Taking your marketing to the next level with automation sounds quite futuristic. However, the future is now, and forward-thinking marketing teams are utilizing automation for businesses large and small. Why automate your marketing? As noted by HubSpot, marketing automation allows you to cater to leads by providing user-centric and effective content clued in to the needs and wants of potential customers. Additionally, automated marketing plans are famous for generating ROI for businesses. If you’re unsure if you should move forward with this type of marketing strategy, consider these five signs that show you may need to transform the way your department operates.

1. Your Current Marketing Strategy Is Falling Short

If you are missing your marketing goals, whether it’s due to budget constraints or an outdated marketing plan, then it’s time to go with marketing automation. Also, businesses are employing this marketing strategy because they desire to become more in tune with the technology that’s currently driving the marketing world — automated marketing can bring you up to speed with your competition.

2. Your Marketing Efforts Lack Cohesion

Your marketing strategy has to utilize email platforms, a website, a blog, social media pages, SEO, landing pages, CRMs, etc., all of which can get overwhelming to track and manage. If you can’t stay on top of managing these aspects of your marketing strategy, you should look into automation. With automation, you can devise a system of user inputs that funnel leads from Point A to Point Z most effectively. You can link the marketing opportunities of email with SEO and social media, for instance, all without having to manually track and cater to each customer. Automation provides filters and funnels as predetermined by your marketing strategy, while reducing your hands-on time and decreasing errors in the process.

3. You’re Struggling with Online Networking

Digital channels grant you the ability to connect with potential customers across oceans and time zones. However, finding a way to do this in rapid time means reevaluating your current marketing strategy. If you’re struggling to achieve your digital goals, automated marketing can help you to reach the greatest number of potential leads online in the least amount of time by coordinating and directing users through each of your marketing channels. Furthermore, you are able to do this while connecting users with content that meets their needs and wants, such as well-researched articles on topics of their interest or user-centric sales and coupons for your products. You can gain a mass following online by connecting with customers on a personal level, while building online brand loyalty.

4. The Competition Is Ahead of You

One of the best ways to gauge your current marketing strategy is to identify your strongest competitor and see where they stand in terms of marketing. According to Entrepreneur, you should ask the following questions:

• Are they light-years ahead in terms of the development of their brand?
• Do they showcase a strong and positively received online presence?
• How many social media followers or fans do they have, and what does their latest social media comment feed read like?

If you are falling behind the competition and notice a gap in your success, automating your marketing strategy can give your business the online boost you need.

5. Leads Are Getting Lost in the Shuffle

The greatest asset of a marketing team is the number of new, organic leads you obtain. However, getting the leads is only part of the battle. Once you’ve gathered leads successfully, you need a system that helps you stay organized as your leads are moved through your funnel. Otherwise leads are left in limbo at the wrong moments, and prospects are lost forever. Automating overcomes this problem by creating a systematic way to manage leads.

It Could Be Time to Revamp Your Brand

If you’re facing any of these five issues, it might be time to take control of your lagging marketing plan, once and for all, by implementing marketing automation. From organizing leads and marketing tools, to outweighing your competition in the online marketplace, automation provides the avenue for advancement. Your potential customers — and your marketing team — will appreciate the cohesion and follow-through consumers will experience when connecting with your company.