What is a marketing automation coach?
If you’re doing your own marketing for your startup or small business, there’s a good chance that you’re using some form of marketing automation. That may include automated emails to your audience, prescheduled social media posts, chatbots on your website, or automated recommendations based on e-commerce purchases.
And if you’re not doing those things, you probably read that sentence while feeling busy, overworked, pressured, and overwhelmed.
You know that marketing is important for your business, and that automation will make things much easier and more effective in the long run. But setting up the sales funnels, automated emails, landing pages, and incentives to make it all work seamlessly takes a lot of work. There are lots of big and small pieces of the puzzle that need to fit together, and it can be hard to figure out where to even start.
That’s where an automation coach steps in.
What is an automation coach?
An automation coach is a business coach with specific experience related to marketing automation. That experience usually includes marketing strategy, content planning, tool selection, setting up automation flows, and integrating tools and platforms into a seamless experience. Good coaches have a breadth of experience across different automation platforms, as well as a depth of experience in marketing and business strategy.
An experienced automation coach can help you:
Create a marketing strategy for your business and goals
Figure out where automation fits in for your business
Choose an automation platform
Train you on how to use your chosen platform
Help you plan your content
Help you identify appropriate audience segments
Help set up the initial automation workflows, including appropriate triggers
Check in about your goals and how the automation is going
Brainstorm changes and optimizations to improve automation results
Keep you accountable for small optimizations over time
Motivate you to keep trying new automation tactics
All of these things can be done in a stand alone "automation coaching” package, or combined with other coaching areas like content marketing, startup and small business strategy, leadership, mindset coaching, and more.
What should I look for in a coach?
Like any good business coach, an automation coach should help you to accomplish more and reach greater levels of success than you would on your own. Your coach should be:
Passionate about businesses and challenges like yours
Experienced in navigating the problems you’re facing
Open-minded and flexible in their thinking
Willing to push you and hold you accountable
A clear and empathetic communicator
You’ll also want to make sure that you enjoy speaking with the person, and feel that they are on your side. Great coaches make the process about you and your goals, not them and their systems.
How do I find a coach?
Your network is a great place to start your search. Ask marketers and founders that have similar businesses or challenges as yours - they may be able to point you in the direction of people who have helped them navigate tough times.
You can also turn to Facebook groups, Clubhouse, Quora, Reddit, Twitter, and other online forums to get advice from other marketers. Just be aware that you’ll need to do your own research to vet the coaches you find.
If you’d like to speak with me about my coaching services, I’d be happy to chat and see if I can help. I help with everything from automation strategy and setup to troubleshooting, motivation, accountability, and your larger marketing goals. Send me an email and we can set up a time to connect.
