Differentiating Marketing Automation and Email Campaigns

Do you want to grow your business? Are you trying to expand your online presence? Maybe you don’t have extra cash to invest, so you need a marketing strategy that will protect your bottom line.

The good news: you have options to create a digital footprint that can attract your target audience and keep them coming back for more.

What’s the Difference?

Scope differentiates email campaigns from marketing automation. Email campaigns are often effective marketing strategies because messages deliver specific content to your desired audience members.

Email campaigns save time but also give you the ability to really segment your audience and be very personal with your messaging.

This strategy options refine messages and personalize them to a user’s experience. Campaigns can include:

• Email blasts
• Newsletters
• Seasonal promotions

Marketing automation is both a marketing tool and strategy that uses online platforms to carry out in-depth marketing efforts. This automated approach targets your audience based on their interactions with social media, email, newsletters, and alerts. Popular marketing automation software platforms include HubSpot, SharpSpring, Infusionsoft, and Marketo.

The Approach

Marketing automation is a more in-depth approach than email campaigns. Both can be personalized, but only marketing automation can track your audience’s steps through the buying process.

The fascinating aspect is watching a contact move from lead to established customer through emails and website activity.

For example, when someone visits a website or fills out an online form, they may start to receive emails based on their interaction with the content. Or, if they click on a button in an email, they may receive related information later. You can plan for future campaigns based on audience interactions with emails, social media, and purchases.

Email campaigns offer:

• Consistent interaction with target audiences
• Tracking open rates
• Digital marketing at a lower price point
• Options for those with limited marketing strategies

Marketing automation can provide:

• Consistent content programs across online media
• Personalized content based on audience interactions
• Predictive analytics for future campaigns
• Task automation

Select a Strategy That Suits You

Email campaigns are beneficial for companies with limited resources and basic lead conversion cycles. Lead conversion is the process of changing a lead into a contact or opportunity. The cycle is the average amount of time between lead creation and conversion.

Those with limited content strategies can also benefit from email campaigns because you can design your content for your intended audience based on their interactions with previous campaigns.

Marketing automation pairs strategy and sales so you can track the effectiveness of your efforts. You can develop personalized content for segmented audiences, which creates an opportunity for business growth.

Browse our blog posts for the latest on marketing trends and strategy. Contact TouchStone to learn how we can help you get the most from your online marketing strategy.