Strengthen your marketing automation with efficient workflows (+ 3 examples)

To effectively manage the many repetitive tasks in your marketing strategy, one tool is becoming essential: the marketing automation workflow. By delivering predefined sequences of actions in response to specific events, these workflows allow you to focus on what matters, while improving the customer experience. However, creating and optimising these workflows isn't always straightforward!

On the one hand, the personalisation and perfect timing of communications boosts prospect engagement. On the other hand, the slightest error in automation can compromise your efforts. Defining precise objectives, choosing the right triggers and constantly adapting your scenarios are crucial steps in making the most of this technology.

Dive into our guide to find out how to structure each stage of the process and avoid common pitfalls. We'll also show you a number of concrete examples of effective workflows to push back the boundaries of your marketing strategy. Ready to revolutionise your efficiency and maximise your return on investment? This is where it starts! 👊

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What is a workflow in marketing automation?

First of all, what is marketing automation and why is it important?

Marketing automation refers to all the tools and technologies that automate marketing tasks, from segmenting prospects to sending personalised emails.

This process increases the effectiveness of campaigns while offering customers a more personalised experience. By using these technologies, you can reduce your manual workload, maximise your productivity and, ultimately, improve your return on investment. ✅

Definition of a marketing automation workflow

In marketing automation, a workflow is a set of automated processes that optimise the management of repetitive tasks. By integrating these workflows into their strategy, marketing teams aim to :

• streamline their operations
• improve the customer experience
• and maximise the effectiveness of their campaigns.

These workflows are made up of sequences of actions triggered by specific events or predefined conditions.

👉 Example: this could include sending a welcome email to a new subscriber, or setting up a personalised follow-up after a piece of content has been downloaded. With this type of automation, you can better manage your relationships with prospects and customers throughout the buying journey, offering them relevant interactions at the right time.

To find out more, discover how email automation can help you automate your email campaigns even more effectively and maximise customer engagement.

Workflows can generate several scenarios, each designed to meet strategic marketing objectives. It is therefore crucial to clearly define the steps in these processes to ensure that they run smoothly and achieve the desired results.

Here is an example of a demo page visit:

Why use workflows in your marketing strategy? 4 advantages

Advantage 1: Saving time

First of all, workflows save you precious time by automating repetitive tasks, freeing you up to concentrate on more strategic projects, such as creating new campaigns or analysing performance.

Benefit 2: More engaged prospects

Secondly, workflows improve prospect engagement. By sending personalised, relevant communications at the right time, you strengthen the relationship with customers, increasing the chances of conversion.

👉 Example: an automated workflow can send follow-up emails after a prospect has interacted with content, facilitating an effective lead nurturing process.

Benefit 3: Better results

Workflows also reduce human error. By automating processes, the risk of error associated with manual input is reduced, guaranteeing greater consistency in brand communication and ensuring a quality customer experience.

Advantage 4: Better performance monitoring

Finally, they make it easier to collect and analyse data, enabling better evaluation of the performance of marketing campaigns in terms of KPIs.

In short, integrating workflows into your marketing strategy boosts efficiency, personalises the customer experience and encourages an analytical approach to optimising results.

4 steps to implementing workflows in your marketing automation strategy

1. Define clear objectives for your workflows

The first step in optimising your marketing workflows is to define clear and precise objectives. This gives direction to your automation efforts and aligns all your actions with the desired results. 🎯

First of all, determine the problem you want to solve with your workflows.

• Do you want to improve your teams' responsiveness to customer requests?
• Do you want to increase the volume of your leads or the conversion rate?

📏 Once you've identified your main objective, formulate it in measurable terms, for example, to increase the email open rate by 20% over the next three months.

Next, think about the different stages of the customer journey. Workflows need to support prospects and customers at every stage, responding to their specific needs. This requires an in-depth understanding of customer personas and behaviours.

Finally, re-evaluate these objectives regularly, based on the performance of your campaigns and feedback. Adaptability is essential to ensure that your workflows evolve with your business and your customers' needs!

2. Create different workflow scenarios

Creating different workflow scenarios is essential for adapting your processes to the interactions your prospects and customers may have with your brand.

☝️ Each scenario must respond to specific situations and achieve precise objectives.

Looking for scenarios to implement? Here is a non-exhaustive list of common scenarios:

1. Content download scenario: When a user downloads a white paper or e-book, a workflow can thank them and send them relevant complementary content. This creates a relationship of trust and encourages engagement.
2. Newsletter sign-up scenario: When someone subscribes to your newsletter, a workflow can send them a welcome email and inform them about the frequency of mailings, establishing a positive relationship from the outset.
3. Lead reactivation scenario: If a lead hasn't engaged for a while, a reactivation workflow can rekindle their interest by offering exclusive offers or content tailored to their previous interests.
4. Welcome scenario for new contacts: A welcome workflow can send a series of emails introducing your company, your values and your offers to create a pleasant welcome experience.
5. Lead nurturing scenario: For prospects interested in your products, a nurturing workflow can guide them through a personalised buying journey, offering them content based on their actions.
6. Basket abandonment scenario: When a customer abandons their basket on your site, a workflow can send them an automatic reminder to encourage them to finalise their purchase, possibly including a special offer.

💡 O ur advice: Adapt communications and offers according to interactions, platforms, and user behaviour. Using behavioural data will maximise the impact of your marketing workflows.

For example, if you regularly use Linkedin, you can explore how using automation can simplify the management and automation of your contacts and prospecting on this platform. In fact, we have a hot article on marketing automation applied to Linkedin, with all the tools that go with it.

3. Choose the right triggers to avoid conflicts

Next step, and not the least: choosing the right triggers for your marketing workflows is essential to guarantee their effectiveness and avoid conflicts.

Triggers, which are specific events or actions that initiate a workflow, need to be selected with care. How do you choose them?

• Make sure that each trigger is relevant and directly linked to the objective of the workflow.
• Avoid including the same contact in several overlapping workflows, which could lead to an overload of e-mails or interactions, frustrating the customer. Clearly define the segments in your database or CRM. In other words: avoid redundancy.
• Include conditions and exclusions in your workflows to avoid conflicts. For example, if a user has already received a follow-up email, remove them from this workflow to avoid sending them repetitive information.
• Test triggers before setting up your workflows. Monitor the results and adjust them if necessary to correct any potential conflicts.

4. Regularly analyse and update your workflows

This step is crucial to ensuring that your workflows are effective and relevant. Here are some essential steps:

Step	Example
Monitor KPIs	Define relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to assess the performance of your workflows, such as email open and click rates or lead conversion rates.
Collect feedback	Solicit feedback from your teams and your customers. Their opinions can provide valuable information about the relevance and timing of your communications.
Test and adjust	Set up A/B tests to experiment with different variants of your workflows. This will allow you to test various elements and analyse the results to fine-tune your workflows.
Adapt to market changes	Regularly adapt your workflows to changes in consumer behaviour and market trends.
Plan regular updates	Establish a schedule for reviewing your workflows at regular intervals to ensure they remain relevant.
Watch out for human error	Although automation aims to reduce errors, it is important to review processes regularly to minimise the risk of configuration errors.

3 examples of effective marketing automation workflows

To illustrate the application of marketing automation workflows, here are 3 examples of effective scenarios. But before that, Julien Dereumaux from the Pilot'In agency has listed the 6 best HubSpot workflows for your digital acquisition in the webinar below:

Example 1: Welcome workflow

A welcome workflow can automatically send a series of emails, including:

• A thank you email for signing up, with an overview of what the subscriber can expect.
• Exclusive content or a discount code to encourage a first purchase.
• Information about products or services, or a guide to exploring your site.

This type of workflow helps to establish a positive first impression and encourages the new subscriber to become more involved.

Example 2: Lead reactivation workflow

After a period of inactivity, a reactivation workflow could :

• Send a targeted email to remind the user of the services they have explored.
• Offer relevant content or customer testimonials to pique interest.
• Offer a promotion or webinar linked to their previous interactions.

Example 3: Contact nurturing workflow

This workflow is designed to support prospects during their buying journey. It can include :

• Targeted emails based on user behaviour, such as pages visited.
• Invitations to online events such as webinars based on their interests.
• Personalised messages to encourage them to continue on their purchasing journey.

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Our latest practical recommendations for your marketing workflows

Adopting a strategic and optimised approach to the marketing automation workflow has become crucial for any ambitious modern business. By automating and intelligently managing repetitive tasks, you can free up valuable time, while increasing the relevance and personalisation of your campaigns. Implementing well-defined workflows not only helps to retain your customers by offering them an enriching and consistent experience, but also increases your return on investment through better management of leads and conversions.

However, the success of these workflows lies in a thorough and ongoing understanding of your objectives, customer segments and market trends. Keeping an inquisitive attitude and learning about related areas, such as data analytics or new marketing technologies, can further refine and improve your strategies.

So, are you ready to give your company's marketing automation workflow a boost? The key is constant innovation and adaptability. Start rethinking your processes today to reach new heights of efficiency and engagement!