Your business is in sore need of customers, but you have no idea how to step up your game and bring in more leads. More and more companies today are taking advantage of marketing automation software, which organizes and streamlines the marketing process.

Marketing Automation helps you keep a schedule of client contact, organize customer information, manage social media and email campaigns, and monitor analytics for your website and your product. In short, it makes marketing easier.

It’s been gaining ground for a while now, and for good reason: it can help anyone turn an overwhelming marketing nightmare into a more manageable experience. The software or service (or SaaS) that companies offer is like an equation. You plug in the numbers and the content. They do the math for you. Math being the timing, pace, processing, and distribution involved in digital marketing’s more tedious nuances. And then they pump out the marketing campaign fully formed.’

It sounds simple, but there are a few mistakes that any marketer could make when selecting and utilizing a product like this for the first time.

• Do the work

  What’s the first “do” or “don’t” that you should bear in mind? Don’t expect Marketing Automation to actually do all the work for you. It is a tool, not a robot butler. You still have to work at this to make use of it. That means writing content, analyzing your results, building campaigns, and scheduling points of contact. Marketing requires creativity, elbow grease, and long hours. Marketing automation eases up on the long hours, but if you don’t work at it, you’ll never see the ROI you’re looking for.

• Don’t just focus on email
  

  Most people hear the term marketing automation and think of mass emails being sent around the clock by a blind piece of software. This is only a fraction of the process, and it’s not as “blind” as you think. You customize your leads list and personalize the emails in such a way that’s both efficient and effective, reaching not only just the optimal number of people but also the optimal type of customer. In addition, emails are hardly the central focus of the product—they’re merely one of the tools. Marketing automation services usually include lead generation, marketing campaigns, social media marketing, resource management, lead nurturing, and web traffic analysis.

• Don’t use it for spam
  

  That’s usually the other half of what people picture. Marketing automation = spam, right? At least that’s what customers may think. The truth is the very best services will operate so smoothly, with such a seamless integration of creative content, that customers will never be able to tell you’re using it to begin with. You still have to do your part. Make sure you’re not sending out personalized emails to the wrong people. Avoid using a template when responding to an actual, promising lead. Complement your automated efforts with plenty of in-person appearances and press. When customers can easily put a face to the voice, they’re more likely to trust you.

• Do take advantage of every tool available
  

  Everything in moderation. Remember that you’re paying for a whole suite of options. If you forget about social, that leaves out a wealth of possible leads who keep up with Twitter for their industry news. If you pour all your efforts into web analytics, your ripe leads won’t feel cared for and will switch to a competitor. Every link in the chain counts, but remember that this process is a funnel. If you get stuck at any one point, this could cause a clog. Leads could get backed up for weeks and jump ship without a second thought. Budget your time, buy only the services you’ll use, and use them judiciously.

• Do work with your sales team for better results
  

  Just because it’s called marketing automation, that doesn’t mean you have to go at it alone. Sales specialists can take over leads once they reach a point in the funnel that doesn’t reflect marketing expertise. This usually comes at the point when they call or email you back. Several automation programs offer a sales counterpart which brings all of the information into one centralized hub. This way, the program can help you find business from the time you update your website to the time clients sign a contract.

This isn’t just about bringing clients in either. The point of marketing automation is that it frees up more of your time so that you can run your company the way you want to. You won’t be a slave to lead generation, and you won’t be up at all hours trying shoot off emails to returning customers. Just as any marketing firm worth their price will tell you, you should never feel like your business is getting anything but top priority.