Do you ever marvel the way you and your group might save time on handbook duties corresponding to information entry, advertising and marketing, or recruitment? The reply could also be enterprise automation.
Enterprise automation can prevent cash, get rid of errors, and unleash your group’s creativity. It boosts productiveness by streamlining what you are promoting processes, and it could possibly even enhance your buyer expertise.
You may be questioning if enterprise automation is definitely worth the funding for what you are promoting. And in that case, how do you get began?
This text will cowl the fundamentals of enterprise automation — what it’s, several types of automation, its advantages, and a few ideas that can assist you get began.
So let’s dive in.
What’s enterprise automation?
Enterprise automation leverages know-how corresponding to synthetic intelligence and machine studying to automate processes that your group presently does manually. It gives dependable information that companies of all sizes can analyze and make knowledgeable selections about bettering their enterprise.
Enterprise automation is made attainable by automation software program that carries out duties when you sleep, corresponding to sending personalised emails to your clients.
Enterprise automation uptake was already on the rise when COVID-19 hit, however the pandemic precipitated a digital revolution. It pressured many enterprise homeowners to pivot towards the digitization and automation of enterprise processes extra shortly than supposed. In accordance with McKinsey, digital adoption took a five-year leap ahead within the house of eight weeks.
Automation has performed a basic function on this shift. In accordance with Zapier’s 2021 State of Enterprise Automation Report, 63% of small enterprise homeowners say enterprise automation instruments helped them make the pivot. And the outcomes are spectacular: 88% of small corporations say it permits them to compete with large companies.
The fast uptake of enterprise automation software program has led Gartner to foretell that “hyperautomation” will drive the worldwide automation know-how market to $596.6 billion in 2022, up from $481.6 billion in 2020. It’s not stunning given the myriad makes use of of enterprise automation, together with:
- Buyer assist
- Lead nurturing
- Knowledge administration
- Gross sales orders
- Product launches
- Worker recruitment and onboarding
- Payroll
- Bill processing
- Worker coaching and improvement
- Monitoring and reporting
- Money circulation administration
And extra.
Let’s discover a couple of completely different use circumstances in additional depth.
Varieties of enterprise automation
There are 4 broad varieties of enterprise automation, each designed to scale back prices and save time by streamlining processes and decreasing the margin of error.
The 4 foremost varieties of enterprise automation are:
- Advertising and marketing automation
- HR automation
- Accounting automation
- Enterprise course of automation
Inside these classes are duties like buyer assist, information entry, and extra.
Let’s check out every class of automations in additional element.
1. Advertising and marketing automation
Advertising and marketing is usually a expensive and time-consuming course of, however advertising and marketing automation instruments assist corporations streamline their advertising and marketing efforts and handle leads extra successfully.
For instance, they will mechanically generate and nurture certified leads for the gross sales group to interact with, saving them time on qualifying these leads manually. 17.4% of entrepreneurs mentioned advertising and marketing automation was the only best digital advertising and marketing method in 2020.
Additional automations, corresponding to personalised emails, can transfer leads by the advertising and marketing funnel and past to their post-sale buyer journey.
Advertising and marketing automation software program additionally permits you to automate, monitor, and measure the success of your advertising and marketing campaigns throughout all channels — from electronic mail advertising and marketing to social media. You possibly can create a easy buyer journey from when a prospect first sees your ad till they’re a loyal buyer.
2. HR automation
Choice, recruitment, onboarding, and coaching are all features of HR administration that may be improved by automation. For instance, automation software program can pre-select certified candidates and mechanically schedule interviews. When a brand new emptiness turns into out there, HR automations can notify certified candidates, each inner and exterior.
As soon as a candidate has been chosen, the group can automate onboarding, payroll processing, contract administration, tax, and advantages. They’ll additionally hold monitor of accomplished coaching plans and determine when additional coaching is required, for instance, after beginning a brand new function.
3. Accounting automation
Accounting and bookkeeping are advanced processes requiring handbook duties, together with bill processing, normal ledger administration, accounts receivable, and accounts payable.
Accounting automation software program permits companies to automate many, if not all, of those processes, decreasing the time your accounting group spends on calculations, transactions, and dealing with documentation. It additionally reduces the chance of errors and may also help forestall fraud by automated controls.
4. Enterprise course of automation
Enterprise course of automation, or BPA, goes past primary automations and focuses particularly on bettering a corporation’s processes to extend effectivity. A subset of BPA, often known as robotic course of automation, or RPA, helps corporations automate repetitive duties that mimic human interplay.
Examples of enterprise advertising and marketing automation
Now let’s deal with enterprise advertising and marketing automation. In accordance with McKinsey, corporations that spend money on advertising and marketing automations profit from a 10-15% enhance in effectivity, increased buyer satisfaction, and a lift in gross sales. This makes it an apparent place to start out for any enterprise that desires to start automating its processes. Let’s check out two examples of how you should use enterprise advertising and marketing automation in what you are promoting.
1. Retargeting
Retargeting is the method of following up with leads and clients based mostly on their conduct, corresponding to web site visits or social media exercise. There are two foremost varieties of retargeting:
- Electronic mail retargeting — sending personalised, well timed emails with irresistible topic traces to clients based mostly on their latest conduct.
- Retargeting advertisements — utilizing browser cookies to determine web site guests and retarget them by advertisements throughout platforms like Fb and Google.
In accordance with a 2021 report on retargeting, individuals who view retargeting advertisements are more likely to transform, making it a extremely efficient and cost-efficient advertising and marketing automation. The picture under reveals how web site monitoring and retargeting can drive extra gross sales.
With monitoring enabled, you may arrange automated follow-up emails that cowl the precise product classes they browsed in your web site. And you will get much more granular — focusing on clients who added merchandise to their cart however aborted the acquisition.
2. Deserted cart reminder
International cart abandonment charges have been 80% in 2021 — that’s a substantial quantity of misplaced gross sales. There are lots of causes a buyer may abandon a cart — corresponding to buying round and evaluating costs on completely different web sites. Or maybe the price of transport made them rethink their buy on the checkout.
No matter the reason for cart abandonment, one of the crucial efficient methods to get better gross sales is thru an deserted cart reminder automation. In accordance with Barilliance, deserted cart emails have a 10% conversion price, making them a worthy funding for any enterprise.
Under, you may see an instance of what a cart abandonment automation may appear like on ActiveCampaign.
Six advantages of enterprise automation for small companies
Now that you just’re aware of the fundamentals of enterprise automation let’s dive into a few of its advantages for small companies.
1. It ranges the taking part in subject and makes you extra aggressive
Among the finest issues about enterprise automation is that it permits small companies, solo entrepreneurs, and even freelancers to compete with essentially the most distinguished gamers available in the market.
As a substitute of hiring a big group, you may spend money on a enterprise automation resolution to do the be just right for you. Enterprise automation may make small companies extra aggressive by placing their current assets to higher use, serving to to spice up effectivity.
2. It saves you time
In accordance with the Zapier report, saving time on administration or following up with leads are two of the highest advantages of enterprise automation cited by companies. It is smart — not solely does automation reduce time spent on repetitive every day duties, but it surely additionally eliminates steps that require human interplay, corresponding to lengthy electronic mail discussions or group conferences.
Enterprise automation permits you to enhance your turnaround occasions whereas getting extra achieved with the identical assets. With all that additional time in your palms, your group can deal with the essential stuff, like creativity and innovation.
3. It improves your buyer expertise
The pandemic modified the best way we work together on-line, which led to a rise in clients. This then led to many small companies and their assist groups being overwhelmed. Nonetheless, customer support automation may also help remedy this — practically each enterprise worldwide says it could possibly assist them enhance their buyer expertise in a post-COVID world.
Chatbots and automatic emails present buyer assist and handle buyer relations with out the necessity for human intervention, offering a extra environment friendly and streamlined buyer expertise. Plus, chatbots assist companies save as much as 30% in buyer assist prices, so it’s a win-win.
4. It will increase productiveness
It stands to cause that reducing the time you and your group spend on menial, repetitive duties can enhance your productiveness. In any case, you may take that point and power to deal with higher-level actions corresponding to technique.
However automation additionally will increase productiveness in different methods. For instance, staff are usually extra productive after they’re blissful — and automation could make them happier by relieving them of their much less stimulating duties.
5. It reduces errors
People make errors, which might be why a 3rd of companies instructed Zapier that enterprise automation reduces errors in duties corresponding to information entry.
Once you automate a course of, the software program accountable carries out that course of the identical approach each time, decreasing the margin of error. Automation minimizes the variety of duties carried out by people and saves you cash from potential errors.
6. It paves the best way for digital transformation
Digital transformation refers back to the digitization of all processes that have been as soon as carried out manually.
As startups and different organizations led by tech natives enter the market and supply flawless customer support experiences, some older companies with older techniques are struggling to compete. Steadily introducing enterprise automation paves the best way for digital transformation, serving to extra conventional corporations keep aggressive and related.
35 processes each small enterprise ought to automate
Automation uptake doesn’t occur in a single day. It requires cautious planning and preparation, in addition to time and assets. For this reason it’s smart to introduce automation progressively, beginning with only one space of what you are promoting earlier than transferring on to others.
Finally, although, your aim ought to be to automate as a lot of what you are promoting processes as attainable. That can assist you get began, we’ve compiled a listing of processes that each small enterprise ought to intention to automate throughout the 4 varieties of enterprise automation.
Advertising and marketing processes to automate
- Contact kind submission — mechanically ship a welcome electronic mail when a lead submits a contact kind
- Lead era — mechanically generate new potential leads
- Lead qualification — qualify new leads mechanically
- Assigning certified results in gross sales group reps
- Lead nurturing — transferring leads who aren’t fairly prepared by the funnel with tailor-made messages
- Sustaining common contact along with your clients by way of a month-to-month e-newsletter
- Retargeting
- Lead segmentation and personalization — segmentation permits you to goal completely different sections of your viewers with personalised messages
- Deserted cart reminders
HR processes to automate
- Emptiness bulletins — mechanically submit new vacancies on related job boards and websites
- Amassing job purposes
- Reviewing purposes and pre-selecting certified candidates by asking them to finish on-line kinds
- Scheduling interviews mechanically
- Notifying profitable candidates
- Worker onboarding — guarantee new staff obtain all the mandatory documentation and coaching to change into productive members of your group
- Efficiency opinions — centralize and automate the efficiency evaluation course of
- Coaching and improvement — mechanically create and monitor worker improvement plans based mostly on efficiency opinions
- Payroll — automate payroll processing
Accounting processes to automate
- Knowledge entry — save time on handbook information enter
- Bill processing — mechanically course of invoices and approvals for larger pace and accuracy
- Normal ledger administration
- Closing the books
- Accounts receivable workflows
- Accounts payable workflows
- Billing — mechanically invoice clients and comply with up on failed billing costs
- Checking account administration
- Bank card funds
Enterprise processes to automate
- Consumer provisioning — mechanically assign the mandatory permissions to a brand new recruit
- Report era and distribution — mechanically pull your organization’s information right into a report and share it with the precise stakeholders
- Integrations — automate information sharing throughout all of the software program instruments and apps you employ
- Occasion log monitoring — mechanically monitor occasion logs and resolve community issues
- Workflow automation — automate repetitive duties
- File transfers — mechanically connect recordsdata to duties and add information to workflows
- Batch processing
- Order entry
Use enterprise automation to remain aggressive
Companies of any measurement can profit from enterprise automation — particularly small companies, solo entrepreneurs, and freelancers because it permits them to compete with the largest gamers of their trade.
We advocate introducing automation to only one space of what you are promoting to get began. One of many best — and most impactful — locations to start out is advertising and marketing automation, bettering your buyer expertise and driving gross sales whereas saving you money and time.
However don’t simply take our phrase for it. Join a free 14-day trial with ActiveCampaign and uncover the facility of selling automation for your self.
