Get started with marketing automation tools

First, you’ll need to understand your entire process, and then you can look for the places where you can add automation to improve efficiency and speed.

Here's an example of a series of marketing automations that save businesses money and time—and how to set it up using Zapier.

1. Sync incoming leads to your CRM. When a lead fills out a form on your website or somewhere else, like on a Facebook ad, make sure all the information from that form immediately gets sent to your CRM so your sales team can follow up quickly.
2. Segment leads into groups. Add these incoming leads to lists using Zaps to sort them according to relevant factors, like their location, how ready they are to buy, or job title. For instance, create lists for "Sellers looking to sell in 1-5 years" or "Looking to buy a home in 6 months or less"—you'd be sending these two types of people very different marketing messages over time, so having them in two separate groups will help you in the long run.
3. Send a welcome email series. After a lead contacts you or responds to you, reach out with a warm welcome. You don't need to do this manually; have a Zap or your email marketing platform send it for you. Want bonus points? Send different welcome emails to different lists. The subject lines “Let's help you sell your home” and “Open houses this weekend in your ZIP code” will reach those two groups above better than “Hello, thanks for signing up.”
4. Score leads. Use Lead Score by Zapier to fill in extra data about your leads. This Zap can enrich your incoming leads' contact info in your CRM with info like their company, company size, name, and more. Score leads based on which type of lead is your ideal customer, then reach out to the highest-scoring leads first.

Here is a system of Zaps you could use to automate this process.

Collect contacts with a form and add to your email platform