MailChimp has now got a free automation platform. If you’ve ever wanted to sell marketing automation funnels, but you don’t want to spend thousands on software, this is the place to start.
I’m going to show you how you can sell a marketing automation funnel, using MailChimp’s free automation platform.
Marketing automation has always required a little investment to set up. And the truth is that most customers don’t want a marketing funnel, they want results.
For example, I know that my customers want sales from email marketing. They don’t know that a marketing automation service is what they need.
Let’s look at what you can get on the free platform, that your customers will love.
No investment required
Benefit to you: No risk if customers don’t pay.
Benefit to your customer: No set up fees (unless you want them)
You now don’t have to worry about monthly invoicing and setup fees when starting out. There are absolutely no setup costs for a user to have up to 2000 contacts in their list. Automation is included which gives you full access to a marketing funnel platform.
If you want to start working with customers and offering them marketing funnels and marketing automation, you can start charging them a monthly fee without a setup cost.
Talk to your customers about setting up a marketing automation sequence for them. Use their website as the top of the funnel, but power email follow up and sales sequences with MailChimp.
Don’t worry about initial costs or set up fees. Just put them on a monthly plan to cover your time setting up the funnel.
Pre-written sequences
Benefit to you: Faster automation sequence deployment
Benefit to your customer: Faster automation deployment
MailChimp offers the same pre-written automation sequences as part of the free package.
First purchase, student engagement, event promotion and more. You don’t even need to create the automation sequences from scratch.
Understanding the benefits and results from each sequence (which they also give you in the description), you can explain to your customers the advantage of each automation.
This gives you a list of products that you can get your customers to become interested in. For example, if you work with non-profits, using MailChimp’s free automation, you can help acknowledge your most generous donors, announce a volunteer opportunity or welcome new volunteers or donors.
The result is what the customer is interested in. Not the process or the sequence, but the end game. If they engage with you, you can explain how every new donor or volunteer will automatically be looked after.
Subscriber follow up
Benefit to you: Monthly follow up fee from customers
Benefit to your customer: Increased trust with new subscribers
The single biggest reason you should jump on board MailChimp’s free automation is subscriber follow up.
New email subscribers, to an email list, require lots of nurturing. They need welcoming into your world. You need to help them and understand why they’ve subscribed.
New email subscriber follow-up is already in MailChimp as an automation sequence. Depending on the group, list, segment and desired result.
For example if your customers run an e-commerce store, you could help them sign up new customers with a discount code. Then send them cool products via email for them to use their code with.
Or if you work with service-based industries, maybe you could help your customers build a list and build trust with that list. All with subscriber follow up.
Niche triggers
Benefit to you: Specific apps for particular customers
Benefit to your customer: More specific actions for their environments
Something that automation and email senders are becoming more and more focused on, is specific actions and triggers for their audience.
For example, Magemail is a specific email app for Magento. Companies that offer a specific audience or tool integration can make your life much easier as a funnel builder, by allowing you a specific tool for your customers.
If you just work with Magento customers, building their e-comm stores, then use something specific to the niche triggers that your customer’s customers will benefit from.
Magemail also has a post on 9 ways to take advantage of email automation here.
Cart abandonment
Benefit to you: Powerful product offer to customers
Benefit to your customer: Capture lost sales on automation
This is massive. Like. Seriously big. If you can offer cart abandonment emails to your customers, for their customers, you’re going to look like a rock star.
Now this does require a little API knowledge, but it’s relatively simple.
When users add items to a cart but don’t complete a purchase you can send them reminder emails. This is extremely powerful, with almost 75% of ALL visitors never completing a purchase first time around.
If you can recapture their interest, for your customers, you’ll be seen as a hero.
Sales automation
Benefit to you: Provable sales track record for case studies
Benefit to your customer: Sales 24 hours a day
Finally, sales automation is your bread and butter. From new subscribers to up-sells and cross-sell campaigns. The power of sales on automation is like having a sales team working 24 hours a day.
It’s also easy to segment your sales approach depending on your customers. For example, new subscribers need a very different strategy to current customers.
Use MailChimp’s automation sequences to start helping your customers sell more. If you can position yourself as someone who can help sell more and with less work, you’ll be seen as very attractive to new clients.
Wrap up
Honestly, if this happened any earlier I would have been working on automation for years longer. You’ve got a golden opportunity to start offering (and using) marketing automation using one of the best email platforms on the planet.
Are you going to start offering automation to your customers? What’s your favourite automation sequence? Let me know in the comments below.