Open Source Marketing Automation and Email Marketing Platform available to everyone

As a small business owner, open-source marketing automation and an email marketing platform are key to growing your business. With these tools, it saves your most valuable resources: time and money. In this episode, host Ricardo Berris discusses the value of market automation. Ricardo recommends mautic.org but there is also HubSpot,  Microsoft Dynamics, and Sharpspring. What you use will be based on the needs of your business.

What are some of the things you can automate?

-Email and SMS campaigns

-Lead magnets

-Landing pages

-Ability to download content from the landing page or website

An example of automation would be sending an email. This campaign will run for a specified amount of time and automation features can trigger what happens next based on whether or not the email is opened. By doing this, you don’t have to constantly be in front of your computer. You just set it up and let it run.

A critical piece for contact management to work properly is making sure you capture and organize information that includes names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Once this is done, organize the names in segments so you can manage them properly.

Who can use automated marketing?

This is available to anyone, not just those with a technical background. These tools are typically user-friendly and provide instructions to help you set up your campaign and emails, link those out, and allow them to run. SMS and social media can be automated as well. If you get stuck, there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube.

Another key component is making sure you’re connected to an email deliverability system that allows for smooth delivery of your emails. Ricardo uses SendGrid. For an SMS campaign, there is Twilio. These can then get tied into a system like Mautic.

The key is to be curious about what’s available to you to grow your business and give it a try. Many of these services are free and will allow you to explore before you upgrade. Look for the best fits for your processes and budget.

If you need assistance with workflow, installation, or server setup, you can reach out to Ricardo’s company, The MI Group.