Marketing automation and its integration with social networks

For some time now we have been talking about this issue, telling us things like that we are facing a process of economic globalisation, that we have a global technology and a globalised culture and derived terms that we usually hear in some political speeches. But what does that really mean? What does it mean that we are globalized or in a globalized world? It means that, in its different modalities, something that happens in a remote place of a part of the planet can, in a matter of seconds, be known and affect the other end of it. The guilt of that immediacy?: internet and social networks.

From time to time we have all become born influencers, what we see or do, what we publish, and not only in relation to our personal life but also to our professional life because, whether we like it or not, we all already have our little fingerprint on LinkedIn.

So leaving aside the personal where social networks are already a part of our routine, they have also entered the business world and do not seem to disappear for a long time, so it is better to adapt to them.

Building social media marketing

Nowadays social networks are one of the most attractive communication channels for companies, they all use one or the other or even several at the same time, depending on their sector and activity and each one of them offers you different possibilities.

But why have they become so relevant in the communication strategy of companies?
In reality, it can be due to several factors, as they are a good way to reach different objectives (greater visibility, improved reputation, better knowledge of the market, generation of potential customers, exposure of new products, etc.) but ultimately the main advantage is that they allow reaching a large number of users in record time, and, if well managed, with a cost per impact very economic or zero.

In addition, another factor to emphasize, and that is acquiring a lot of importance, is that they allow a fast interaction with fans, followers, clients, etc. and, in cases like Twitter, even have become an excellent center of attention to the user, managing to solve doubts and incidences with enough speed and in a reduced space of only 140 characters.

A problem and the solution

But as it usually happens, there is always some condition that makes this situation is not as idyllic as it seems and, in this case, is the huge audience available, which is very demanding and demands personalized treatment. This is where marketing automation comes in.

Marketing Automation or marketing automation consists of processes that, based on technology, through different platforms and software tools, allow the creation of massive and personalized communicative actions based on a previous analysis of user behavior (if you want to know more about the possibilities of Marketing Automation. Thanks to this automation, you will be able to know the interests of your leads and offer them an experience adapted to them in their social networks.

But what if, in addition to solving that initial problem, it offered you added value? He does, too.

Marketing Automation collaborations and your social media

The integration of your social networks with Marketing Automation tools will allow you:

1. To have a new source of contact capture.
   If you integrate the contacts that you have in your social networks in the Marketing Automation
    platform you will be able to increase your database incorporating new email addresses and even some additional data that are required when registering in any social network (name, surname, date of birth, mobile number, etc.). You will also be able to know their preferences since you will be able to capture the "likes" and "dislikes" of the products and publications that you show on the page. With this, you will get a homogeneous and more qualified database.
2. From this base, you can easily segment contacts and create specific smart lists based on social, demographic and behavioral criteria.
   Thanks to the information the tool gives you about their interests and preferences, you'll be able to provide them with unique landing pages, action calls and dynamic content that will vary depending on who sees it, so the user will notice a more personalized treatment and communication.
3. You will also be able to involve users by creating great "defenders" of your brand. This is usually done through drawings, contests, etc. This practice was already carried out before marketing automation, but it involved a large investment of time and personnel that is now, with these tools, managed almost alone. Thanks to these actions, users can get so involved with your brand that they will spontaneously share information about your product or service and even participate and recommend it to family and friends.
4. Finally, you can measure the effectiveness of specific campaigns thanks to the analytics module that incorporates these tools. It seems simple but, in this way, you will be able to destine the next efforts to campaigns with similar themes and characteristics to those that obtained the best ROI rates.

In short, by joining these two major platforms (Social Media and Marketing Automation) you will get a better understanding of the tastes and interests of potential customers so that you get them to go from being "potential" to "real".

If you want to discover an example of an Automation Marketing platform and learn about all the functionalities it offers, visit IBM Watson Campaign Automation