Unlogged.io (previously Videobug) is looking for a Backend Java Developer
Company Overview:
Unlogged (previously videobug) records inputs and return values of Java methods to enable developers to replay them and identify potential regressions instantly. Our mission is enable confident code changes and faster software development.
We are currently seeking an experienced Backend Java Developer (4-6 years of hands on exp.) to join our team. If you like JVM-related technologies, and are hands-on with various Java frameworks – do consider working with us.
Job Summary:
We have built a fully offline record and replay IntelliJ plugin for Java. We are now looking to build production-ready pipeline so that Java developers can replay production traffic for their code changes and ensure regression free deployments.
Responsibilities:
– Design, develop, and maintain backend applications using Java and various Java frameworks.
– Talk to other java developers and understand nuances of their day to day needs. Founders do this too.
– Implement a fast and bug free log scanning pipeline .
– Integrate 3rd party APIs with the dashboard.
– Deploy and manage services on cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.
– Identify and address performance bottlenecks in the software.
– Participate in code reviews to maintain code quality and ensure best practices.
– Proactively suggest process improvements and participate in technical discussions.
Requirements:
– 4-8 years of hands-on experience with Java development and various Java frameworks.
– Strong knowledge and passion for JVM-related technologies and Java programming.
– Experience working with at least one SQL database and one NoSQL database.
– Proficiency in containerization using Docker for efficient deployment.
– Hands-on experience with at least one cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.
– Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to tackle complex technical challenges.
– Strong communication and teamwork skills for effective collaboration.
– Willingness to learn and explore new technologies.
Benefits:
– Competitive salary and equity options based on experience and performance.
– Opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects with a talented team.
– Collaborative and innovative work environment that encourages new ideas.
Location:
Preferred: Bangalore, India
We are ok with Remote in exceptional cases.
We are on a mission to automate regression testing. If you feel passionate about quality software engineering at speed, do consider joining us.
To apply, please submit your resume, and GitHub repository links to us at ssl [at] bug.video
If you’re going to achieve those goals and see a return on investment, then chances are you’re not going to be able to do it without some level of automated email marketing.
What Is Automated Email Marketing?
Automated email marketing is a series of emails you automatically send to your prospects or customers. Using an autoresponder, you can schedule emails to send based on your audience’s interactions with your business.
For example, when someone signs up for your newsletter, you can automatically send out an automated welcome email.
Don’t let the automated part fool you, though.
To be effective with automated email, what you’re producing should be far from spam. Instead, it’s high-quality, personalized content that your audience has signed up for.
This may all sound a little bit complicated, but the great thing about modern automated email marketing is that the software is simple to use and offers you some powerful capabilities.
Why Should You Automate Your Emails?
The key here is scale. If you’ve got thousands of people in your sales pipeline, it’s impossible to write out individual emails for everyone that signs up.
Instead, automated email marketing allows you to create email series that are perfectly tailored to your audience’s needs and send them out at a specific time. Rather than spending all your time writing and sending out individual emails, you can focus on creating the perfect copy that inspires your audience to take action.
That’s great, but don’t you lose the personal aspect?
If you’re writing everyone individual emails, then switching to automated email marketing reduces your level of personalization. Each email won’t be unique, but it can still be personal.
Email responders allow you to segment your audience based on their interests and behaviors.
Say someone signs up for my email newsletter from a page titled “Link Building 101.” I can put them into a link-building segment so they receive handy tips on how to improve their backlink profile. Someone who signs up through a page titled “50 Content Ideas for Niche Websites” will go into a different segment and receive different emails.
Segmentation means there are endless ways you can personalize your automated emails, so you’re getting both convenience and personalization.
Automated email marketing can bring big results, but it’s not always the best option. Here are a few of the times when automated emails can help you make the right impression with your target audience.
1. Abandoned Carts
Abandoned carts are highly frustrating.
The person has gotten so close to making a purchase, yet you’ve lost them at the last moment. There are many reasons why people abandon carts, but a common one is that they’re not quite ready to buy yet.
Just because someone isn’t ready to buy today doesn’t mean they won’t be soon, and an automated email is a perfect way to keep them engaged.
When someone abandons their cart, you can schedule an email to go out to them, prompting them to return and complete their purchase.
2. Sending Automated Email Newsletters to Subscribers
Once someone leaves your website, you may never see them again.
If you’ve got their email address, you’ve got an opportunity to keep the connection alive and build a relationship (hopefully until they become a repeat customer). Just having someone’s email doesn’t achieve this, though, and instead, you’ve got to be able to offer something valuable.
In the case of a newsletter, you’re offering your amazing content to grow the relationship and keep bringing people back to your website.
That being said, we’re here to market our businesses, and sometimes that means sending promotional emails.
To get the maximum value from this, you want to make sure your promotions are part of a carefully planned email series, and it’s almost impossible to do this without automated emails.
4. Welcome Emails
When someone signs up for your email communication, it’s a good idea to send out a welcome email.
Of course, you can’t be on your computer all the time, monitoring the moment everyone signs up for emails, so this is something that is best to automate.
It allows you to set expectations and explain the value proposition of receiving your emails. Once someone has a good idea of what they’re going to receive from your emails, they’re more likely to open them and interact with your content.
5. Automatic Replies to Customer Complaints
When someone has a complaint, they want to be assured you’re taking it seriously. The longer they wait for a response, the more their frustration builds.
You can’t be monitoring your inbox 24/7, so it’s just not possible to be able to respond to each complaint right away. What you can do is set up an automated email that explains your complaint process and ensures you’re working on fixing the issue.
This gives people confidence that you’re taking their complaints seriously, and they can expect a response in due course.
When to Not Use Automated Emails
We talk about personalization a lot in marketing, and it’s something that’s very important when it comes to automated emails.
You can personalize automated emails, but there’s a limit to what you can do. With automated email marketing, you’re reliant on segments to personalize your communications. While putting someone in a segment means they’re not just any person, it still doesn’t mean they’re an individual.
In many cases, segmenting email subscribers works because it’s an effective way of offering them personalized content. However, there are times when you need to treat people as an individual, and automated emails don’t work in these cases.
Take our previous example about replying to customer complaints. The immediate response might be an automated email, but the follow-ups should be personal.
This is something you need to keep in mind when setting up your automated email marketing. In what situations does it pay to address people as part of a segment, and when do you need to address them as an individual?
The farther people progress through your customer journey, the more likely it is they will need personalized communication.
Best Automated Email Marketing Tools
How can you get started with automated emails? The key is finding the email marketing tools that best fit your needs.
There’s a lot of competition in this space, which is great for the consumer because it means there are some powerful tools available to us.
Here are some of the best automated email marketing tools.
1. Drip
Drip gives you all the tools you need to run successful automated email marketing campaigns. It’s all about streamlining the process, and that’s exactly why people turn to automated emails in the first place.
This is a straightforward tool to use, but it’s also powerful. Attract more customers with high-converting forms and schedule creative emails with ease.
It allows you to easily segment your audience, meaning you can work on personalizing your emails to your audience. When you create your content, the drag-and-drop feature makes it quick and easy to produce high-performing emails.
3. Mailshake
Mailshake offers excellent automated email tools, especially if you’re doing cold outreach. With lots of plugins, it allows you to build out your mailing list, clean it to make sure you’ve got live emails, and schedule the perfect email sequence. It’s also got great social integrations!
The A/B testing and scheduling features are extremely easy to use, which means you can keep testing your emails until you find the right formula.
4. Mailchimp
Mailchimp might be the biggest name in email marketing, and for good reason: It offers some great tools.
This is an all-in-one marketing platform that allows you to send drip emails, segment your audience, A/B test, and much more.
5. Emma
Emma is a great tool for large businesses with big marketing teams. Its tools allow for easy collaboration between team members and make the process of automating emails much more seamless.
With lots of handy integrations and great personalization options, it’s a professional email marketing tool that can bring in serious results.
Examples of Great Automated Email Marketing Campaigns
There are plenty of automated email marketing tools out there, but what should you be looking to achieve with your campaigns?
Here are some great examples of automated email campaigns.
Automated Welcome Email
The welcome email is the first step in what will hopefully be a long and prosperous relationship. It’s all about introducing your brand, setting expectations, and showing the value of what the person has signed up for.
Asana does this well in its welcome email.
It focuses on the idea of teamwork, neatly showing you how its features can make your day that bit easier. It finishes with actionable tips, encouraging users to take the first step and engage with their software.
Abandoned Cart Automated Email
Your goal is clear with an abandoned cart email: You want people to come back and complete their purchase.
Marketing isn’t always that straightforward, though, and you often have to put the customer’s goals before yours. This means finding ways to help the customer make a decision, not just telling them to buy.
The first step is typically sending a reminder that they have left items in their cart. Casper does this well in the following email.
It’s not pushy but has tons of character and playfully engages with the customer, highlighting the items left in the cart.
You’ve now reminded the customer that they’ve got an open cart, so it’s up to them whether they return and make a purchase. Some will, but there will still be some people who aren’t convinced.
The next email is an opportunity to overcome people’s doubts by answering their questions and showing how your product solves their pain points, as this email from Dollar Shave Club does.
Sometimes an abandoned cart is just an abandoned cart, and there’s no way to get people back. However, there’s one last tool you have at your disposal: People love a good promotion. Try sending one to see if you can tempt them with a discount.
Newsletters
There are lots of ways you can use your newsletters to engage with your audience. How you approach it depends on your goals.
If you look at my email communications, you’ll see my goal is pretty simple. I want to give people quick access to information that will help them achieve their goals, and I want to bring them back to my site.
To do this, I use an engaging subject line and keep things extremely simple.
Your email campaigns will differ based on what you’re trying to achieve, but the key is understanding what your target audience wants.
Automated Email for Marketing Frequently Asked Questions
How do you automate marketing emails?
You can automate marketing emails using email marketing software, which allows you to set up email sequences and auto-responses to streamline your email marketing campaigns.
What is the best tool for automated email marketing?
There are lots of different automated email tools. Some of the best include Drip, Sendinblue, Mailshake, Mailchimp, and Emma.
What are the types of email automation?
You can automate almost any type of email. Automated email marketing works especially well for abandoned cart emails, welcome emails, lead nurturing, and newsletters.
How often should you send automated emails to your leads?
The timing of your emails is an important factor. You want to keep them updated without being overly pushy. A good way to find the right balance is through A/B testing.
Automated Email Marketing Conclusion
It’s just not feasible to create individualized emails for each person on your mailing list. Automated email marketing gives you the best of both worlds, allowing you to give your followers consistent updates while still offering a good level of personalization.
This is important because email marketing is still a valuable digital marketing tool. It helps drive people to your website, nurture leads, and boost conversion rates, so it’s something every business should consider.
Luckily, there are some great automated email tools out there, and with a bit of hard work, they should allow you to maximize your email marketing campaigns.
How have you used automated email marketing to help your business?
Video content creation can be a massive headache. I get it. Even for seasoned marketers, creating compelling content is a challenge. The real uphill battle is trying to create that level of content regularly. That’s why we’re taking a closer look at automated video creation and some of the best tools your brand can use … Continue reading 10 Automated Video Creation Tools, Tips, and Resources
Video content creation can be a massive headache. I get it.
Even for seasoned marketers, creating compelling content is a challenge. The real uphill battle is trying to create that level of content regularly.
That’s why we’re taking a closer look at automated video creation and some of the best tools your brand can use to expand its content strategy.
Here’s the thing—automated content doesn’t have to be terrible. When you produce an hour-long, high-quality interview, you’ve also produced several pieces of smaller, high-quality content.
All you have to do is repackage those valuable tidbits and present them to your audience.
Here’s how.
What Is Automated Video Creation?
Automated video creation is the act of using video editing software to automatically create short, interesting videos you can use for marketing and promoting your content.
Let’s say you recorded a podcast this week and released it to your audience. You received decent engagement, but you quickly noticed a problem. Many of your viewers aren’t watching the entire podcast.
Some viewers love to sit and consume two hours of content at once. Others want minute-long highlight clips, and simply aren’t interested in long-form content. By identifying key moments and topics discussed in your podcast, you can create bite-sized clips and videos that are more digestible. Plus, having long-form content that’s well produced arms you with plenty of future clips to use.
That’s where automated video creation comes in. Make no mistake, there’s a big difference between linking your podcast in your Instagram Bio and posting a 45-second highlight video with top-notch editing.
If you’re making several pieces of long-form content every week (interviews, podcasts, etc.), sifting through hours of content to find highlights and memorable moments can quickly become time-consuming.
By automating that process, you can regularly create custom, high-quality videos. As a result, you’ll add variety to your content, while being able to test unique marketing strategies quickly. For example, you can rapidly A/B test different format styles, or try two highlights against each other to see what resonates with your audience.
5 Tips for Automated Video Creation
Before we dive into specific automated video creation tools, it’s important to understand how your automated video creation journey should unfold. Savvy marketers always develop a clear plan of attack for marketing initiatives, so we’re walking you through the general checkpoints of the automation process.
1. Determine Your Automated Video Creation Priorities
Before you choose a platform, establish your video creation objectives. If you want to test a specific format, find platforms that support that testing. Beyond that, determine what features will serve your team best.
If your marketing team has little to no experience with automated video creation, a tool that prioritizes ease of use can make the video creation process easier. Marketing teams with plenty of video creation experience might need automation tools that offer more customization.
2. Decide on a Platform
As you narrow down your search, take a closer look at how each platform functions. Some platforms offer limited features aimed at supporting brands with little to no video marketing budget. Other platforms want to support your marketing efforts from start to finish.
While many of these platforms sound similar, they focus on different elements that can elevate your content creation.
3. Upload Your Content
So, you’ve established your video creation priorities, and you’ve chosen your platform. Now you can actually create your content. Upload your video and let the tool start to work its magic.
If you’re focused on automating as much of the experience as possible, you won’t need to do much other than confirming certain edits. On the other hand, choosing a platform with plenty of depth means you’ll be able to customize your content fairly easily.
4. Choose Your Visual Elements
When customizing your video content, visual elements like text animation effects can elevate the quality. Other effects like overlays and moving graphics can be implemented without much trouble, as long as you’re using the right automated video creation tool. Make sure your visual elements are consistent with your brand presentation.
5. Publish Your Content
Once you’ve customized your content and created a high-quality video, it’s time to send your content live. With some tools, you’ll even be able to publish your content directly after editing. Instead of signing into each of your brand’s social media platforms, automation means you can post on all of them at the same time.
10 Tools for Automated Video Creation
Now that you understand the process, it’s time to look at the automated video creation tools available. While many of these tools function similarly, they each have distinct features that make them unique.
1. Moovly
Moovly prides itself on being a user-friendly, in-browser automated video creation tool. In addition, they offer a tool that doesn’t demand constant software updates or even any design skills.
Looking for support with your footage-based videos? They can help. Want to experiment with cartoon or doodle styles? Moovly can create those videos, too. If you’re looking for a lightweight solution with plenty of customization options, Moovly might be the right tool for your brand.
2. Adobe
Adobe’s priority when it comes to video creation is efficiency. Using AI technology, they save users time and effort when editing. Some of the more interesting features include auto reframing, where Adobe automatically reframes the subject of a video shot in widescreen when exporting to social platforms.
Their AI also uses color match, changing your content’s color and light values, based on your customized reference point. To be clear, they aren’t just copying a specific color reference point onto your clips. Instead, the AI analyzes every selected clip and tweaks them until they properly match your reference point.
3. Wibbitz
Wibbitz is an automated video creation tool that speeds up production by offering a variety of useful templates and one-click solutions. One feature marketers will appreciate is the easy customization options. Wibbitz provides users with access to logo watermarks, video intros and outros, text overlays, and a full-spectrum color palette.
This automated video creation platform lets you maximize your reach by converting your best videos into impactful social media videos.
4. Kamua
Another browser-based tool, Kamua claims their product will have you working nearly 90 percent faster, without any previous video editing experience. They also feature automatic captioning in over 60 languages, saving you from having to transcribe hours and hours of content.
Kamua’s AutoCut feature actually automates video edits, by finding cut points in your content and letting you decide what to keep. Plus, their AutoCrop feature instantly turns your YouTube videos into TikTok videos.
5. Typito
If you’re limited by a modest marketing budget, Typito could be a great automated video creation tool. Not only is it free to start with, but each of their pricing plans are designed with reasonable budgets in mind.
Of course, it’s worth figuring out exactly what Typito is offering. They provide an easy drag and drop editor and a brand kit, along with 600,000 free images and over 500 free templates.
6. Rocketium
Rocketium understands the digital media landscape is constantly shifting. That frequent change demands an approach to marketing that’s as flexible as it is accurate. That’s why Rocketium aims to accomplish two goals. Eliminating repetitive creative work is their first goal, saving brands the hassle of creating completely new content for new campaigns.
From there, Rocketium aims to make targeted marketing even easier. They use an AI copywriter to help you craft the right visual for different products and unique target audiences. Teams with demanding content calendars should take a look at this tool.
7. Animaker
Developing unique creative content within an automation tool might not sound optimal, but tools like Animaker prove it’s certainly within their power. Armed with their templates, you can make a video in five minutes, according to their official website.
8. OFFEO
OFFEO’s appeal can be broken down into four subsections. Their near limitless supply of assets means that users will have access to hundreds of templates. Being easy to use and browser based, OFFEO lets you animate your content, leveraging the skill of their professional designers to provide you with high-quality animation.
9. Magisto
As an end-to-end video marketing tool, Magisto aims to support users at every stage of the marketing process. When it comes to creation, you can expect the support of a computerized video editor.
Magisto lets you host and distribute video content on your website using their native player. Take those optimized videos and then use engagement analytics to gain clarity about your marketing initiatives.
10. InVideo
For the truly budget-conscious, InVideo offers some fantastic automated video creation support, absolutely free. While there are certain features locked behind paid subscriptions, there are plenty of tools available to users on the free plan.
You can export 60 videos per month, with a maximum duration of 15 minutes. Transcription is automatic, as well as over 4,500 handcrafted templates. You’ll even have access to branding presets, intros, outros, and team sharing.
If you’re on the fence about automated video creation tools, feel free to try InVideo out and see how it improves your marketing efforts.
Automated Video Creation FAQs
Can you automate video editing?
Absolutely, you can! With the help of AI, you can begin automating your video editing, as much or as little as you’d like.
How can I add subtitles to a video automatically?
There are plenty of tools that can do this for you, some offering support in over 60 languages.
Do I need video editing experience?
While it’s certainly a positive, there are several user-friendly platforms that don’t require any previous editing or design experience.
Do I have to pay for an automated video creation tool?
Not always! Some tools are completely free; the only drawback is they lack some key features.
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Automated Video Creation Conclusion
No matter what industry you’re in, there’s no getting around the fact that audiences want quality content. If your brand doesn’t produce something new and exciting on a regular basis, you run the risk of losing your audience’s attention.
Instead of trying to constantly reinvent the wheel, consider using an automated video creation platform to break in-depth content down into digestible clips and share them on social media.
It might seem like a simple solution, but it’s a powerful way to offer more consistent content, expand your reach, and potentially create a genuine moment of engagement with your audience.
Why do you want to automate your video creation? How do you think it will help your brand?
Maybe you’re not hitting the kind of figures you want, or maybe you haven’t even made a single sale yet. Either way, you’re not selling as much as you want to be.
But why aren’t you?
There are tons of possible reasons here, but I’m willing to bet it’s your website. Even if you have an expertly designed site, it could still be the culprit that’s stealing all your sales.
I learned this the hard way. My websites used to flat out suck and I barely got any sales. Once I started putting serious effort into my sites, my sales skyrocketed.
I tried everything. Some stuff was a huge waste. Some techniques ticked off my users.
But I was able to find some serious long-term winners.
While there’s no magic formula that will 10x your sales overnight, there are some best practices that will help you optimize your website to pull in the maximum amount of sales possible.
In short, you want to turn your site into an automated sales machine.
And I’m going to show you exactly how to do that.
Ready?
Setting Up Behind the Scenes With a CRM
The first thing you need is great customer relationship management (CRM) software.
A CRM helps you manage all of your current customers and leads in one place. You can communicate, track progress, and oversee all interactions without having to leave the CRM.
The reason you want to use a CRM is that it will help you generate the most amount of money out of your customers. And this is a lot easier to do than it is to acquire new customers.
When my friends at Keap reached out to let me know about their rebranding, I realized it had been a long time since I talked about how important their tool is in my arsenal.
Now, throughout the rest of this article, I’ll show you how I use Keap to grow NeilPatel.com.
But first, let me go into what it does… that way whatever solution you decide to choose, just make sure it has these features.
All-in-one Client Management
A good CRM should provide everything you need to manage your customers. You shouldn’t have to use extra software or apps to fill in the cracks.
That means your CRM should allow you to manage every interaction between you and your customers. You should be able to look at your CRM and know exactly where you are with any given client.
Here’s what it looks like when you first view your dashboard:
Having a simple, minimalistic design like this really helps cut down on the confusion that comes with managing tons of clients. There’s no second-guessing.
Take a look at the menu on the left-hand side:
Keap has taken all the ways you interact with your customers and broken them down into nine intuitive categories.
By clicking on the Contacts tab, you can see all of your clients:
By clicking on a particular client, you can see a summary of your activity with that person, including email conversations and invoice history.
This is important for me and my team as we offer multiple products and this view helps us understand where people are.
Remember, by having multiple products you can maximize your lifetime value, which then allows you to spend more money on marketing.
There’s also a separate message function that you can access by clicking on the Messages tab:
Here you can see all of your correspondence with each client. You’ll need to connect your mobile phone with the Keap app. This allows you to seamlessly switch between mobile and desktop for an efficient messaging experience.
The Tasks tab gives you a rundown of your to-do list for your clients:
You can check off each task here and easily add more by clicking the blue “Add a task” button at the top right. This way, you’ll never lose track of what you need to do.
Next is the Appointments tab, where you can set up a custom booking link to allow clients to schedule appointments with you. You choose your own availability so that clients always choose times that work for you.
This is great if you regularly have face-to-face interactions with your clients for example.
The Money tab is your one-stop-shop for all things finances. You can connect your bank to get paid in a flash and you can also manage all your invoices without any fuss.
You’re always aware of who’s paid and who hasn’t, so you don’t have to go chasing down clients one by one. You can simply send them a reminder within the interface by clicking on the specific invoice and scrolling to the bottom where there’s a reminder option:
The Broadcasts tab allows you to send out emails to your list.
Even though this isn’t standalone email software, you can still see a ton of helpful metrics by clicking on each campaign:
This feature is especially helpful for sending out emails to specific groups, like new leads or existing customers.
Next, you’ll see the Pipeline tab. This is where you build the core of your customer journey.
Once you click on the Pipeline tab, you’ll see four basic panels: new, qualifying, contacting, and negotiating. These are the stages that you’ll go through when converting a new prospect.
This is also where a lot of the automation happens that will save you tons of time and money. I’ll go into detail on this later on in the article, but for now, just remember this pipeline structure.
The Campaigns tab is a full-featured campaign manager that allows you to follow up with leads, track unpaid invoices, simplify scheduling, and much more. (You can also automate a lot of things here.)
Finally, the Reports tab helps you stay on top of your sales. Here you can also track important metrics like email engagement and campaign progression.
Take another look at all of these features. This is what I mean by all-in-one. A CRM should allow you to interact with your clients in any way you need to. You shouldn’t have to jump from software to software to create a great experience for your clients.
Now that we’ve looked at some basic elements of a good CRM, let’s look at one of the must-haves: automation.
Automation
Automation is hands down one of the most important features I look for in a CRM.
Why?
Because running a business is a lot of work, and the more you can automate, the better.
Automating is usually straightforward, but when it comes to automating client interactions, you have to be careful.
People love personal interactions, and that’s why you should do your best to deliver. If your automation is dry and corporate, your clients will notice.
So what do you do?
The trick is to personalize your automation as much as possible.
In other words, your automation should have a human touch.
If this sounds counterintuitive, I totally understand. “Personalized automation” seems like an oxymoron.
But it’s not. In fact, it works pretty well.
Take a look at this email I recently sent:
Believe it or not, this is a template.
The reason this works so well is that it doesn’t read like a template. It reads like an email I sat down and wrote myself.
Of course, you can automate way more than just emails.
Most automation actually happens behind the scenes, so you need a CRM that’s capable of seamlessly automating everything from client data to scheduling and beyond.
Let’s say I want to email a lead when they move from stage to stage in my pipeline. This is a great technique to keep leads engaged but often you have to do it manually.
With Keap, it’s simple. First I head to the Pipeline tab and find the specific lead. Then I click the gear icon and select “Configure automation.”
I now select when I want the email to trigger: either moving into or out of a stage. For this example, I’ll have it trigger when the lead moves out of the qualifying stage (where the lead currently is).
Then I select “send email” from the drop-down menu.
Now all I have to do is write the email.
Of course, you can use personalized templates here to maximize your efficiency even more. You can even personalize the email with this form by clicking on the pound sign on the right to open up the merge fields drop-down menu.
This all takes just a couple of minutes and it’s all completely contained within Keap.
See why automation is so important? It’s one of those features I can’t go without.
And I like easy automation. I’m super busy, so the easier something is, the better. I don’t want to have to go through a million menus just to shoot an email.
All of this said, there are definitely right and wrong ways to automate. You want your automation to make your business as efficient as possible and that means creating dependable processes that you can repeat without even thinking about it.
Creating Processes With a CRM
CRMs are useful for a lot of things from qualifying leads to creating entire marketing campaigns.
But there’s a common thread that runs through all of these features: the ability to create processes.
Processes are invaluable because they save you time, effort, and often money.
They also help your business operate more smoothly. Relying on processes is much easier than having to do everything manually.
That begs the question: What kinds of processes should you create?
The short answer is that you should have a process for everything. And I mean everything.
Responding to client emails? Make a process for it. Dealing with new leads? Set up a workflow for qualifying them. You get the picture.
This is critical. If you want to increase your sales, you have to be able to handle increased sales in the first place. Having processes to depend upon will allow you to take on more volume without any unnecessary friction.
As a rule of thumb, if you can automate something in your business, you probably should.
The exception (like I mentioned above) is anything based around human interaction. It’s best to stay as hands-on as possible when it comes to this.
The idea is to make your business run like clockwork so you can pay more attention to your clients and deliver a better experience.
And that’s a win-win for everyone involved.
But let’s get specific and talk about certain processes that you should make sure you have.
Lead Flow
This is a big one.
A lot of marketers focus on lead generation but not enough people talk about what should happen after you’ve got a lead.
If you don’t move your lead forward, your efforts are as good as wasted.
That’s why automating your lead flow process is critical. You don’t want to be doing this by hand––that takes hours.
Instead, let your CRM do it for you.
Create multiple stages along your pipeline and trigger unique email sequences for each stage. This means that you can keep your lead moving forward at all times.
This way, you won’t overlook anything. You don’t have to worry about forgetting to follow up or missing an important email.
So let the CRM do the heavy lifting so you can focus on providing a better service for your customers.
Marketing Emails
With a CRM, it’s possible to automate all of your marketing emails, and in my opinion, this should be one of the first things you automate.
Why? Because emails can take up lots of time without you even noticing.
According to the Litmus 2017 State of Email report, more than 68% of businesses spend a week or more on the production of just one email.
Automation allows you to cut back on that time so you’re not working on the same task for days on end. You’re able to spread out your time and attention on other things that need to be handled.
And by automating your email, you’re making your email work for you instead of the other way around.
For example, whenever you get a new lead, you need to take action as swiftly as possible.
With the right CRM, this is a snap. All you need to do is automate it so that a new lead receives an email as soon as they sign up.
That way, you’re able to contact a warm lead immediately and you don’t have to do anything manually.
You can track them right from the Broadcasts tab:
This means you can also create autoresponder campaigns to get more clients in the door.
You can then move them down your pipeline, which brings me to the next thing you need to do: build a robust pipeline.
Building a Streamlined Sales Pipeline
If you’ve ever wondered what’s stopping your site from raking in the sales, chances are it’s probably your pipeline.
Now, I could talk for hours about building an effective pipeline, but for the purposes of this article, I’m going to condense the information down to the essentials.
So here’s everything you need to know about pipelines.
Common Pipeline Mistakes
Most pipeline errors that cost you precious time and money are easily preventable, which is why you should take the time now to make sure your pipeline is seamless from start to finish.
Ironically, one of the most common pipeline mistakes is simply not spending enough time on your building it out initially.
Your pipeline is the lifeblood of your business. It’s what helps you turn leads into clients. So if it’s not optimal, your sales won’t be either.
Another mistake is not moving leads quickly enough.
The data shows that the sooner you nurture your leads, the better. Wait too long, and your leads will turn cold, which could cost you a sale.
Did you know that as much as 50% of sales go to the first vendor?
Every second matters when you get a new lead.
By baking automation into your pipeline, you can nurture a new lead immediately. The software will take care of that for you, and you’ll be one step closer to making a sale.
Likewise, it’s important to keep this engagement steady throughout your pipeline. Being present at every step will greatly increase your chances of closing the sale.
The best way to do this? Surprise––it’s CRM automation.
But no matter what CRM you’re using, don’t make these costly mistakes.
Organizing Your Pipeline
Now that I’ve talked about what not to do, I’ll tell you what you should do.
First, make sure you have your priorities right at each touchpoint.
To put it another way, your pipeline needs to be doing the right things at the right time.
For example, when you first get a lead, your top priority should be nurturing that lead. You don’t want to hit them over the head with a big sales pitch––you just want to increase brand awareness.
Also, remember that a pipeline is essentially a bunch of leads going through a sales funnel. Use that framework to create your process and automations.
Your CRM can help you create a cohesive pipeline that keeps leads moving through your funnel and ensures that the appropriate actions are taken when necessary.
First of all, the four stock categories that Keap starts you out with (new, qualifying, contacting, negotiating) are great, but you can always add more if you need to.
Just scroll all the way to the right and click the “Add a stage” text field:
For instance, you could add a Completed stage for leads that you’ve successfully converted and are moving forward with.
The way you organize your pipeline might take some trial and error, as most companies have unique workflows.
However, I would recommend having at least three different stages so you can engage your lead at the beginning, middle, and end of your pipeline.
Next, the key is to use automation to make your pipeline as hands-off as possible.
Start by automating your email sequences as I showed above to help move your leads from stage to stage and keep them engaged. Again, these emails need to be personalized. There’s no point in using boilerplate templates that are stiff and boring. Take the time to make each email feel personal.
Next, add automation to your campaigns. This will ensure specific actions are taking within your CRM as leads move from stage to stage. These step-by-step tutorials on automation can help you get up and running.
Now, I won’t lie to you––this is going to take some trial and error. You aren’t going to have a perfect pipeline on day one.
So be sure to test your pipeline before you take it out in the real world.
Plug some fake clients and numbers into your CRM and use a few burner emails to test out your CRM’s capabilities. This will give you the chance to identify and remedy problems before you go live.
This extra step goes a long way. Sure, your pipeline still might have some errors once you start using it for actual clients, but you’ll have minimized the risk involved.
Conclusion
You’re almost at the finish line! It won’t be long until you’re putting your shiny new pipeline to good use.
But first, we have to put all the pieces together, so let’s recap what we’ve gone over.
1. The importance of a robust CRM. You want software that will allow you to manage all of your customers in one place, automate your business process, and track important metrics and interactions.
2. Putting processes in place. Having processes to depend upon is crucial for every business. Doing everything by the seat of your pants leads to inconsistency and often costs you.
3. Automation. If you can automate an internal process, you probably should. You can also automate a fair amount of client interactions without losing a human touch.
The final step is to synthesize all of these steps into one unified approach.
Remember, you’re doing all this to optimize your site for sales. You’re building a strong foundation that will support you as you scale.
After all, your site is the sum of its parts, so make those parts awesome.
Choose a CRM that meets your needs and that’s flexible so it will grow with you. Then create processes that will take the weight off your shoulders––and don’t be afraid to change these processes over time as your business evolves.
And there you have it — everything you need to start turning your site into an automation workhorse.
Before you know it, you’ll be seeing some of the amazing effects of automation and hopefully bringing in more sales than ever before.
Do you use a CRM that has helped turn your website into a sales machine?
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