It wasn’t that long ago that even a comprehensive marketing campaign – one that was firing on all cylinders – had only a few major components. A company might run print ads in local newspapers, trade publications, or even a national magazine. They might buy radio advertising space on popular local stations, and run ads on local television. Other components might include direct mail or telemarketing.

The internet changed all that. Things are a lot more complex now. No company can afford to ignore the internet. Regardless of what you sell, a majority of your customers are there, online – and they expect you to be, as well.

Challenges of Running a Marketing Campaign

Some of the old marketing standbys, such as telemarketing and direct mail, have largely been put out to pasture. They’ve been replaced by a variety of online options, everything from search engine advertising to blogging. A modern marketing campaign might include print ads, television or radio ads, internet ads, creating and curating content for social media, paid social media advertising, and more.

As marketers find more ways to engage with customers, their jobs get harder. Before you might have had to keep three or four balls in the air. Now, if your company has a presence on several social media sites, you might feel as if you’re juggling a dozen eggs instead. You’re spending all your time and attention trying to keep them straight, and you know if you drop one, you’ll have a mess on your hands.

The good news about keeping all those eggs moving is that technology can help. If you’re not familiar with marketing automation, you will be by the end of this post series.

Overview of Topics to Be Covered

During this post series, I want to give you the basics of marketing automation. When used properly, marketing automation can:

• Save you time and money
• Earn you more money
• Increase customer engagement
• Help you to maintain a consistent online presence
• Turn leads into customers
• Keep existing customers happy

If this all sounds like Greek to you now, don’t worry. Marketing automation isn’t complicated, and you don’t need to be a computer genius to be able to use it. All you need is marketing skills – which you already have – and an open mind. If you’re willing to learn something new that has the potential to revolutionize the way you market your products or services, then this series for you.