Automation
Marketing automation for agencies: 7 workflows that give your team hours back every week
The work that eats agency time isn't strategy, it's checking dashboards, copying numbers and sending the same emails. These seven workflows hand that over to software.
By the ARIQ Editorial Team 4 min read
Ask an account manager where their week goes and you will hear the same list: checking rankings, logging into ad accounts, building reports, chasing clients for approvals, forwarding leads. None of it is hard. All of it is repetitive, and every hour spent on it is an hour not spent on the work clients pay for.
Automation will not replace judgement, but it is very good at watching numbers and sending messages on time. Here are seven workflows we see agencies get the most from, in rough order of value.
1. Keyword drop alerts
Trigger: a tracked keyword falls by five or more places, or out of the top 100. Action: email the account team and post in the client's Slack channel, with the list of keywords and their old and new positions.
Finding a drop on day two instead of at the end of the month is the difference between a quick fix and an awkward call. Pair it with the Search Console page-two method to decide which pages to work on first.
2. Top-10 win emails to the client
Trigger: a keyword reaches page one. Action: a short, branded email to the client: “Good news: ‘dental implants Jaipur’ moved from 14 to 7 this week.”
Clients mostly hear from agencies when there is a problem or an invoice. Small, automatic good-news moments change how the relationship feels, and they cost nothing once set up.
3. A monthly progress email between reports
Trigger: the first of each month at 9am in your time zone. Action: an email with how many keywords are on page one, what moved up and the month's search clicks. It works well alongside the full monthly client report, or as a lighter touch for smaller retainers.
4. Instant lead routing
Trigger: a form submission arrives through a webhook from the client's website. Action: filter out spam, then email the right salesperson, post to a team channel and add the lead to the CRM through its API.
Speed matters with leads: the business that replies first often wins. An automation that delivers a lead in seconds beats a shared inbox that someone checks after lunch.
5. Ad spend guardrails
Trigger: daily. Action: check each account's spend against its monthly budget and warn the team if it is pacing more than, say, 15% ahead. Overspending a client's budget is one of the fastest ways to lose their trust; catching it on day ten instead of day thirty is easy with a scheduled check.
6. Report delivery and follow-up
Trigger: the report is ready. Action: send it with a personal note, then three days later remind the account manager to book a review call if the client has not replied. The report gets read and the conversation happens.
7. Internal health checks
Trigger: weekly. Action: a digest to the agency owner listing clients with falling traffic, broken tracking, disconnected integrations or expiring access tokens. It is the dashboard you would check if you had time, delivered so you do not have to.
Which tool should you use?
| Option | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Zapier | Quick connections between thousands of apps | Costs rise with the number of tasks run |
| Make | Complex multi-step scenarios with branching and data mapping | A steeper learning curve |
| ARIQ Automations | Workflows triggered by rankings, reports and client data you already have in ARIQ | Fewer third-party apps; connect others through webhooks or HTTP |
These tools work well together. Use your reporting platform for anything triggered by marketing data, because it already has the numbers, and a general tool like Make or Zapier for connecting the long tail of other apps.
Building these in ARIQ
ARIQ Automations is a drag-and-drop canvas. Each flow starts with a trigger, such as a schedule, a keyword drop, a keyword reaching the top 10 or a custom webhook, followed by steps: filters, variables, branded or custom HTML emails, HTTP requests to any API, and messages to Slack, Discord or Telegram. Any field can use values from earlier steps, like the client's name or the list of keywords that moved, and saved connections keep your SMTP passwords, API keys and sign-ins encrypted.
Every flow can be tested before it goes live, and the history shows what each run did. Workflows 1, 2 and 3 above are ready-made templates. See plans and pricing or start a free trial; the trial includes one active automation.
Automation also makes attribution and reporting easier to keep consistent; if you are untangling which channel deserves credit, read marketing attribution for small businesses next.
Frequently asked questions
What should an agency automate first?
Start with alerts that prevent problems, such as keyword drops or ad budgets pacing too fast, and with routine client updates. They save time immediately and protect client relationships.
Is Make or Zapier better for agencies?
Zapier is quicker to set up for simple app-to-app connections. Make handles complex, multi-step flows with more control at a lower cost per operation. Many agencies use one of them alongside the automations built into their reporting tool.
Can automated emails look like they come from my agency?
Yes. ARIQ sends with your agency's name, logo and colours, or through your own SMTP mailbox so the email comes from your address.