How To Use Marketing Automation for Free
Marketing automation is one of the most powerful tools available to marketers today. It allows you to streamline repetitive tasks and manage your marketing efforts with efficiency. In this guide, we’ll discuss how you can start using marketing automation for free using HubSpot’s tools. HubSpot’s free CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform offers several ways to automate your marketing activities, making your work more effective and organized without spending a dime.
Here are three main features you can leverage with HubSpot’s free account:
1. Lists Automation
One of the most essential aspects of marketing automation is the ability to segment your contacts into lists, making it easier to target specific groups of people based on certain criteria. HubSpot allows you to create two types of lists:
- Active Lists: These lists automatically update based on criteria. For example, if you have a list of contacts living in Austin, Texas, and someone moves, the list will update itself accordingly.
- Static Lists: These are snapshots of your contacts at a particular point in time. They do not update automatically when information about a contact changes.
With HubSpot’s free account, you can create up to 10 active lists and up to 1,000 static lists. Once you have a list ready, you can use it to assign contacts to sales reps, create tasks, or run specific marketing campaigns.
2. Email Automation
Emails are another crucial area where marketing automation can save you a lot of time. HubSpot allows you to automate some actions based on how contacts interact with your emails. For instance, you can:
- Set up automated actions after a contact engages with an email (e.g., clicks a link).
- Use pre-designed templates to quickly build professional-looking emails without starting from scratch.
- Once your email is ready, you can set up automation such as adding contacts to a specific list based on their actions, like clicking a link or opening the email. You can even send follow-up emails or update CRM records as part of the automation process.
With HubSpot’s free plan, you are limited to one automated action per email, but it’s enough to get started with basic marketing automation.
3. Form Automation
Forms are essential for gathering information about your leads, whether you’re offering an ebook, a free trial, or a newsletter subscription. HubSpot allows you to automate follow-ups after someone submits a form on your website. For example:
- You can automatically send an email to the contact who filled out the form, ensuring they receive the promised material (such as a download link for an ebook).
- HubSpot provides templates for creating forms, and you can customize them to collect specific information. After the form is submitted, you can trigger actions such as updating the contact’s CRM record or sending an internal notification to your team.
Conclusion
With HubSpot’s free CRM, you can start automating your marketing processes in a few simple steps. By using lists, email automation, and form automation, you’ll be able to save time and effort while ensuring that your marketing campaigns are more targeted and effective. Whether you’re segmenting your audience, following up on leads, or automating emails, marketing automation helps you do more with less.
Sign up for HubSpot’s free CRM today to start streamlining your marketing efforts and freeing up your time for more strategic tasks!