Marketing automation - what's it all about?

Marketing automation is the latest buzzword in the world of technology. It’s what everyone is discussing at conferences, meetings and seminars.

However, why did marketing automation become so popular and what even is automation in marketing?

Well, we’re here to help you understand everything with this brief guide on marketing automation, its history and future potential.

What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation technology refers to software solutions that automates repetitive marketing tasks, such as publishing ads, launching marketing campaigns and posting on social media.

This reduces the workload on the marketing staff members and allows marketers to focus on what’s important - engaging with clients and developing strategies and tactics.

Why is marketing automation so popular?

The popularity of marketing automation comes from its utility and versatility.

By setting up automated workflows, automation doesn’t just reduce the workload, it increases the productivity and even improves the overall work environment. All of this is achieved thanks to the software’s ability to remove the monotonous tasks and boring tasks such as invoicing and emailing.

Unsurprisingly, research shows that people get happier and more productive when they don’t have to work on tasks that they don’t find engaging or interesting.

What can marketing automation achieve?

Advanced software solutions, such as CRMs and ERPs, can take on a variety of different tasks. If a business relies on a long list of contacts, leads or opportunities, marketing automation can achieve incredible results. Most notably, it can:

• Improves the conversion rate
• Decrease the overall length of the sales cycle
• Improve the return on investment (ROI)
• Streamline B2C or B2B communication
• Increases the value of each customer and improves their engagement with the company

On top of that, certain types of automation software also allow you to manage multichannel marketing campaigns on a single dashboard. This means that you can create highly personalized posts and emails, without spending too much time on the technicalities.

However, as you may have noticed - marketing automation is primarily meant for businesses that operate online. As such, it may not be the best fit for all companies. This brings us to our next point.

How to determine if your business needs marketing automation

While many will see this question as a no-brainer and simply reply: every company should use the possibilities of marketing automation software, we tend to disagree. It’s true that automation can make most processes more efficient, but some companies will not be a good fit for it.

For example, companies that still haven’t moved offline may find it easier to continue doing things as they’ve always done them. Automation is likely not a good option for them, because it requires an incredible amount of effort to implement it.

If the company and its employees aren’t ready to adopt the technology, you’re just wasting time trying to force it in. In such cases, we recommend that you gradually move your business to the cloud and carefully integrate marketing automation during the process. This will help smoothen the transition, which can often be problematic.

In any case, here is how you can easily determine whether your business needs marketing automation. We have come up with a simple questionnaire that will make the decision for you. Simply read the following questions and answer them honestly.

• Do you regularly forget to follow-up on leads and miss out on opportunities you’ve found?
• Do you upsell to existing customers and do you have regular customers?
• Do you still send out company newsletters manually?
• Are you still responding to all customer enquiries manually?
• Do your marketing and sales processes take up a large percentage of your work hours?

If you answered yes to all of these questions, your business is a prime candidate for marketing automation. If you answered yes to some of them, but not all, your business will likely benefit from automating certain tasks.

In case you answered no to all of these questions, then your business doesn’t really require automation.

Marketing automation trends in the future

If you hoped marketing automation was just the latest buzzword that will be forgotten in a year or two, we have to disappoint you.

Automation will continue to grow and eventually take over the marketing industry, just like it took over most other industrial branches. It’s here to stay and your business better prepare for it.

Damien Reed is an Seo expert who specializes in content marketing and outreach for Small Firm Legal Marketing.