How Marketing Automation Software Can Enhance your Business’ UX (User Experience)

“Marketing without UX is like throwing darts in the dark,” says Angie Schottmuller, esteemed Growth Marketing advisor. User experience (UX) refers to the overall experience that a person has when it comes to using a product or a service of any kind. The easier it is for something to be understood, grasped, and used by a customer, the better the UX is. In today’s largely digital world, UX is becoming more and more important—especially in the marketing industry. For example, Forrester research states that visit-to-lead conversions can be 400 percent  higher on websites with unbeatable UX. As more customers prefer seamless experiences, businesses must invest in marketing automation software in order to stand out and reap the benefits.

What is marketing automation and what are some types of marketing automation software?

Marketing automation is the use of various technology, software, and tools to automate repetitive tasks and actions. Basically, automating tasks result in overall efficiency and reduction of minimal tasks that would usually need a lot of time to accomplish. Other benefits include increase in campaign ROI, real-time data monitoring and management, and eventually higher customer engagement and retention.

Today, marketing automation ranges from simple tools to high-end software that can manage complicated campaigns and funnels. Here are some examples of marketing automation software that can have a positive impact on your brand’s UX and ultimately your business bottom line.

• Email marketing automation software:  The Campaign Monitor says that, even though it is one of the oldest digital communication tools, email marketing still has the highest ROI at $44 for every dollar spent. Email marketing can basically be used in every stage of the customer journey, so this is good news for companies looking to improve their UX. Mobile phone usage also plays an important role in email marketing efforts. Since more people are using their smartphones to open emails, the emails have to be optimized for different screen sizes in order to be more user-friendly. 
• Lead management and nurturing automation software:  According to a survey commissioned by Prospex.ai, which is cited by Forbes, 58 percent of UK business decision-makers consider lead generation as a key challenge. In the same survey, 40 percent mentioned that their sales and marketing efforts are not up to date. So why is this an issue? Marketers know that their work doesn’t stop at attracting new customers. The marketing process spans the whole customer journey and cycle. Doing manual lead management and nurturing can be really tiring. Plus, since you regularly need to do it, it surely takes a large chunk out of your time. Automating the whole lead management process means that you can focus on other aspects of your business while it runs behind the scenes. 
• Chatbots fueled by Artificial Intelligence: Chatbots continue to be in demand. AI-driven chatbots are now on a whole different level so they can handle the inquiries and transactions of different customers. The presence of chatbots means that conversations will no longer be handled directly by a human being. This can result in heightened efficiency and a streamlined shopping process that can handle multiple private conversations at the same time.

How can the right marketing automation software enhance your brand’s UX?

So how can these marketing automation software improve the UX for businesses? Check out these mini-case studies and let them speak for themselves. 

Here’s how the right marketing automation software can take your brand’s UX to the topmost level.

It provides information for data-driven email marketing

An email is like a letter that is sent directly to your customers’ inboxes. It comes across as very personal, unlike seeing a sponsored ad on their social media feeds. With email marketing automation, you can send relevant and personalized emails to your customers. 

You can set up a flow composed of multiple emails, like the abandoned cart emails that eCommerce stores implement. You can also set up automatic emails that are triggered by different actions. This includes the browse abandonment emails and even the birthday greetings. And of course, you can even make sure that your emails address your customers by their first names—without having to send them an email one by one. This allows you to save time without sacrificing personalized communication and human touch in your marketing efforts. 

Thomson Reuters, for example, was able to amp up its UX through improving their email campaigns. They stopped sending out mass emails that didn’t really get them quality leads. Using email marketing automation, Thomson Reuters implemented segmentation and targeting to make sure that they were delivering content that the leads actually wanted. And of course, having preferred content in a customer’s inbox makes it easier for them to travel through the customer life cycle stages.  

Thanks to email marketing automation, the number of qualified leads increased by 23 percent. Conversion time also increased by more than 70 percent, proving that the overall UX has improved.                                                                                                                                                                                                               

It helps analyze leads and nurture customers

With lead management and nurture automation software in place, you’ll have access to a centralized database of every lead coming in. You can define the triggers and criteria that will determine which leads are qualified and should be prioritized. 

The software can also analyze your leads to help you deliver relevant content, no matter where they are in the buying process. Relevant content means content that meets their needs. Making this more accessible to them will level up your UX and increase your conversion rates. 

Opsview, a SaaS software company, used a lead management automation tool to qualify the leads coming from their website. The leads were automatically sorted into two groups: those who always used their product’s free version and those who seemed more interested in the full version. Each group belonged to a different funnel and received a different set of messages. 

It increases customer engagement and enriches customer experiences

Brands with chatbots integrated into their digital presence enjoy the cost-effectiveness and time that chatbots free up. In a survey of American online customers cited by Chatbots Life, 68 percent of them engage with chatbots, and 63 percent would like to go back to a website that has a chatbot.

Having chatbots also means making information and answers to customers’ questions more accessible, available, and instant—at 24 hours a day too. That’s why chatbots complement UX and further improve it.
H&M takes it up a notch by quizzing visitors about their preferred clothes. Once the bot has enough info, it churns out product recommendations tailored to customers’ tastes. This makes it easier for customers to zero in and head over to the product pages that fit their style.

Enhanced UX brings your brand’s marketing strategy to a full circle. It’s a very important part of your overall marketing efforts. Thankfully, there are now marketing automation tools that companies like yours can invest in. Align your company’s UX with your marketing strategies and help your target customers make a purchase they won’t regret. With the right marketing automation software, your business will have better UX, higher transactions, and a boost in growth.