Running a small business no longer means settling for “low-tech” solutions. With the software, online services, and tools available to businesses of any size and budget today, technology is in fact, the smartest solution to many small business limitations. The thing about small businesses, is that your team size is small. You don’t have as many hands on deck to do the variety of tasks that larger companies have. But you do have the ultimate multi-tasking ability of computers and software.
This is exactly why automated marketing techniques have been such a big hit in the small business ecosystem. The more work the computer can do for you, the more you can accomplish with a small team. Here are four clever ways to make use of automated systems to boost the marketing and sales capabilities of your small team.
Chatbots for Website Live Chat
Live chat is an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to online customer service and lead conversions. Live chat can answer customer questions, guide customers to the right products, and help to build positive rapport with leads and customers alike. Of course, small businesses often lack the floor of chat techs ready to engage with customers, and that’s okay!
With a well-programmed chatbot, you can leave the initial conversations and even the FAQ-like questions in the hands of a capable chatbot. A chatbot can be programmed with answers to predictable questions, a helpful site search function, and of course the ability to flag a real chat agent when the time is right. Your human team need only get involved when a customer has a really tough or complicated question or when they’re ready to talk to a human. All other live chat interactions can be handled by a bot that can talk to hundreds of different customers at once.
Charming Lead Qualification Pop-Ups
Lead qualification through automated marketing is tricky. Using the stock-standard methods can annoy customers who’ve seen identical pop-ups and requests for their email addresses time and time again. The trick to successful lead qualification is not just to have great content, forms, or email requests. The trick is to charm your leads when that pop-up appears.
Instead of a quick request for an email address, crack a joke. Ask politely, promise not to spam, and give those automated messages a touch of your brand personality. If you can get your leads to smile, they’re more likely to turn into a customer!
CRM-Driven Promotional Emails
Email marketing is another important part of your sales arsenal. From sending out interesting newsletters to alerting customers to your latest sales, email marketing keeps your customer-community engaged. While hand-crafting emails to each individual is effective, it’s also something your team definitely doesn’t have time for. But your CRM does have the time, because it’s a computer program.
Hook your CRM up to your email marketing engine and start generating personalised content. Populate your fill-in-the-blank email forms with users favourite items, colours, birthdays, and the types of deals they usually jump for.
Excellent Online Self-Help Section
Last but certainly not least, every small business website should aspire to a top-notch online self-help section. You can significantly cut down on the amount of people needed, when your customers can support themselves. Build a comprehensive knowledge base and a responsive self-help platform on your website to help customers find the answers they need without having to engage with a staff member.
Self-help sections are fantastic for small businesses (actually, any size of business) because modern consumers prefer to be self-directed. Most people are in the habit of looking up answers to their questions before “bothering” a customer service agent, and many feel more comfortable searching up their own answers instead of talking to a human. This means that a great self-help section is a win-win situation for both you and your customers.
Small businesses across the nation can benefit hugely from clever implementation of automated marketing. Know where software can reduce the workload for your small team and where you can aid your capabilities, with the help of a computer’s infinite capacity for customer service. With a great CRM and automated marketing software, the sky’s the limit.
For more marketing insights for your small business, contact us today!
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