Did you know that 91% of the most successful users agree that marketing automation is “very important” to the overall success of their marketing across channels? Did you know that a recent survey found that businesses embracing marketing automation suggested that it drives a 14.5% increase in sales productivity and a 12.2% reduction in marketing overheads? Well, it is true, and that is perhaps why there are in more than 100 marketing automation software tools available to a business in 2020.

Broadly speaking marketing automation takes two forms:

• Marketing process automation
• Marketing analytics automation

Many software options available in 2020 combine the two.

In this blog, we will be focusing on marketing process automation. Marketing process automation involves automating repetitive marketing tasks with a view to: 

• Improving effectiveness
• Reducing costs
• Increasing productivity 

Marketing systems work best when they are applied accurately and consistently. Marketing, in general, works best when it is personalised and customised. Marketing process automation facilitates both. Many marketing processes, including email campaigns, social media campaigns and lead nurturing require actions that are time-sensitive and need to be addressed consistently. Personalising and customising marketing increases the likelihood of engagement significantly. 

Consider this: 77% of CMOs at top-performing companies indicate their most compelling reason for implementing marketing automation is to grow revenue.

Reducing the time involved in completing repetitive and elementary tasks saves time and money while having the potential to significantly increase productivity. This is especially so given the low-cost of much of this software and the high cost of labour. Marketing process automation also enables marketing staff to focus their time and attention on issues that require more intellectual input.

Modern technology could automate 45% of the activities people are paid to perform, with about 60% of all occupations witnessing 30% or more of their activities automated.

So, what processes or tasks is marketing automation right for?

The answer is that there are so many, Including:

• Email marketing
• Lead generation
• Customer retention and referral

• Lead tracking and nurturing
• Social media marketing
• Content marketing
• Customer engagement and upselling
• Website operation and optimisation

At a time when digitalisation is the norm, there are so many processes and tasks that can and should indeed be automated. In 2020, it is very important to identify customer journeys and marketing flows, and then determine what processes or tasks can be automated.

There are too many marketing process automation tools out there and there is plenty of information available by way of a simple Google search. So, identify a process and see what can be automated. The most common of these products tend to focus on email marketing and social media. These include:

• Marketo – A platform addressing email, mobile, social, digital ads, web, and marketing analytics
• HubSpot – A platform that automatically tracks interactions and compiles data about deals on a single dashboard so the entire journey is visible
• Ontraport – A platform that allows marketers to get a complete visualisation of the customer journey
• Delivra – A platform that maximises customer engagement by offering help with SMS and email drip campaigns
• Autopilot – A package that creates a self-service platform offering email, in-app messages, SMS and postcards.

It makes a great deal of sense to automate repetitive marketing processes at any level on account of the reasons given below:

• 51% of businesses now use some form of marketing automation
• 58% of businesses are currently considering marketing automation options
• The expenditure on marketing automation is set to grow by 63% in 2020

In 2020, have a closer look at marketing automation.

Future blogs in this series will address:

• Marketing analytics automation
• AI and machine learning
• Developing a marketing automation strategy