How to Create a Workflow Template
In the previous article, we’ve discussed 6 steps to create an efficient automation workflow. Yet before having a workflow run across your store, you need to visualize the workflow you want to automate in the form of a diagram. This is called the workflow template. A workflow template lists the involved steps on the lines. Each step consists of an event, triggered by event conditions or a delay and a response. Why do you need a workflow template? There are 2 reasons why this is essential to your work: Your team should all agree on what will be handled by automation and what manually. You should use standardized symbols and terminologies so that your staff can understand it coherently. Ask them to give feedback on the original version to optimize the process It prevents you from getting confused while designing the workflow in your automation app. This is because the template makes clear which step takes place before others and what the expected result should be. An example of a workflow template would be: How to create a workflow template? 1. Identify the starting and endpoint Whatever happens within the process, make sure you know what is the kick-off stage and what your expected outcome is. 2. Gather information Speak to your people at different departments to ensure your workflow is as accurate as possible. Outline what activities are involved in each step, signify who is in charge as well as the potential bottlenecks and improvements coming along with it. 3. Remove all inefficiencies Categorize your information into ‘must-have’, ‘nice-to-have’, and ‘not necessary’. Then, reflect back to your goal and decide if this specific task is meaningful for achieving the outcome. If not, consider optimizing, or just simply removing it. 4. Test the results Something can always go out of control. After having your template, build a workflow accordingly and run it. Keep an eye on the activation and be ready to fix any error that arose along the way. Create your own workflow template In fact, it doesn’t take too much time to create a workflow. You don’t need a professional tool, either. Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides would be good enough as well as the visual is clear. You can also find a template that can be immediately applied to any automation platform in our library. Once you’ve activated your workflow, review your process monthly or yearly to improve as you go. If you are on BigCommerce or Shopify, wonderful! Be sure to check out our automation platform Atom8!
Top Marketing Automation Workflow Examples to Learn From
There are many examples of marketing automation workflow these days. This is because marketing activities such as social media posting, email marketing, and ad events required to be executed over and over again. With a huge amount of product and tactics, it becomes extraordinarily tedious and time-consuming. As a result, many businesses have deployed automation tools to accelerate their marketing performance. In this article, we put together a list of the 4 most effective marketing automation workflow examples every business should implement to maximize its effectiveness. 1. Engage with customers from the first stage Regular engagement is the key to stay on your customers’ top-of-mind. You need to be in touch with visitors everywhere along the buyer journey, from the first impression to post-purchase support. However, this becomes extremely daunting when you have thousands to millions of customers. One of the most popular examples is the marketing automation workflow to sort new customers in a special category and send them a welcome letter. This can be done by incorporating your automation platform with email marketing tools such as Mailchimp and Klaviyo. Take a look at the example above, Airbnb guides their customers through all the necessary steps to complete their registration, thereby raising the chance they’ll make an order. 2. Apply discount to multiple products Discount programs can increase the number of visitors to your store and thus raise your sales revenue. At the same time, customers who receive a discount offer might feel like they have a better deal, thereby more likely to become your loyal customers. Multiple types of discounts programs include: Loyal member discounts Seasonal discounts Promotional discounts Volume discounts Calculate your discount price and set up a workflow to publish the list on the due date using an automation tool. This is an example of promotional discounts that pops up when new customers visit the website. With this coupon code, visitors are more likely to subscribe and buy from you. Even if they don’t purchase, you’ll still have their data for the nurture program later on. Meanwhile, this seasonal sale is only available at the beginning of the school year and is targeted exclusively to teachers. 3. Retarget inactive customers There’re always some customers who registered on your website but left without making a purchase. The reason might be that they are not satisfied with the product, or the price is too high, or they’re simply doing window-shopping. Whatever it is, you’ve missed out on potential customers. Therefore, re-engagement is necessary. To do this, build a marketing workflow automation to tag customers when an account is created and send them an email afterward as examples below. In this example, the brand starts with “We miss you!”, saying that they’re aware of the time without contact. This email is also tailored to the received with a voucher code as a motivation. 4. Send an abandoned cart reminder Shopping cart abandonment is another painful experience every business has to face up. To avoid loss of money and resources, you should try to reduce the abandoned rate as low as possible. There are many solutions to this problem, yet automation is probably one of the most optimal. Track your customers’ on-site behaviour and send them a reminder at least one hour after abandonment. You can also incorporate a discount promo to incentivize customers to take action. A reminder can be this simple with an active link embedded in the button. The visual makes it more elegant and comfortable. This email moves further to include personalized greeting at the beginning, implying that the brand pays special attention to each customer. Start your own marketing workflow automation example These are examples of marketing automation workflow that have been successfully applied by a lot of businesses worldwide. But remember that besides automation, you should also take a good look into your content. A combination of content quality and automation would bring the most of your revenue. And if you’re looking for an automation solution, check out platforms like Atom8 and Ergo.
