How does e-commerce marketing automation optimize a company's user experience and marketing activities? Let's find out together!
E-commerce marketing automation is not the ultimate remedy for an e-commerce, but it can often prove to be the ideal solution on two main fronts. Company-side it optimizes operational resources and influences sales because it allows the brand to accompany its customers at every stage of their lifecycle. This is one of the main reasons why many e-commerce companies are exploring how to adopt it.
However, in addition to improving internal processes, e-commerce marketing automation must be done to the best of its ability to deliver the most personalized and engaging user experience possible. If the solution is adopted incorrectly, the risk is to generate a bad effect on the potential customer or, even worse, on our loyal customers.
E-commerce marketing automation on the company's side
Optimizing digital production costs and timelines is certainly one of the first reasons people turn to a marketing automation system. All e-commerce managers are tickled by the idea of being able to delegate manual and repetitive tasks to machines. However, there are a few points to be particularly careful about:
Marketing automation must be scalable
When selecting a platform, it is important to assess its ability to scale, understood as managing the volumes and increased complexity that will be created over time. If the business grows and users increase, a marketing automation solution must scale to the ever-changing nature of this need, being able to handle repetitive tasks of various kinds, across multiple channels and multiple campaigns. In addition, ROI must always be kept in check. Scalability means that, the costs incurred for marketing automation must be matched by more than proportional profits.
Marketing automation must be omnichannel
For marketing automation to work, it must contemplate all the channels at our disposal, or we risk optimizing only one part of the contact process and then dissipating the acquired advantage on other platforms or channels. For example, not recognizing an important or VIP user means missing the opportunity to offer him or her a product with high chances of conversion and - at the same time - investing advertising budgets for an already acquired contact.
E-commerce Marketing Automation on the side of the user
In order for marketing automation not to be reduced to a trivial automation of abandoned shopping cart retrieval or massive and poorly personalized retargeting, a few "truths" need to be realized. The first and most important is that automation is not just a way for the company to save time and resources. The key to success-and therefore sales-lies in the ability to create unique user experiences so that it improves the user's overall interaction with the brand, driving them to purchase. Strictly in omnichannel mode.
Marketing automation works if it keeps track of all the data in real time, or the risk of bad figures is around the corner.
The personalization is a key concept in e-commerce. The user wants to be recognized, but in order to do so, you have to take into account all the traces they have left behind. It is not enough to filter the purchase history, but you have to know what is happening at that precise moment, even outside e-commerce (for example, in the physical store). Otherwise, you run the risk of frustrating people by offering them uninteresting things, or even worse, showing them a discount on a product they just bought.
Marketing automation only works if you segment users based on their value. We are not all the same!
Aggregating information is critical not only to personalize but to know who you are talking to. A user, in addition to wanting to be recognized as a person, also knows how much they "weigh" to the company, especially if they are a repeat customer. Marketing automation must be operated by segmenting theaudience based on its present and potential value. A VIP user is not the same as a first-time buyer!
Marketing automation works to increase relationship length, everywhere.
Marketing automation is not only used to increase the conversion rate of the first purchase, but also to optimize CLV. In particular, it is a fundamental contact nurturing tool and can become an extraordinary tool for recovering at-risk users even on touch points outside of marketing. Imagine a customer care call center that can recognize the user on specific segments and propose confidential treatments. Marketing automation tells the operator what kind of personalization is reserved for a particular customer, based on the experience designed for him.
Marketing automation must be strictly omnichannel
For all the reasons expressed above, it is clear that the automation process must be extended to all channels, otherwise all assets are dispersed.
Benefits of Marketing Automation
Marketing automation in addition to optimizing costs can undoubtedly make more sales and create more lasting relationships with our customers, thus increasing the value of our brand over time, but this only happens if we get it right!