When you’re running a business, time & money are your most precious resources. Yet how much of each do you waste on repetitive marketing tasks that could be automated?
The numbers tell a compelling story. For every pound spent on marketing automation, UK businesses see an average return of £42. That’s not a typo. £42.
But this isn’t just about saving money. It’s about transforming how your customers experience your brand.
At Push to Start, we’ve seen firsthand how automation changes the game for businesses of all sizes. Our AI-driven CRM platform Impello, has helped clients boost conversion rates by 300% while cutting acquisition costs in half.
Let me walk you through how you can achieve similar results.
On this page…
The Small Business Equaliser
Marketing automation isn’t just for big corporations with massive budgets anymore.
“It enables smaller clients to have access to tools that would only be able to manage, if they had a bigger team,” explains Tony Mitchell, founder of Push to Start.
This leveling of the playing field means your small or medium-sized business can compete with industry giants without hiring an army of marketers.
When you automate repetitive tasks, you free up resources to focus on strategy and creativity – the areas where human insight truly shines.
The data backs this up. Over 45% of small businesses now use marketing automation tools, with the global market expected to reach £8.42 billion by 2027. Companies typically recover their initial investment in under six months, according to research from eCommerce Bonsai.
Seamless Integration: The Secret Sauce
The real power of marketing automation comes from connectivity. When your tools talk to each other, magic happens.
“You’ve got pay-per-click advertising, email, social media, SMS messaging, web chat, WhatsApp, reviews, calender appointments and AI-driven assistants all seamlessly connected,” Mitchell points out.
This integration eliminates the data silos that plague so many marketing departments. No more exporting lists from one platform and importing them to another.
Your customer data flows naturally between systems, creating a complete picture of each person’s journey with your brand.
When a prospect fills out a form on your website, they immediately receive a personalised text message. When they open your email, your CRM notes their interest. When they ask a question via chat, your AI assistant responds instantly.
This seamless experience doesn’t just feel good to customers – it drives results.
The Gym That Saw Instant Gains: A Real-World Example
Let’s look at a real success story from a UK gym that implemented marketing automation.
“We were able to increase their conversion rates from their pay-per-click advertising by three hundred percent…” Mitchell shares. “…and slash their cost per acquisition by fifty percent.”
How did they achieve such impressive results?
“First, we moved their advertising management, email marketing and SMS into Impello, and created lookalike audiences using their existing clients as a ‘template’, to allow for better PPC ad targeting and optimisation.”
“Then, we built an automated nurture funnel that guided prospects through the customer journey.”
“Leads we converted from social media campaigns went through an automated nurture funnel and received automated emails, text messages, and links to helpful content leading them through the funnel until they converted and became subscribers.” Mitchell explained. “But it didn’t stop there. We then continued to engage these new customers, using automated email onboarding, appointment booking and live chat support via AI assistants – satisfying 90% of customer enquiries and freeing up staff to focus on service delivery”.
The gym didn’t need to hire additional staff to manage this process. The automation handled everything, from initial contact to final conversion.
According to Gleantap, personalised experiences like these can drive revenue growth by 10-30%.
Response Time: The Conversion Catalyst
How quickly do you respond to customer inquiries? If it takes more than five minutes, you’re likely losing sales.
One of the most powerful benefits of marketing automation is dramatically improved response times.
“Automation allows our clients to be much more responsive,” Mitchell explains. “Which means they see an increase in conversions because they’re hot, they’re on it – customers get a faster response and the client get’s to overcome any objections – before the customer changes their mind!”
Automation tools, like AI-attendents managing WhatsApp and social media instant messaging, can instantly answer common questions, book appointments, and guide prospects through your sales process – even outside business hours.
This 24/7 availability creates a frictionless experience that today’s consumers expect.
Consider this: 67% of consumers expect personalised experiences, with demand for contextually relevant interactions growing stronger each year. This shift towards more tailored, real-time experiences leads to greater customer engagement and satisfaction, according to research from dotdigital.
Workflow Funnels: Mapping the Customer Journey
“The heart of effective marketing automation is effective workflow funnels”, Mitchell notes.
A well-designed workflow maps out every step of the customer journey, from initial awareness to final purchase and beyond.
For each step, you create triggered responses that provide exactly what the customer needs at that moment.
If someone visits your pricing page three times but doesn’t convert, your system might automatically send them a special offer.
If they download your beginner’s guide, they might receive a series of educational emails that gradually introduce more advanced concepts.
These workflows create a personalised experience for each prospect while requiring minimal ongoing effort from your team.
The Balancing Act: Automation vs. Personalisation
Despite its benefits, marketing automation comes with challenges. The biggest? Maintaining a human touch.
Customers can spot generic, automated messages from a mile away. And they don’t appreciate being treated like a number.
The key is to use automation to enhance personalisation, not replace it.
Modern marketing automation platforms, like Impello, allow for sophisticated segmentation and personalisation based on behavior, preferences, and history.
Your messages should feel like they’re coming from a friend who knows you well, not a robot following a script.
This is where AI-driven tools shine. They can analyse vast amounts of data to identify patterns and preferences that would be impossible for humans to spot manually.
The result? Communications that feel remarkably personal, even though they’re automated.
Overcoming the Complexity Challenge
One potential pitfall of marketing automation is complexity.
“We have a very large, diverse service offering,” Mitchell admits. “That potentially makes it complicated for clients to fully understand, both the services and tools on offer and the benefits they bring. So, streamlining customers towards their ideal solution can prove a challenge because there were so many options for them to choose from.”
This is a common issue. When you have powerful tools with countless features, it’s easy to overwhelm both your team and your customers.
The solution? Start simple.
Begin with one or two key workflows that address your most pressing business needs. Once those are running smoothly, gradually add more complexity.
This approach prevents ‘overwhelm’ while still providing effective solutions.
7 Best Practices Tips for Getting Started with Marketing Automation
Ready to implement marketing automation in your business? Here are some best practices to follow:
1. Map Your Customer Journey
Before selecting tools, document each step in your customer’s journey. Identify pain points and opportunities for automation.
2. Choose Integrated Tools
Select platforms that work well together. An all-in-one solution like Impello can simplify implementation and management.
3. Start with High-Impact Areas
Begin by automating tasks that consume the most time or have the biggest impact on revenue.
4. Personalise at Scale
Use segmentation and behavioral triggers to create personalised experiences without manual effort.
5. Test and Optimise
Continuously monitor performance and refine your workflows based on results.
6. Maintain the Human Touch
Use automation to enhance human interactions, not replace them. Always provide easy access to real people when needed.
7. Measure What Matters
Track both financial metrics (ROI, conversion rates) and customer satisfaction indicators. (Impello allows you to automate feedback and review requests on all major platforms, as well as tracking NPS).
The Future of Marketing Automation
As we look ahead, marketing automation will become even more intelligent and intuitive.
AI-driven tools will predict customer needs before they even express them. Integration between platforms will become seamless. And the line between automated and human interactions will blur.
Seven out of ten marketing leaders plan to increase their automation budgets in 2025, reflecting growing confidence in its impact on marketing ROI.
This investment will accelerate the adoption of AI and analytics features in automation platforms, while marketers focus on integrating automation across channels for unified campaigns.
Companies not investing in automation risk falling behind in an increasingly digital marketplace.
Getting Started Doesn’t Have to Be Overwhelming
The biggest barrier to implementing marketing automation is often the perception that it’s too complex or time-consuming.
But as Mitchell points out, you don’t need to do everything at once.
“Start small. Focus on one area where automation could make an immediate impact. Then build from there”.
Remember that marketing automation is a journey, not a destination. Each step you take improves efficiency and enhances the customer experience.
And the results speak for themselves: higher conversion rates, lower acquisition costs, and happier customers.
Isn’t that worth the investment?
Thinking of Getting Started with Marketing Automation?
Talk to Us
Book a call for a free, no-obligation chat about how marketing automation might work for your business.
(If you want to see it in action, tell the live chat assistant you want to book an appointment!)
How Much Will it Cost?
Use the Instant Quote feature below for a ballpark figure – then book a call so we can tailor it, ensuring you only pay for what you need.