There are quite a few things Facebook can teach you about marketing automation. I know, you are probably thinking that I am crazy. I am, probably, but I’m totally correct as well in this case. The first thing that you are probably dying to ask is, Facebook is a social networking website, and how can there be things that Facebook can teach you about marketing automation?
First things first. Before marketing automation went on to become a platform that you can use, it was a concept.
Am I making any sense? For example, before scientists invent something, they have a theory to back it up. They have notes, concepts, and calculations to back it all up. Similarly, marketing automation too was at some point a concept.
Before you implement marketing automation or even think about implementing it, you need to understand it. We have talked about this in detail in our blog post “What is Marketing Automation?". Feel free to check that out.
But there are other things that make up a marketing automation platform. And these modules and features have their own concepts. If you want to use marketing automation and take advantage of these features, you have to understand them first. And, what better way to understand them than to take practical examples from Facebook?
What can Facebook Teach You About Marketing Automation?
Well, most of us have a Facebook account where we check notifications and messages every day. It has become an integral part of our lives. We have the Facebook app installed on our smartphones so that we can use Facebook anywhere, anytime.
And, I don’t want to spoil it, but I know that you will be surprised to know the things that Facebook can teach you about marketing automation. Some you might see them coming a mile away, and some of you will definitely be surprised. But, what I can guarantee is that all of you will benefit from this.
Here are the things Facebook can teach you about marketing automation:
Personalized Content
This is probably one of the primary things Facebook can teach you about marketing automation. Perhaps one of the most important reasons why we all keep going back to Facebook is because of the content. We love the content, Facebook shows us.
Do you know why? Because these are the pages we ourselves chose to subscribe to, these are the people that we chose ourselves to follow and these are the friends that we chose ourselves as well. It’s a reflection of our choices and that is why our newsfeed becomes an amalgamation of content that we like.
This is a great example of what personalized content should be. On Facebook, we the consumers are choosing and personalizing our feed. So, as marketers, we should try to do the same when it comes to our leads and customers.
Marketing automation lets you personalize content so that your customers and leads feel the same. Your emails, newsletters, landing pages, etc. wherever it is that you are trying to communicate with them, you should personalize that content. This will make them come back to you day after day.
Also Read: Use Marketing Automation To Serve Personalized Content to Your Readers
Facebook has subtly done this without even doing it themselves. We were the ones who did it. They just gave us the options to do it. You can do the same by using marketing automation for your website/app.
Special Moments
Facebook takes great measures to help us celebrate special moments in life. In fact, a lot of us take great pride in sharing special moments with all our friends and followers on Facebook.
For example, Facebook helps us remember birthdays, anniversaries, special events, etc. For us, this shows that Facebook cares, and the people on Facebook care as well.
Similarly, when it comes to using marketing automation, we can mark the special days for every lead and customer. It can be birthdays or it can an anniversary of using your product. As long as it is a special moment between you and your customer, you should go ahead and celebrate it.
Respect Privacy
One of the things Facebook can teach you is how to respect the privacy of others(You may disagree!). If you ever visit the privacy tab in your Facebook settings, you can see a lot of settings. You can set who can see your posts, who can contact you, and who can look you up using your details inside and outside of Facebook.
It is a nifty feature because cybercrime and fraud have become rampant. These features are Facebook’s way of respecting as well as protecting our privacy online.
As marketers, we collect a lot of private information that belongs to our leads and customers. They hand it over to us because they trust us. So, we should honor that. Not only that, we should offer them options to customize their subscriptions.
This will ensure that we are not invading their privacy and constantly disturbing them by emailing too many newsletters. If a subscriber wants to receive only one mail from you every month, then so be it. Respect their choices, and soon they will start respecting you as well.
Thanks to marketing automation, it is easy to set these customizations. And, once you set it, you are set for life. Unless the subscriber wishes to change their settings. In that case, the changes will be updated on your marketing automation tool as well.
Also Read: Why Do People Unsubscribe From Email Campaigns And What Can You Do About It?
Segmentation
This is one of the best things Facebook can teach you. Did you know that Facebook ads target users based on their demographics? Basically, it segments its audience and targets it as per the requirements of the ad.
Lead segmentation is a critical feature of any marketing strategy and this is exactly how marketing automation’s segmentation feature works. Once a lead fills up a form in exchange for information on your website, you have access to their basic details. These might include details name, email address, designation, gender, country, etc.
Now, what you can do is segment them just like Facebook does and create small groups of like-minded people. You can create groups of people who live in a certain country. You can create groups of people who like a certain product and so on and so forth.
Creating these segments helps you target your audience in a better way in future campaigns.
Also Read: Manage Lead Segmentation With Marketing Automation
Timing
On Facebook, every user has their own time to be online. I am not saying that every day they come online at that exact specific time. But it’s like this, User A will always come online around 8 A.M. to 10 A.M. after waking up to check notifications. So, you know that A will be there during that time. It might be a good time to reach out to A.
Similarly, when it comes to marketing automation, timing is everything, and thankfully you can time everything from beforehand. You don’t need to be present if you want to send them a personalized message at a specific time. All you need to do is chalk out the details and let the platform do the rest.
Also Read: What’s The Best Time To Send Emails
The Bottom Line
Frankly, I never knew there were these things that Facebook could teach me. But every day we learn something new and today we learned how there are things Facebook can teach you about marketing automation.
Is there anything that I've missed? Have you learned anything else about marketing automation from Facebook? Let us know at [email protected].