Marketing automation has completely transformed how businesses grow by making everyday tasks much easier and faster. Instead of spending hours manually sending emails, following up with leads, or keeping track of customer information, tools like Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) allow you to automate all of that. This means you can save time, reduce human error, and stay organized while still giving your customers a personalized experience. Automation helps small businesses act like big businesses by streamlining their marketing, sales, and customer service processes.
Keap is a powerful all-in-one tool that’s especially great for small businesses. It helps you create and manage automated email campaigns, track leads, and even schedule appointments—all in one place. In this guide, you’ll discover what marketing automation is, why Keap is a smart choice, and how you can build your first automated system step-by-step. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to improve your current process, this guide will help you understand the basics and start using automation to grow your business more effectively.
What is Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation uses software to handle repetitive marketing tasks automatically. This includes sending emails, tracking leads, managing contacts, and more.
Benefits of marketing automation:
- Saves time and boosts productivity
- Makes marketing more personal
- Helps grow your business faster
- Reduces human error
Some people think automation makes marketing cold or robotic. That’s not true when done right—it actually helps you stay connected with customers in a personal way.
Why Choose Keap for Marketing Automation?
Keap is designed especially for small businesses. It combines CRM (Customer Relationship Management), email marketing, sales, and automation all in one easy platform.
Why Keap stands out:
- Simple drag-and-drop Campaign Builder
- Strong contact management tools
- Built-in appointment setting and payment features
- Great support and training for users
Whether you’re a coach, consultant, or small business owner, Keap gives you everything you need to automate and grow.
Step-by-Step Guide to Marketing Automation with Keap
Step 1: Define Your Goals and Audience
Before setting up anything, you need to know exactly what you want to achieve. Your goal could be to get more leads, improve your follow-up process, or sell more products. Setting clear goals will help you choose the right automation steps.
You should also take time to understand your audience. Who are they? What problems are they facing? What solutions are they looking for? Inside Keap, you can organize your contacts into different groups (also called segments) based on their interests or behaviors, which helps you send more personal and relevant messages later.
Step 2: Build Your Contact List
Once you know your audience, it’s time to build or grow your contact list. Keap makes this easy by letting you import your current contacts or collect new ones using web forms and landing pages.
For example, you can create a simple signup form offering a free guide or checklist. When someone fills out the form, their information is automatically saved into Keap’s CRM. Always make sure you ask for permission to send emails, and offer something valuable in return, like a freebie or a discount code.
The bigger and more engaged your list is, the better your marketing automation will perform.
Step 3: Create Campaigns and Automations
Now comes the fun part—building your first automated campaign! In Keap’s Campaign Builder, you can design a flow of actions based on what you want to happen.
For example, after someone signs up for your email list, you might automatically send them a welcome email. Then, a few days later, send another email with tips or offers. If they click a link, you could trigger a sales call invitation.
Everything is visual and easy to adjust. You simply drag “Email,” “Timer,” and “Task” blocks onto a canvas and connect them together. It’s like building a simple map of how you want to communicate with your customers.
Step 4: Set Up Email Marketing Automation
Email is one of the most powerful parts of marketing automation. With Keap, you can create emails that look great using ready-made templates.
Make sure your emails feel personal by adding the customer’s name and tailoring the content to their interests. For example, if someone downloaded a guide about fitness, send them more fitness tips instead of general newsletters.
Keap also lets you test different subject lines to see which ones get better open rates. By testing and adjusting, you can improve your results over time.
Step 5: Automate Lead Scoring and Follow-up
Not all leads are ready to buy immediately. That’s why Keap includes lead scoring, a system that gives points to contacts based on their actions. Opening an email might give a lead 5 points, while clicking a link might give 10 points.
When a lead’s score gets high enough, Keap can automatically alert your sales team to follow up personally. If a lead isn’t engaging, Keap can send them a re-engagement email. This way, you focus your efforts where they matter most and don’t miss out on hot opportunities.
Step 6: Integrate with Sales and CRM
Marketing automation becomes even more powerful when you connect it directly with sales. In Keap, you can track where each contact is in your sales pipeline.
You can create tasks, schedule appointments, send quotes, and even collect payments—right inside Keap. By automating these steps, your team can move faster and provide better service to potential customers.
Step 7: Measure, Analyze, and Optimize
Once your automation is live, it’s important to keep an eye on how it’s performing. Keap offers detailed reports showing how many people opened your emails, clicked on your links, or completed a purchase.
Use these insights to make improvements. If one email isn’t performing well, try a different subject line or offer. Small tweaks over time can make a big difference in your overall results.
Real-World Example: A Simple Automation Workflow with Keap
Imagine you offer a free eBook on your website. When someone downloads the eBook, Keap automatically sends a thank you email. Two days later, Keap sends another email inviting them to book a free consultation. If they click the link, Keap helps them schedule a time on your calendar. If they don’t respond, Keap follows up with a gentle reminder after a few days.
This simple workflow saves you hours of manual work while making sure every lead is followed up with perfectly.
Conclusion
Marketing automation with Keap is one of the smartest ways to save time, improve customer communication, and grow your business. By following these simple steps, you can create powerful automated systems that work in the background while you focus on bigger things.
If you want to set up Keap the right way and get faster results, working with a Keap Consultant can be a huge help. A Keap Consultant can guide you through the setup, design custom automations, and make sure you get the most out of your investment.
