8 Best automation programs to boost customer engagement and revenue

In today’s highly competitive digital landscape, harnessing effective email marketing strategies is important for customer engagement and revenue growth. To stand out in the inbox, you can use marketing automation and data-driven campaigns. Read on to learn 8 automation programs you can use in your email marketing strategy designed to capture your audience and improve your bottom line. 

What are marketing automation programs?

Marketing automation programs are pre-set email marketing campaigns designed to streamline marketing efforts and personalize customer experiences by delivering relevant content based on specific triggers or customer behaviors. Automation programs save time and resources by sending personalized emails, segmenting contact lists, and nurturing leads.

Benefits of marketing automation programs

An automated marketing program offers the following benefits: 

Improved ROI

Automation programs carefully fine-tune crucial elements such as the frequency of your email sends, the relevance of your content, and the effectiveness of your lead nurturing process. By automating these aspects, you can significantly improve the overall performance and return on investment (ROI) of your email marketing strategy.

Enhanced customer experience

These campaigns deliver personalized, timely, and valuable content to your audience, creating a positive and engaging customer experience that cultivates long-term customer loyalty.

Scalability

Those days of individually crafting and sending emails to each subscriber are gone. Automation streamlines the process by automating repetitive tasks, freeing up time and resources. Your automation program does the heavy lifting for you as you can set up workflows, triggers, and segments based on your subscribers’ demographics, behaviors, or engagement levels. 

Programs based on engagement or ecommerce are two of the most common types to implement into the subscriber journey. Let’s look at both.

Engagement-based programs

In engagement-based programs, customers are actively engaged in a personalized and interactive way. These programs aim to build meaningful and long-lasting relationships with your target audience. 

Welcome

Welcome programs offer brands the chance to engage with their subscribers from the first interaction at the start of a customer journey. A compelling and well-crafted welcome program plays a pivotal role in setting the tone for your new subscribers and paves the way for strong, ongoing relationships. 

As part of your welcome program, it’s recommended to send engaging and personalized welcome emails. These emails should offer a warm welcome, introduce your brand story, and gather customer data and interests through preference centers. Welcome programs are a great opportunity to showcase your brand and establish a connection with your subscribers at the first point of contact, which will build long-lasting trust and loyalty.

Nurture or brand loyalty

To maintain good relationships with your customers, consider creating a nurture program. In your program, use your clients’ preferred channels, and offer personalized and relevant content. The more engaged you are with your customers, the higher the chances of generating sales. Implement a lead scoring model to gauge customer engagement and offer rewards such as exclusive content, vouchers, and promotional offers. This will strengthen your relationship and make your customers feel valued.

Event reminders

If you have an upcoming event, it’s recommended to set up an automated event reminder program. You should promote your event at each stage, before, during, and after the event. This will ensure your attendees are well-informed of the important details and your event schedule. An effective reminder program will build anticipation, drive registrations, and create a positive experience for all attendees. 

Customer service

A customer service program is an important program to implement into your marketing strategy. Customer experience (CX) is important to any brand. When customers have a positive experience, they are more likely to recommend your company to their friends and family. Every interaction with the customer impacts their perception of your brand, so each touchpoint must be considered. 

Adding live chat to your channels is an effective approach to improving your customer’s experience. While it might seem like a small addition, live chat can increase conversion rates by up to 20%. It will also prompt your customers to use it when they need it and reduce any barriers to making a purchase.

Ecommerce based programs

When using ecommerce automation programs, you can enhance customer experiences, build loyalty, and streamline your marketing campaigns.  With these programs, you can deliver targeted and personalized communication that drives customer engagement and revenue growth. 

Abandoned cart or browse

If a customer adds items to their online cart but doesn’t complete the checkout process, you can use an abandoned cart program to reach out to them. Additionally, you can also use an eRFM modeling tool to determine how engaged the customer is and target them. This can include offering a discount code or other incentives to re-engage them.

Sometimes customers may abandon their cart because the product is not quite perfect; we’ve all been there. With AI-powered product recommendations, you can provide relevant alternative options during abandoned cart campaigns.

It’s important not to think of abandoned cart programs as only applicable to B2C or ecommerce brands. Abandoned browse emails can be used in a very similar way. For a B2B brand or service, consider what your high intent-actions are. Whether it’s filling in a form or viewing a pricing page, you can create abandoned browse emails to capture any customers who drop off without completing an action.

Post-purchase

Today’s customers demand a seamless shopping experience from start to finish, including online browsing, purchasing, delivery, and after-sales support. It’s important to create a consistent brand experience across all channels and leverage customer data to connect with shoppers wherever they choose to engage.

One way to keep your customers engaged is to analyze their browsing behavior and identify products they are interested in. After that, you can send an email, SMS message, or push notification saying: “We’ve noticed you liked or viewed this.” Or why not send instructions on how to care for the product they’ve bought or how to use it? These simple interactions show that you’re available to the customer even after they’ve converted. 

Loyalty or birthday reward

If you have engaged champions, why not give them exclusive benefits or create a customer loyalty program? You can engage these customers by sending them personalized loyalty emails or SMS messages with relevant content, or updates on their reward points, achievements, and special offers.

This strengthens your brand and keeps your business at the forefront of their minds, increasing the likelihood of repeat purchases. Additionally, collecting subscribers’ birth dates and sending personalized birthday messages is an excellent way to show your customers that you value and appreciate them.

Win back

A win-back program aims to bring back customers who have stopped engaging with your business by offering them an incentive to take a specific action, like making a new purchase. Although it’s not necessary to start with an offer, it’s a good option, especially when customers are close to becoming inactive. Reach out and retarget past customers who have become inactive and encourage them to return and make a new purchase while fostering long-term loyalty.

Summary

These automation programs will transform your email marketing strategy. By leveraging the power of automation and personalized communication, you can stand out in the inbox, cultivate long-term customer loyalty, and achieve exceptional results in your email marketing campaigns.