Switching from an ESP to Marketing Automation: Make the Move Now

It can be really difficult to find the “perfect” email service provider that matches all your needs, particularly in the present times when most of the email platforms are changing into full-service marketing platforms. Smaller ESPs in stark contrast to the bigger ESPs have limited features with technical issues.

The objectives of every business are different, based on the size of the company, the industry of operation, the resources you have, and the overall growth strategy. Consequently, each company will be using different tools to drive maximum ROI. To address short-term marketing goals, you can use the popular ESPs available in the digital marketplace. On the other hand, companies who are looking forward to taking their marketing strategy a level further, it would be advisable to switch to marketing automation that will give you a chance to integrate your omni-channel marketing campaigns into a single platform that blends with the CRM, thereby enhancing the agility and alignment of your marketing and sales department.

Are the limitations of your ESP holding you back from making the most out of your marketing efforts? If yes, you should switch to a marketing automation platform. Simply put, marketing automation is a technology that automates every marketing task and streamlines them, so that companies can enhance their operational efficiency and grow revenue faster. According to Social Media Today “State of Marketing Automation Survey Report” 2019, 75% marketers say that they use one type of marketing automation tools.

So, what are the salient differences between an ESP and marketing automation platform?

The only similarity between an ESP and marketing automation platform is that you can send mass marketing and sales emails through these tools. That said, let’s understand the key differentiating features between the two.

While basic email service providers let the marketers create and send emails to prospects and existing customers, marketing automation platforms are powerful software tools that allow the marketers to execute a huge range of marketing tasks with a unified platform. You can not only send personalized emails to segmented lists, build and launch landing pages and contact forms, perform SEO audits, conduct digital marketing webinars, and track website user behavior but also get insights into how your marketing strategy is performing.

How is Marketing Automation Beneficial?

Even if you opt for an advanced ESP, the features are almost limited to list segmentation and better audience targeting. That’s where marketing automation software comes into picture. It comes with a plethora of features that facilitate the launch, tracking, testing, and optimization of the campaigns. Moreover, by integrating your CRM with the new marketing automation software, the leads can be instantly transferred to the sales team. If you find that the leads are not qualified for sales, you can move them in a highly segmented automated lead nurturing workflow to encourage them to make the purchase.

Besides these functionalities, marketers can allocate resources to do the specific task, thereby saving time and effort. These automation platforms not only allow you to scale the campaigns but also launch them cost effectively and at a faster pace. Eventually, the marketing team will be able to direct their efforts on improving their strategy. By doing so, your team members will be able to give their best, while cutting down on the marketing costs.

If we talk about sales, you will be able to have faster sales cycles by choosing marketing automation over ESP. You will be able to control the marketing expenses with more targeted spending. As the marketing and sales department are aligned better, you will be able to avoid spending unnecessary time on poor leads and focus on better qualified leads, which ultimately reduces the cost per lead.

As you can segment the leads better, you can execute personalized marketing more effectively and impart a pleasant customer experience across the different channels. It will reduce the churn rate and unsubscribe rate by making the messages more effective for the prospects and customers alike.

Marketing automation tools give you a detailed insight into data across the diverse channels like website, email, and social media. With the help of this information, you can keep optimizing your marketing strategy for best results.

Wrapping Up

Marketing automation offers so much more than a conventional CRM or ESP. It helps to generate more qualified leads, close more deals, measure the ROI, and optimize the messaging strategy to get expected results.