Do you ever marvel the way you and your crew might save time on handbook duties resembling knowledge entry, advertising and marketing, or recruitment? The reply could also be enterprise automation.
Enterprise automation can prevent cash, remove errors, and unleash your crew’s creativity. It boosts productiveness by streamlining your small business processes, and it may well even enhance your buyer expertise.
You is likely to be questioning if enterprise automation is definitely worth the funding for your small business. And in that case, how do you get began?
This text will cowl the fundamentals of enterprise automation — what it’s, various kinds of automation, its advantages, and a few suggestions that can assist you get began.
So let’s dive in.
What’s enterprise automation?
Enterprise automation leverages expertise resembling synthetic intelligence and machine studying to automate processes that your crew at present does manually. It gives dependable knowledge that companies of all sizes can analyze and make knowledgeable choices about bettering their enterprise.
Enterprise automation is made doable by automation software program that carries out duties whilst you sleep, resembling sending customized emails to your prospects.
Enterprise automation uptake was already on the rise when COVID-19 hit, however the pandemic precipitated a digital revolution. It compelled many enterprise house owners to pivot towards the digitization and automation of enterprise processes extra shortly than supposed. Based on McKinsey, digital adoption took a five-year leap ahead within the house of eight weeks.
Automation has performed a elementary function on this shift. Based on Zapier’s 2021 State of Enterprise Automation Report, 63% of small enterprise house owners 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 massive companies.
The fast uptake of enterprise automation software program has led Gartner to foretell that “hyperautomation” will drive the worldwide automation expertise market to $596.6 billion in 2022, up from $481.6 billion in 2020. It’s not shocking given the myriad makes use of of enterprise automation, together with:
- Buyer assist
- Lead nurturing
- Information administration
- Gross sales orders
- Product launches
- Worker recruitment and onboarding
- Payroll
- Bill processing
- Worker coaching and improvement
- Monitoring and reporting
- Money circulate administration
And extra.
Let’s discover a couple of totally different use instances in additional depth.
Sorts of enterprise automation
There are 4 broad sorts of enterprise automation, every one designed to scale back prices and save time by streamlining processes and lowering the margin of error.
The 4 fundamental sorts of enterprise automation are:
- Advertising and marketing automation
- HR automation
- Accounting automation
- Enterprise course of automation
Inside these classes are duties like buyer assist, knowledge entry, and extra.
Let’s check out every class of automations in additional element.
1. Advertising and marketing automation
Advertising and marketing generally is a pricey 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 crew to have interaction with, saving them time on qualifying these leads manually. 17.4% of entrepreneurs stated advertising and marketing automation was the only handiest digital advertising and marketing method in 2020.
Additional automations, resembling customized 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 facets of HR administration that may be improved by automation. For instance, HR 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 inside 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 establish when additional coaching is required, for instance, after beginning a brand new function.
As well as, the mixing of ChatGPT in HR automation techniques permits environment friendly and customized communication with staff and candidates, offering on the spot assist, answering continuously requested questions, and streamlining numerous HR processes.
3. Accounting automation
Accounting and bookkeeping are complicated processes requiring handbook duties, together with bill processing, common ledger administration, accounts receivable, and accounts payable.
Accounting automation software program permits companies to automate many, if not all, of those processes, lowering the time your accounting crew 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 company’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 concentrate on enterprise advertising and marketing automation. Based on McKinsey, corporations that spend money on advertising and marketing automations profit from a 10-15% improve 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 utilize enterprise advertising and marketing automation in your small business.
1. Retargeting
Retargeting is the method of following up with leads and prospects based mostly on their conduct, resembling web site visits or social media exercise. There are two fundamental sorts of retargeting:
- E mail retargeting — sending customized, well timed emails with irresistible topic traces to prospects based mostly on their latest conduct.
- Retargeting advertisements — utilizing browser cookies to establish website guests and retarget them by advertisements throughout platforms like Fb and Google.
Based on 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 beneath reveals how website monitoring and retargeting can drive extra gross sales.
With monitoring enabled, you’ll be able to arrange automated follow-up emails that cowl the precise product classes they browsed in your web site. And you may get much more granular — focusing on prospects who added merchandise to their cart however aborted the acquisition.
2. Deserted cart reminder
World cart abandonment charges have been 80% in 2021 — that’s a substantial quantity of misplaced gross sales. There are numerous causes a buyer would possibly abandon a cart — resembling procuring round and evaluating costs on totally 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 vital efficient methods to get well gross sales is thru deserted cart reminder automation. Based on Barilliance, deserted cart emails have a 10% conversion price, making them a worthy funding for any enterprise.
Beneath, you’ll be able to see an instance of what cart abandonment automation would possibly appear to be on ActiveCampaign.
Six advantages of enterprise automation for small companies
Now that you just’re conversant in the fundamentals of enterprise automation let’s dive into a few of its advantages for small companies.
1. It ranges the taking part in discipline and makes you extra aggressive
Top-of-the-line issues about enterprise automation is that it permits small companies, solo entrepreneurs, and even freelancers to compete with essentially the most outstanding gamers available in the market.
As an alternative of hiring a big crew, you’ll be able to spend money on a enterprise automation answer to do the be just right for you. Enterprise automation may also make small companies extra aggressive by placing their present assets to higher use, serving to to spice up effectivity.
2. It saves you time
Based on 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 sensible — not solely does automation decrease time spent on repetitive day by day duties, nevertheless it additionally eliminates steps that require human interplay, resembling lengthy electronic mail discussions or crew conferences.
Enterprise automation permits you to enhance your turnaround instances whereas getting extra completed with the identical assets. With all that further time in your arms, your crew can concentrate on the vital 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 prospects. This then led to many small companies and their assist groups being overwhelmed. Nevertheless, customer support automation may also help remedy this — practically each enterprise worldwide says it may well 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 motive that lowering the time you and your crew spend on menial, repetitive duties can improve your productiveness. In any case, you’ll be able to take that point and vitality to concentrate on higher-level actions resembling technique.
However automation additionally will increase productiveness in different methods. For instance, staff are typically extra productive after they’re completely satisfied — 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 informed Zapier that enterprise automation reduces errors in duties resembling knowledge entry.
While you automate a course of, the software program accountable carries out that course of the identical manner each time, lowering 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. Regularly 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 sensible to introduce automation progressively, beginning with only one space of your small business earlier than shifting on to others.
Ultimately, although, your aim ought to be to automate as lots of your small business processes as doable. That will help you get began, we’ve compiled an inventory of processes that each small enterprise ought to intention to automate throughout the 4 sorts 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 crew reps
- Lead nurturing — shifting leads who should not fairly prepared by the funnel with tailor-made messages
- Sustaining common contact together with your prospects through a month-to-month publication
- Retargeting
- Lead segmentation and personalization — segmentation permits you to goal totally different sections of your viewers with customized messages
- Deserted cart reminders
HR processes to automate
- Emptiness bulletins — mechanically put up new vacancies on related job boards and websites
- Gathering job functions
- Reviewing functions and pre-selecting certified candidates by asking them to finish on-line types
- Scheduling interviews mechanically
- Notifying profitable candidates
- Worker onboarding — guarantee new staff obtain all the mandatory documentation and coaching to turn into productive members of your crew
- Efficiency critiques — centralize and automate the efficiency assessment course of
- Coaching and improvement — mechanically create and monitor worker improvement plans based mostly on efficiency critiques
- Payroll — automate payroll processing
Accounting processes to automate
- Information entry — save time on handbook knowledge enter
- Bill processing — mechanically course of invoices and approvals for higher velocity and accuracy
- Basic ledger administration
- Closing the books
- Accounts receivable workflows
- Accounts payable workflows
- Billing — mechanically invoice prospects and observe up on failed billing prices
- Checking account administration
- Bank card funds
Enterprise processes to automate
- Person provisioning — mechanically assign the mandatory permissions to a brand new recruit
- Report era and distribution — mechanically pull your organization’s knowledge right into a report and share it with the correct stakeholders
- Integrations — automate knowledge sharing throughout all of the software program instruments and apps you utilize
- Occasion log monitoring — mechanically monitor occasion logs and resolve community issues
- Workflow automation — automate repetitive duties
- File transfers — mechanically connect information to duties and add knowledge to workflows
- Batch processing
- Order entry
Use enterprise automation to remain aggressive
Companies of any dimension can profit from enterprise automation — particularly small companies, solo entrepreneurs, and freelancers because it permits them to compete with the largest gamers of their business.
We advocate introducing automation to only one space of your small business 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 ability of selling automation for your self.
