Can Automation Technology Transform Brand Promotions for SMBs?

Automation tools are actively transforming many different areas of marketing, but for SMBs, the ability of the technology to deliver hyper-focused brand promotions is helping to take campaigns to new levels. 

Before the emergence of marketing automation systems, marketers were largely dependent on promoting a new product or service through manually written emails, painstakingly compiled contact lists, and fine-tuned send times with limited scope for personalization.  

Today, however, marketing automation has helped to deliver unprecedented levels of audience engagement with the help of data-driven insights, streamlined lead management, and multichannel marketing. 

Automation tools are being actively deployed throughout a range of digital marketing channels for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), with Digital Marketing Institute survey data claiming that 63% of respondents used the technology for levelled-up email marketing, 50% for social media management, and 40% for paid advertising. 

One of the most valuable areas that automation tools can enhance in marketing is when it comes to promotions. The seamless ability to transform omnichannel marketing helps to ensure a more engaging means of promoting more products and services to leads. 

Capitalizing on Opportunities

Automation technology is working alongside generative AI tools to capitalize better on changing consumer sentiment and the actions of their competitors. 

Focusing on response-ready product concepts means that SMBs can actively improve the efficiency of successful products, improve the accuracy of their testing, and accelerate their time to market based on far richer data insights. 

We’re already seeing leading brands like Mattel embrace artificial intelligence tools in product development for Hot Wheels, where quality concept images can be generated at four times the rate as before to inspire new designs and product features. 

Even for everyday food brands like Kellogg’s, it’s possible to use the technology to anticipate recipe trends that can be incorporated into breakfast cereal, with data insights helping to shape social media campaigns and more creative recipe recommendations. 

Hyper-Targeting

Automation technology is also transforming how products are recommended to users, helping to reshape the way promotions are structured and deployed. 

Crucially, artificial intelligence can help to craft hyper-targeted campaigns that can reliably deliver the right message to the right lead at the perfect time. 

We’re seeing a rapid acceleration in bespoke product recommendations and dynamic email content that’s designed to improve customer engagement on a comprehensive scale, as well as chatbots to perform a more personable role in tailoring their recommendations to individual needs and preferences. 

By using these tools to better understand the preferences and behaviors of audience segments, artificial intelligence can not only recommend relevant products and content but also generate promotions that can perfectly incentivize follow-up actions based on each prospect’s respective lead score. 

As many as 98% of sales teams believe that automated lead costing improves lead prioritization, and in a landscape where AI can adapt promotions based on each customer’s preferences and likelihood to convert, it’s possible to craft engaging bespoke promotions on demand. 

By leaning on machine learning (ML) tools to assess user interactions, each lead can be scored based on their likelihood to convert. This means that promotion campaigns can effectively be structured to resonate with each individual shopper. 

We’re already seeing global brands like Amazon use automation tools to analyze user purchase histories, browsing behavior, and demographics to deliver tailored product suggestions to leads based on relevance, and this approach carries plenty of further potential for a wide range of promotions. 

Going Omnichannel

The technology can not only empower SMB marketers to truly embrace omnichannel promotional strategies but also fully oversee the mechanics of utilizing these adaptive strategies. 

As soon as consumers interact with the brand from their favored touchpoint, marketing automation platforms can accurately integrate data from email, social media, websites, apps, wearables, and other areas to craft a fully seamless and consistent experience throughout the entire customer journey. 

Automation tools can also help to ensure that omnichannel approaches work alongside a supportive infrastructure, helping to leverage the complex distribution of prizes and gaming payouts for those engaging in a campaign. 

With omnichannel approaches demanding a consistent experience regardless of whether a lead engages with a promotion via email or on a mobile app, automation technology needs to be adaptable enough to level the experience playing field for every access point. 

Embracing Automation

The automation revolution in marketing is still building momentum, offering SMB marketers plenty of competitive advantage when it comes to promotions through data analytics, targeting, and lead engagement. 

Through the deployment of streamlined processes, marketers can enhance their decision-making and reshape their strategies to carry the largest impact to drive brand awareness and loyalty. 

As the landscape continues to evolve, automation tools will form a core component of promotional campaigns, helping more SMBs to stay competitive even in the face of more resourceful rivals. Automation has the potential to drive widespread improvements throughout the industry, opening the door to fresh opportunities for innovation and business growth.