Last updated on
February 20, 2024
Planning marketing campaigns for your B2C audience can take months of strategy, hard work, and ongoing analysis.
Implementing those plans is another feat entirely.
From content creation to A/B testing to maintaining ongoing communication, it takes a village to make it all happen.
Unless … you create marketing systems that automate the process for you.
That’s where this helpful guide comes in.
If you’re ready for your B2C marketing efforts to perform like a well-oiled machine, stick around.
In today’s guide, we’ll share the exact marketing processes you can automate and some helpful tools to use. We’ll also answer some common questions about B2C marketing automation.
Marketing automation means using software tools to streamline and automate repetitive marketing tasks.
Just like businesses use employer of record services to automate global hiring, payroll taxes, and compliance risks, brands use scheduling platforms and lead management software to automate email campaigns, lead nurturing sequences, and sales funnels.
This symbiotic relationship between technological advancements in marketing and streamlined workforce management underscores a holistic approach to business growth and efficiency.
B2C marketing automation works the same as traditional marketing automation, with a specific focus on using campaigns to target a B2C audience.
Some of the most common marketing tasks B2C businesses automate include:
B2B and B2C marketing automation are similar — the main difference lies in the respective audience it targets. While B2B brands target businesses, B2Cers target everyday consumers.
In B2B marketing automation, the focus is on nurturing leads and building relationships with other businesses. The sales cycle is generally longer and involves multiple decision-makers.
With B2C marketing, automation is geared toward reaching and engaging individual consumers. The sales cycle tends to be shorter, and the focus is on driving immediate conversions.
The activities B2Bers and B2Cers choose to automate also differ.
B2B marketing automation often emphasizes lead scoring, lead nurturing campaigns, and personalized content tailored to the specific needs and pain points of the businesses they’re targeting.
On the other hand, B2C marketing automation often centers around customer segmentation, personalized product recommendations, behavioral targeting, and triggered campaigns based on consumer actions or milestones.
TL;DR: Both B2B and B2C brands use marketing automation to streamline marketing processes and improve efficiency. However, they apply different strategies and tactics to effectively engage their respective target audiences and drive desired actions.
Marketing automation can be a powerful tool for business owners focused on the consumer market.
Here are some benefits you can look forward to when you automate your B2C marketing processes:
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s review eight B2C marketing activities you can automate.
Automate the process of collecting lead information so you can grow your list and initiate relevant and automated email campaigns.
For instance, consider adopting an approach similar to Campus.edu, a prestigious educational institution, by reserving a specific space on your website to collect contact information.
By using this strategy, you can accumulate a valuable pool of data consisting of people genuinely interested in your product or service. You can then set up automated welcome emails, lead nurturing campaigns, and an onboarding series to nudge fresh prospects to conversion.
And speaking of lead nurturing …
Send timely communication and valuable content to your new leads to help move them along the sales funnel.
Here’s what you can automate as part of your lead nurturing process:
Automate collecting reviews by setting up triggers and prompts.
For example, after a customer makes a purchase, you can set up an automated email campaign that triggers a review request. Include a personalized message expressing your appreciation and provide a direct link or button for customers to leave a review. If they're brand new, make sure to give the customer a chance to experience your product or service first.
You can also implement in-app or post-purchase prompts that ask customers to provide feedback or leave a review.
Set up these prompts using automated tools, such as pop-ups, banners, or sliders.
Minimize and mitigate cart abandonment by simplifying your checkout flows, offering guest checkout options, and triggering follow-up emails to remind customers about their abandoned carts.
When sending cart abandonment emails, be sure to provide incentives like discounts or free shipping to encourage them to complete the purchase. Also include links that lead directly back to the cart for easy access.
Use personalized product recommendation engines on your website that analyze customer preferences and purchase history and autosuggest relevant products and upsells.
You can also email targeted and timely upsells to customers who’ve made a recent purchase or auto-recommend complimentary products or services at checkout. Automated push notifications, SMS messages, and chatbot responses are also great options to use for upselling opportunities.
Automate content distribution by using social media schedulers to schedule and publish content across multiple platforms in advance.
You can also auto-send newsletters and company updates by email and use content distribution platforms or syndication networks to amplify your reach.
Set up automated retargetting and win-back campaigns that follow the customer around wherever they are on the web. These campaigns offer banners, ads, and pop-up messages to entice the user to finish their purchase or buy from you again.
For instance, take a look at the following landing page on inventory optimization techniques:
If you read inside the chat messenger, you’ll notice the bot re-engages a bounced lead that has returned to the page with a “Nice to see you again” greeting. This is an automated process that can easily turn a stale lead or inactive customer into an active user again.
Use marketing software that automatically divides your audience into different segments based on demographics, interests, past purchases, or engagement levels.
Then, initiate automated segmented campaigns with tailored messaging and offers for each specific group.
Segmenting your email list based on interests and demographics is key to delivering a personalized experience to each of your audience members.
We’ve covered major ground so far, but what about those software tools we keep mentioning?
Let’s quickly review seven B2C marketing automation platforms you can use to automate your campaigns.
Keep your marketing team and automation projects running like clockwork with a work schedule app like Connecteam.
One of the best things you can do to automate your B2C marketing efforts is to have an effective workflow.
By establishing a streamlined flow of tasks, documents, and information, you can ensure that marketing activities are conducted efficiently and on schedule. You can also auto-create and share schedules so everyone on your marketing team knows which activities they should work on and who’s available at all times.
Best for: Marketing and sales teams that need to automate marketing project workflows at the employee level.
Use Simplified AI’s free social media scheduler to schedule up to 5,000 posts across your social media accounts. Simply add your captions and images, set the schedule, and let the tool do the rest!
With Simplified AI, you can also:
Best for: Social media teams and brands that need to automate social media scheduling.
Use Piktochart’s free poster maker to create branded templates to use in your automated marketing campaigns. You can also invite your team to collaborate on the design process to save time and share your assets with stakeholders to gather feedback.
The best part? You can push your branded posters directly to social media within the Piktochart platform.
Best for: Branded marketing templates, posters, and automated social media scheduling.
Collect more emails and convert more site visitors into customers with Mailmunch.
With Mailmunch, you can easily create and customize eye-catching opt-in forms and landing pages to capture leads. You can also automate email campaigns and leverage advanced segmentation features to target your audience.
Mailmunch also offers:
Best for: B2C companies and marketing teams that want to automate the process of converting more site visitors into customers.
Use LeadSquared to easily capture leads from multiple campaigns and sources, track their activity, and segment them based on demographics for more targeted marketing.
With LeadSquared, you can engage with leads via email, WhatsApp, SMS, self-serve portals, and more. You can also use its drag-and-drop editor to create customized emails and landing pages without the need for any code.
As your marketing efforts scale, you can set up automated workflows and trigger-based actions for consistent outreach across all channels. LeadSquared also provides dashboards and real-time reports so you can gain valuable insights into your campaign performance.
Best for: Marketing and sales teams in need of a one-stop solution to automate engagement with leads according to their preferred communication channels. Channel options include email, SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook, phone calls, self-serve portals, and more.
Automate exit intent campaigns, popups, and contact forms with Poptin, a lead capture popup builder and conversion optimization tool.
With Poptin, you can create automated website popups and contact forms that you can integrate with your email software or CRM.
Poptin also offers advanced options, such as exit intent technology and autopilot triggers to boost engagement and conversions. With these features, you can set up targeting options and behavioral triggers to convert qualified leads at precisely the right time.
Best for: Ecommerce brands, website owners, and agencies that need a tool that automates exit intent campaigns, popups, and behavioral triggers.
Need a complete marketing-in-a-box solution? Try EngageBay, an all-in-one marketing automation platform for small to medium-sized businesses.
With its comprehensive suite of features, including email marketing, social media management, website chat, and more, you can automate just about anything.
EngageBay offers intuitive drag-and-drop builders so you can create landing pages and emails that are beautiful, responsive, and on-brand.
The software also offers:
Best for: Small to medium-sized B2C businesses that need to streamline and automate email marketing, social media management, website chat, and other channels.
And there you have it!
In today’s no-nonsense guide to B2C marketing automation, we covered:
Now, over to you.
Bookmark this article and share it with your marketing team. Then, carve out time to discuss which B2C marketing processes you’ll be automating and which tools you’ll use to set them up.
Then, sit back and watch your systems work for you! Don’t forget to track your results and make adjustments to further improve and hyper-personalize your campaigns.
Also, give Mailmunch a try! We have everything you need to maintain ongoing communication with your leads and customers, build your list, and automate win-back campaigns.
That’s it for now, B2Cers.
Here’s to your success!
Say hello to Hamna, a tiny wordsmith who loves combining humor and creativity with masterful precision during the day, and a caped Batman that saves the world during the night. She ensures that every piece not only ranks high but also resonates with the audience.
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