Essential Task Automations to Streamline Your Workflows

AI-powered task automation has permeated every aspect of digital marketing. Research tells us that 96% of marketing experts have experience with marketing automation platforms. Furthermore, 17.4% of marketers believe that marketing automation is one of the most worthwhile digital marketing techniques.

With rapid technological advancements, how to make money with AI is one of the most trending topics among marketing specialists. Since Oracle tells us that marketing agencies successfully reduce overall marketing costs by 12.2% with marketing automation, the topic of task automation is likely to remain the North Star in the field of digital marketing for many years to come.

In this article, we will take a closer look at task automation options for marketing agencies, explore how to get started with automation, and discuss strategies for keeping tabs on the effectiveness of task automation.

What Is Task Automation?

Task automation in the context of digital marketing refers to the use of software and tools to automate repetitive tasks and processes. This includes automating activities such as social media posting, email marketing, CRM updates, SEO management, and analytics reporting. 

If your marketing agency manages multiple clients, task automation is a great solution to boost your employees’ efficiency and reduce manual errors. According to a report by McKinsey, up to 45% of tasks can be automated using current technology, which highlights the significant potential for task automation in the workplace.

Tip: Vendasta's platform enables marketing agencies to put their marketing efforts on autopilot across various marketing channels.

Why Digital Marketing Agencies Need Task Automation

Managing multiple clients and campaigns can be incredibly challenging for digital marketing agencies. Each client has unique needs, requiring customized strategies, frequent updates, and detailed reporting. Task automation helps agencies overcome these challenges by streamlining workflows, improving efficiency, and allowing for scalability.

A study by WorkMarket revealed that 53% of employees believe they could save up to two work hours per day through automation, translating to a 25% increase in productivity. 

Additionally, according to Nucleus Research, marketing automation can reduce overhead by 12.2% for marketing agencies. 

These statistics underscore the significant time and cost savings that task automation can bring to digital marketing agencies.

Tip: Optimize your operations with smart workflow automation techniques to save time and reduce manual effort.

5 Task Automation Tools for Digital Marketing Agencies

Now that we’re on the same page about the indisputable benefits of task automation, let’s dive into a selection of the top 5 task automation tools any digital marketing agency should have in its tech stack. 

1. Social Media Management Tools

Statistics tell us that 83% of small businesses in the United States use social media for advertising. This marketing channel is so popular that a vast majority of business owners even save on the costs of building websites and focus on firing up their social media profiles instead.

Given this data, as a digital marketing agency, your employees will most likely have to handle lots of social media accounts. Therefore, automating social media marketing should be your top priority. It is a good thing that there are a lot of social media management tools available for you to choose from.

Social media management tools help automate content creation, scheduling posts, and ROI calculations for marketing efforts.

Vendasta’s white-label social media management software makes it easy for marketing agencies to launch single-prompt social media campaigns, have postings to multiple media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X) happen on autopilot, and get access to automated reporting and insights. 

Tip: Simplify your social media management with top social media automation tools to keep your profiles active and engaging effortlessly.

2. Email Marketing Automation

Email marketing has long been hailed as a marketing channel most apt for task automation.

Email marketing tools enable email marketing automation with features like segmentation, personalization, and triggered campaigns. These features help agencies send targeted and personalized emails to different audience segments, improving engagement and conversion rates.

Granted, your employees can’t remember the birthdays of all the people subscribed to your clients’ mailing lists. Email automation empowers businesses to demonstrate their appreciation of their customers by sending out birthday deals or post-purchase follow-ups, which boost open rates.

Email marketing automation also supports synchronization between marketing and sales. For example, a drip campaign can be automated in such a way that a sales team gets notified each time an email recipient opens or clicks on an email.

Vendasta offers a comprehensive suite of pre-made email campaigns that agencies can leverage to help their customers with customer acquisitions, upsell marketing strategies, and more.

3. CRM and Lead Management Tools

CRM software is a tool that helps agencies manage customer relationships across the entire customer lifecycle, including the following stages: 

• Marketing
• Sales
• Digital commerce
• Customer service

CRM tools have a wide range of applications and functionalities:

• Data storage
• Identification of sales opportunities
• Marketing campaign management
• Cross-channel inquiry tracking

CRM software helps agencies track leads, manage client interactions, and automate follow-up tasks. With AI by their side, agencies can ensure timely and consistent communication with prospects and clients, enhancing brand awareness and client retention.

According to research conducted between 2017 and 2019, CRM can help marketing agencies secure the following victories:

• 24% increase in lead conversion
• 31% increase in qualified leads
• 36% improvement in campaign effectiveness

A lot of these functionalities can be executed seamlessly with task automation. For example, Vendasta’s CRM software is designed to alleviate the multiple burdens of menial tasks for sales reps and managers through a suite of task automations:

• Data mining and analysis for prospecting
• Data entry
• Cold outreach email campaigns
• Meeting scheduling
• Pipeline management
• Built-in lead nurturing campaigns
• Lead scoring

Tip: Boost your marketing efficiency with the help of CRM marketing automation strategies.

4. SEO and Content Management Tools

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website or online content to improve its visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). 

SEO can be categorized into the following types:

• On-Page
• Off-Page
• Technical 
• Local

Task automation can help with some aspects of SEO. 

For example, Vendasta’s AI-powered Listing Builder can automatically update business information (NAP), eliminating the need for manually updating business profiles on different platforms.

It can also discover impactful keywords based on local search volume and rank difficulty and come up with content suggestions based on the business name, location, and services. 

Encouraging and managing customer reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp to boost local SEO has never been easier with task automation. 

For example, to speed up answers to client reviews, Vendasta’s AI-powered Reputation Management tool can conduct intelligent sentiment analysis to generate the most appropriate responses. It can also reach out to clients for feedback to increase reviews.

Tip: Enhance your search engine optimization efforts with advanced SEO automation software. Also, take your content creation process to the next level and stay ahead of the competition with effective content automation tools and strategies.

5. Reporting and Analytics Tools

Pulling data about the performance of marketing campaigns and analyzing and interpreting this data can seem like Herculean tasks for a marketing agency. AI-powered analytics tools make reporting a breeze. 

Vendasta's Business Center, which is a white-label app that marketing agencies can rebrand as their own app for client communication, offers automated reporting and analytics. This helps agencies generate detailed reports on campaign performance, website traffic, and other key metrics. 

Automated client reporting ensures that clients receive timely and accurate insights into their campaigns, improving transparency and trust.

How to Implement Task Automation in Your Digital Agency

Begin by listing all repetitive tasks and processes within your agency. These can include activities such as data entry, social media posting, email follow-ups, and report generation. It’s a great idea to use workflow mapping tools to visualize and document these tasks.

Determine which tasks consume the most time and resources. Track how much time employees spend on each task and evaluate the financial costs associated with these activities. Tools like time-tracking software and project management systems can help uncover inefficiencies.

Prioritize tasks that are time-consuming, repetitive, and prone to human error and, when automated, will have the highest impact on your agency’s efficiency. Create a roadmap for implementing automation, starting with high-impact areas and gradually expanding to other tasks.

Tip: Learn how marketing automation for agencies can transform your workflow and drive better results for your clients.

Selecting the Right Automation Tools

Ensure the tools you choose for task automation integrate seamlessly with your existing tech stack, including your CRM, email marketing platform, and project management software. Effective integration will ensure a smooth workflow and prevent data silos.

Choose task automation tools that can scale with your agency’s growth. As your business expands, the automation tools should be able to handle increased workloads and more complex processes. Look for solutions that offer scalable plans and can adapt to your evolving needs.

Opt for task automation tools that are easy to use, require minimal training, and come with comprehensive onboarding resources, such as tutorials, guides, and customer support. User-friendly interfaces and intuitive features will make it easier for your team to adopt the new tools. 

If you ever find yourself in need of help or advice, you may consider hiring a marketing automation consultant, a trending position in the field of AI marketing automation. These consultants specialize in helping businesses automate digital marketing. 

Measuring the Impact of Task Automation

When evaluating the effectiveness of your task automation, consider using the following formula: “Marketing automation ROI = (marketing automation cost – sales growth) / marketing automation cost.”

Tip: Learn how two beginner-friendly task automations can help agencies save more than $10,000 by watching this video:

Future Trends in Task Automation for Digital Marketing

Generative AI that relies on deep learning models is poised to continue making waves with customer journey automation. From AI-powered chatbots to time-saving technology, task automation will keep enabling marketing agencies to deliver superior customer services and meet customer needs every time, without fail. 

Vendasta is committed to helping marketing agencies reap the benefits of AI-powered task automation in the form of reduced overhead costs and highly optimized marketing campaigns. Embrace digital transformation with confidence—explore Vendasta’s suite of white-label automation solutions today.