Finding the Balance: Automation in Your Marketing Mix
Mature marketers use a variety of tools to accomplish their goals. Automation is simply one of those tools that complements an agent’s marketing strategy by freeing him or her up to do other important things.
The way to strike a balance between automation and your other marketing efforts is to use the right approach for the right task.
Typically, the two approaches you will use are automation and manual marketing. Each provides distinct advantages. In general, automated marketing can save you time on easily repeatable, administrative tasks. “Manual” marketing, however, is required when you need to interact more instantaneously and personally.
Here’s a chart to help you think about which tasks you could try automating and which tasks you should (probably) keep manual. Keep in mind, there is some overlap between these two methods, further showing that they really go hand-in-hand:
Manual Marketing
Real-Time Communication
Automation Marketing
Save Time
Let automation do what it’s made for
Automation is a tool that can help simplify tedious processes, freeing up some of your time and attention for doing things that require the human touch. You can use automation for things like email distribution, social media posting, information collection – the things that require you to keep track of time and complete some action.
Computers and software are pretty good at knowing what time it is and sending things out, so let them do some of your administrative, communication-related tasks for you.
Try automating your email marketing campaigns to avoid the headache of manually sending emails to your leads. Tools like InfusionSoft and Hubspot are great resources.
Leverage automation by using real estate storytelling software to create and distribute your stories to sites like realtor.com, and then use a service like Paradym to automatically post to your social media accounts. Go one step further and analyze how your potential clients are interacting with your posts on social media by using built in, automated analysis tools.
You can also automate some aspects of the lead capturing process.
As potential buyers interact with your content, point them to offers on your website. This gives you the opportunity to provide helpful resources to potential buyers and sellers while also capturing their contact information. And since the yard sign is a staple for marketing and branding your listings, use automation to grab lead information through autoresponse numbers on your yard signs.
For agents and brokers looking to dive deep with automation, consider services like Zapier or IFTTT:
“[T]hese resources make it possible for apps, systems and websites to talk to each other. For example, you could create a ‘zap’ that automatically posts new WordPress posts into your Facebook page. IFTTT gives you the ability to create ‘recipes’ so that you can sync your online profiles or Google Calendar with social media so that you never forget a birthday.” – Mashable
The manual side
There comes a time when marketing requires more of a hands-on approach.
Once you’ve automated some of the things that can easily be automated, spend more time doing things like creating more interesting content, networking, and communicating with your current clients and prospects online. This kind of real-time interaction can go a long way toward personalizing your brand and helping you connect with people. So really all effective marketing strategies will push for a balance between manual and automated marketing activity.
After posting your stories to social media, sending out emails, and publishing blog posts, listen and respond.
Remember to monitor your social media accounts for feedback and engage your followers in conversation. Reply to emails personally, respond to comments or questions from blog readers, and recommend additional resources to people needing help in the buying or selling process.
Anything that requires a personal touch should get the personal touch.
Don’t forget that software platforms are tools that help your digital marketing plans move forward, but you still need to personally engage with potential buyers and sellers.
Use the right tool for the job. Get automation and manual marketing working together to promote your brand, listings, and services today.