By Susan Saldibar

I realize now, looking back to when I was researching assisted living communities for my mom, that I had experienced first-hand the impact of great marketing automation.

Because, months after my search ended, when a former colleague was looking into senior living for her dad, I recommended a community to her.

And I had never even spoken with them! 

As a point of clarification, my mom passed away suddenly (and peacefully), so I never got to the point of actually calling the community.

But I would have. And here’s why:

  • No sales rep called before I was ready to talk, even though I had filled in a form (with my phone number) to get a “questions to ask” download (I noted I preferred to be contacted by email. Instead …
  • I received a tasteful, well written email with a few links to get more information. (I didn’t bite. But I was interested.)
  • Then their ad popped up on a mobility aids site I visited. So, now their brand was in my head.
  • About a week later, I received another email with a checklist on questions to ask care providers. It was exactly what I needed. How did they know?

Marketing automation. And I already felt like I knew them.

Now, I’m not sure if they were using Conversion Logix (a Foresight partner). But, when Jen Lovely and Davey Montooth joined Leigh Ann Hubbard for Marketing Monday, it sure sounded familiar. (Watch it here, and prepare to be impressed.)

Actually, Conversion Logix goes way beyond what I experienced. 

Jen and Davey talked about what personalized communications with prospects should look like using automation:

  1. Intelligent email sequencing. Sounds clinical, but it’s just the opposite. No more of those generic emails. You set up a “cadence” that responds to the prospect in an authentic, meaningful way based on where they are in the cycle (see ChatGPT below). If they’re tiptoeing and aren’t ready for a tour, you can set your emails to send a newsletter or a downloadable checklist. And when they are ready, you set the system to drop them a short questionnaire to learn what exactly they are looking for. Think of what that tour will look like.
  2. Ad retargeting. So they’re on another site, maybe looking for mobility aids like I was. Boom, there you are off to the left. Another opportunity for them to click and learn more about your community. The point is, your brand is now in their heads.
  3. ChatGPT. I saved this for last. This is AI at its best, in the form of a “deep learning” tool that works on both sides of the sales process. So it helps visitors to your website by answering questions and getting them what they want quickly. And sales reps can “train” their GPT to set up the very best email sequences as well as the content for those emails. So a sales rep can ask it to give them the best email sequence for a particular prospect. It’ll tell you. And it’ll even write the email!

So, yes, to all the skeptics, automation can be personal. 

And you’ve just saved your sales team tons of time. Now what? They’ll get better at what they do. So when they actually speak with a prospect, they “know” that prospect (thank you, AI) and can use their talents and be engaging (not desperate, pushy, and irritating). They can do better prospecting, better tours, better closes.

Maybe it’s time to stop being afraid of AI.

It’s not there to take over your life. It’s there to help make you better. “Think of it as someone helping you out,” Davey says.

I’ve just scratched the surface here. Watch the video. Or here’s a better idea. Cut to the chase and check out Conversion Logix. They can do all of this for you and more.

It’s time to get serious about marketing automation. Your prospects expect it.