure to choose an SEO company that can manage the three major components of it. By recognizing and availing of full services, you’re just one step closer to your site’s short-term and long-term goals.

2. How long will I see the results?

While many sources would tell you that you can see to start results in 6 to 12 months, the length of time to see desirable results depends upon a lot of factors. You need to look at actionable data and not just pure analysis. An SEO company can promise that you’ll land number one in 100 days, but expectations and strategies should be presented.

Here are the factors that influence SEO results:

• Site Niche — The popularity of your site drives traffic, leads, and conversions.
• Domain Rating — It’s vital to consider your site’s previous performance because it can significantly affect future results.
• Keywords — Optimization of your site depends on the words or phrases that online users commonly use, versus the keywords used in your web content.
• Links — The direct and indirect methods of link-building, such as social media, influencers, and brand signals affect results.

3. How do you improve mobile SEO?

Mobile is a crucial SEO consideration. Mobile-first index is now part of Google’s SEO algorithm. Mobile optimization is critical because the majority of online users are mobile users, such as easy access through a smartphone, tablet, and smartwatches. Ask the SEO company if they perform a mobile site audit, otherwise, better look for someone who does it.

Here are the current trends in mobile SEO:

• Voice-activated or voice search — Broaden your customer base by giving an avenue for the elderly, disabled, and busy people to be able to search your site via voice search.
• AI-based SEO approach — With the emergence of Alexa and Siri, less than 100 USD purchases are ordered via smart speakers.

4. Can you help incorporate SEO with our marketing strategies?

SEO is a part of digital marketing. You’ll find companies that perform SEO job in isolation, and you should avoid dealing with them. Choose someone who is open to collaboration. It’s because SEO should go hand-in-hand with social media marketing, content marketing, and public relations for effective link-building. No matter if you’re doing marketing for MSP, fortune 500 or an ice cream shop people, trust real people.

5. How much does it cost to avail your SEO services?

According to Ahrefs, the average rate that SEO agencies ask is 100 to 150 USD per hour. For the monthly retainer or if you choose to pay monthly, the fee is usually 501 to 1,000 USD. For project pricing, the cost is 501 to 1,000 USD on average.

Conclusion

By asking the above questions to prospective SEO companies, you’ll be able to narrow down your choices and choose the best one for you. Remember that a good SEO company doesn’t provide too good to be true promises without proof. Choose one that can deliver promised services with clear strategies, foolproof credentials and evidence.

The open source marketplace solution is a widespread model of running a business online nowadays. Increasing public acceptance and the overall efficiency of the model are bringing eCommerce marketplaces to the top of the list of the most profitable ways to make money on the internet.

At the same time, the more people jump on the marketplace bandwagon, the more difficult it gets to get into this industry. The early business model adopters – whether Amazon or eBay – are successful market players now, but can you still join them?

Let’s discover the most effective marketing strategies and find out how to attract users to your marketplace and grow your project to an enormous scale.

Raise Your Brand Awareness

One of the most crucial marketing aspects these days is to make your business stand out among the competitors, add a unique touch that will help customers to distinguish it from rivals. While the corporate identity often addresses this issue, sometimes it is just not enough. That where the brand awareness measures enter the stage.

You can greatly increase your brand recognition by engaging with the industry community. Running an electronics marketplace? Sponsor a technology meetup to cover the issue of choosing the right device and humbly mention your services in the end.

Have a book-selling eCommerce marketplace? Launch the best short story contest with book prizes. It aims at the target audience and shows your brand as a loyal and generous company.

Another way to increase brand awareness is a bit old-fashioned yet it works: outdoor advertising. Come up with some creative billboard banners and find the best place to show them.

Content: Drive Additional Web Interaction

Web promotion also means a lot to your marketing. Leaving this strategy sector unhandled is a bad idea. Let’s figure out how to please the search engines and boost your website to the top of search results.

You see, search engines strive to deliver the most helpful and relevant results. But how do they measure these figures? Here are the indicators that influence the search engine opinion significantly:

• The website traffic volume – This is as simple as it gets – the more people visit your website, the better;
• Interaction duration – Search engines determine the results’ relevance based on how much time visitors spend on the page.

With that said, running a blog with consistent content updates is an exceedingly reasonable and cost-effective solution for your SEO, the integral part of the marketing strategy for a digital marketplace.

Keep Up with the Social Media Trends

The majority of mobile users use social network apps on a daily basis. They find it both entertaining and cognitive. It is the perfect opportunity for you to promote your brand organically and reach an untapped audience.

The most substantial thing to keep in mind is the entertaining context of the post you are going to make. The point is, people use social media to have fun and learn new things. You need to conform to user intentions in order to gain their trust and interest.

Email Marketing

Have a couple of thousands of target group email addresses? It’s never late to launch an email campaign. Whether you offer a seasonal discount or want to keep your users updated on the new products, an email newsletter may become your marketing weapon.

The Bottom Line

The digital marketplace industry is a subtle game of business strategies. You have to know all the market segment specifics to keep your head above the water. Try to see the full picture and come up with fresh marketing ideas.

After all, it’s not about market domination, it’s about delivering the best value for customers and making the industry a better place.