Mistakes are part of a process that shows we're growing.

Marketing automation is done by software or a set of tools. This goes in tandem with quick replies, quick actions, quick responses to customers’ queries, quick updates to customers in case of any changes in the services or products offered, and any other essential communication regarding the company itself.

The last thing you want is systems that are supposed to make your life easier, losing you customers and subscribers.

We'll now go through the notorious mistakes you could be making with your marketing automation.

Common Marketing Automation Mistakes

1. Lack of a prior plan

It is common that because a marketer has acquired this new tool or software to help with marketing automation, the marketer dives headfirst with a proper schedule and plan. Therefore, it is essential to understand the features of the software you are using and develop a strategy with which you will reap from using the said software.

2. The urge to start big

You do not need to have a massive breakout campaign to launch yourself. At the start, the larger the campaign, the higher the probability of errors made. Allow yourself to start with small movements as you get acquainted with the software.

3. Undefined Target Audience

In line with planning, you have to define who your target audience is. Targeting your ideal customer/client can be tricky, but having a buyer persona can quickly help you get to it. It allows you to craft content targeting your potential buyers and people who need your products /services.

4. Batching and Blasting

This is common with email marketing. Batch-and-Blast refers to the practice of batching up all of your leads and blasting the same email out to all of them, regardless of their interests.

Your subscribers are at different levels of the customer journey, which needs to be taken into account. This will help you segment them into specialized groups and send out targeted and purposeful email marketing campaigns.

5. Lack of personalization

With the inclusion of automation, most marketers will use chatbots and other kinds of bots to attend to the needs of their customers and clients. But, I'm afraid that's not right. The difference between human interaction and robot interaction can be made quickly.

No one wants to be talking to an emotionless robot. Personalize your messages to make the interactions organic and authentic.

6. An unnoticeable call-to-action

Your marketing campaign aims to have clients and subscribers interact with you through your call-to-action. If the call-to-action fails to do its intended job, that is a sign of mistakes made.

Your call-to-action (CTA) needs to be visible. Compelling CTAs motivate recipients to convert. Research shows that clients respond more quickly when short and straightforward words seduce them to take action. CTAs words include; get, order, buy, start, download, sign up here and more others. These usually compel recipients to take action. CTAs that show consumer benefits also improve conversions.

7. Ignoring Tests

Performing tests in marketing automation is a must. Tracking results to determine the performance of an email marketing campaign is vital. To run an A/B test, you need to send your campaign to two segments in your email contact list. Then check the view rates, open rates and clickthroughs.

Tracking results depends on your key performance indicators. In this case, the key performance indicators could be sales conversion, click-through rate, open rate, view rate and delivery rate.

You can track performance results by;

• Doing an A/B test your email copy on two or more contact segments

• Measure the results of each email campaign to test performance

• Use performance results to optimize and grow your conversion rate