We have been using Automation at Evoke International, specifically in content creation for a while. The aim of this next series – which will include articles videos and other digital output – will bring a larger picture on not just how automation can help save time in your business but can assist with your clients, too.
Why should we use Automation?
First and foremost, automation refers to a workflow that operates independently or without constant human oversight.
It’s the key to having more time to do tasks that can’t be automated. For instance if you have your strategy correct you will be able to personalize and send your clients an exacting message or proposal strategized for them via automation whilst you’re dealing with phone calls or meetings that can’t be automated. It’s about reacting to your clients’ needs when they need you to while you save time for your business, too.
Take a newsletter for example – week in, week out, it’s time consuming to lift it off the ground every Wednesday.
Time is money. Why should you sit and type out an email when you can have one created weeks before you need it? Once you send it out, via automation, automation can then do it’s other value added moves. For example, let’s say someone hits that subscribe button on your newsletter, they then get a backlog of previous newsletter issues. This is all done automatically without you needing to do anything and yet your customers’ needs are being met. That’s where our automation services dive in and act on your behalf – with you fully in the know of course, with reports and analytics along the way to track customer activities.
That doesn’t mean the personal element is removed from the equation though. You can still send personalized messages based on the customer’s activities and behaviour. We can physically go and ‘see’ their mind in real-time and respond to that with our analytics.
It’s about ensuring that the customer is not treated like a number – it’s not about automating to make our lives easier, it’s about automating to make the relationship between the client and the customer stronger.
How do you automate?
Very simply. The best platform to use is Zapier. You can connect it to Trello, Mailchimp or Alexa.
There are so many intricacies that can help your business as well as your personal life. We will definitely be speaking to this in more in depth detail later on.
You can create bespoke customer process steps that can connect remote teams. For example, the social media department of Evoke create content using Trello. We can then automate that process and sync it with Asana so that the communications department can take over from there and make their edits. We are then all under one roof but the base foundation exists on Trello – any changes made on Asana are then fed back to Trello and vice versa. It may sound like a web but it’s a wonderful and streamlined web – once you start using it, it makes perfect sense.
All these platforms have a basic free package – the more you want out of the platform, you have to fork out for it. But it’s worth it!
Do you actually need to automate?
Well, the world is heading towards digital transformation in the fullest sense of the world. Wouldn’t you want to be part of it or would you be content being left behind? Your business output and productivity, will soar.
If you have a business with dozens of processes, your best foot forward is to contact an expert to help you streamline and get the best out of automation – where you don’t necessarily work less, but you work smarter.
If your story has a beginning, middle and an end but you don’t know quite how to create a through-line, contact us!
Evoke International.
