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Automation is becoming an increasingly important part of the modern marketing landscape. As technology continues to evolve, it’s becoming easier and more efficient to automate specific marketing tasks. Automation can free up time to focus on more strategic activities and help to optimize results. Automation can also help to improve customer experience, as it can allow for faster and more personalized interactions. In short, automation is the future of marketing.

To make the most of automation in marketing, businesses should recognize the potential of automation and build a strategy to leverage its advantages. They should also be open to new marketing practices that can help to improve their operational efficiency and the quality of their services. By embracing automation and leveraging its potential, businesses can become more competitive and successful in the modern landscape.

What Is Automation In Marketing?

Human robot artificial intelligence.

Automation is the use of technology to perform tasks more quickly and efficiently. In marketing, automation can include activities such as email marketing, customer journey management, and marketing analytics. These activities can be automated to improve operational efficiency, customer experience, and marketing results.

Automation can help to scale marketing activities and increase their frequency. It can also help to optimize customer engagement and sales activities. However, automation is different from artificial intelligence.

AI entails a computer system that can replicate human behavior, while automation is a tool that helps to streamline marketing functions. While automation will likely lead to the use of new marketing practices, businesses should be careful not to rely too heavily on technology.

Benefits Of Marketing Automation

  • Increased Lead Quality: By using marketing automation, businesses can ensure that only relevant customers are receiving marketing messages. This can help to improve the experience of customers who are not yet ready to buy. Automation can also help to optimize lead nurturing campaigns, which can help to increase lead quality over time.
  • Better Customer Experience: Automation can help to reduce friction and provide consistent experiences across channels. It can also help to provide personalized experiences that are relevant to each customer.
  • Scale Marketing Activities: Automation can help to scale marketing activities and increase the frequency at which they occur. This can help both to increase sales and to reduce marketing costs.
  • Improved Operational Efficiency: Marketing automation can help to standardize marketing activities and improve operational efficiency. This can help to reduce costs and increase revenue by optimizing the resources used in marketing.

Automation In Marketing Statistics

  • Approximately 76% of marketers say that marketing automation has been a revenue-positive investment.
  • 90% of B2B marketers say that they plan to increase their use of marketing automation in the next 12 months.
  • 80% of organizations that use marketing automation say that they have experienced improved lead quality.
  • 93% of B2B organizations that use marketing automation say they have experienced improved lead quality.
  • 76% of B2B organizations that use marketing automation say they have experienced a positive ROI.
  • 82% of B2B organizations that use marketing automation say they have experienced a positive ROI.
  • 72% of B2B organizations that use marketing automation say they have experienced a positive impact on their customer experience.

How To Develop An Automation Strategy

Automation Marketing Strategy.

Marketers who are interested in automating their marketing should begin by determining what processes can be automated. Once they’ve identified activities that can be automated, marketers should create a strategy for implementing these changes. 

To create an effective strategy, marketers should ask themselves a few questions, such as:

  • What are the most important activities in our marketing process?
  • What functions can be automated to save time and effort?
  • What technology can be used to automate these activities?

Marketers should also consider the benefits and limitations of marketing automation. They should understand the customer experience that automation can provide, as well as its limitations. They should also take into account their organization’s culture and current strengths and weaknesses. 

Once marketers have determined what activities can be automated, they can begin to create a roadmap for implementation. They should consider whether they have the technical expertise required to implement automation, as well as the necessary business resources.

Tips For Leveraging Automation In Marketing

  • Define Your Goals: Before marketers begin to automate their marketing activities, they should first determine what their goals are. This can help to guide their decision-making process and ensure that they are leveraging automation to support their business objectives.
  • Identify Candidate Activities: Once marketers have determined their goals, they should identify the activities that help to achieve them. They should identify marketing processes and customer touchpoints where automation can be applied.
  • Select The Right Tools: Once marketers have identified candidate activities and the tools that will help to automate them, they should select the appropriate tools, like SMS blasting or shortcodes for texts, based on their organization’s strengths and weaknesses. They should also consider the customer experience that each tool can provide.
  • Manage Your Resources: While automation can help to reduce the time and effort required to manage certain aspects of marketing, it can also demand more time and effort in other areas. Therefore, marketers must be careful not to over-automate their processes and invest in activities that they don’t have the resources to manage.

New Marketing Practices To Embrace

  • Real-Time Marketing: Real-time marketing is a type of marketing automation that allows marketers to optimize their efforts in real-time. This can help to drive real-time insights and customer interactions.
  • Customer Data Management: Customer data management is an automated marketing practice that helps to streamline lead generation and customer engagement efforts. It can help to track customer information and interactions across channels to provide consistent and personalized experiences.
  • Predictive Marketing: Predictive marketing uses machine learning to analyze historical data to predict future events. It can help to identify customers who are at risk of abandoning their purchases and recommend relevant actions.
  • Customer Journey Mapping: Customer journey mapping is an automated marketing practice that helps to provide consistent experiences throughout the customer journey. It can help marketers to identify touchpoints and prioritize content to increase engagement and reduce drop-off rates.
  • Recommendation Engines: Recommendation engines are a type of automated marketing that recommends products and services to customers based on their needs and past purchases. They can help to increase average order values and reduce cart abandonment rates.

Automation Tools And Technologies

Human and AI shaking hands.
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems: CRM systems can be used to manage customer data and automate various customer engagement activities, including lead generation and customer retention efforts.
  • Marketing Automation Software: Marketing automation software can be used to create and manage automated marketing workflows and provide real-time insights.
  • Marketing Automation Platforms: Marketing automation platforms are more robust solutions that can be used to automate a wider range of marketing activities.
  • Artificial Intelligence: AI can be used to provide real-time insights and recommend personalized actions to customers. It can also be used to generate predictions based on historical data.
  • Voice Assistants: Voice assistants can be used to interact with customers and provide real-time recommendations and insights.

Automation Marketing Services

  • Marketing Strategy: A marketing strategy helps to define the goals and objectives of a marketing campaign. It can be used to help marketers to select the appropriate channels and activities to reach customers.
  • Customer Journey Mapping: Customer journey mapping can be used to help marketers to visualize their customers’ interactions with the brand. It can be used to identify touchpoints where automation can be applied.
  • Content Mapping: Content mapping can be used to help marketers to plan and prioritize content for certain channels. It can help to automate content generation efforts and ensure that content is engaging and relevant.
  • Lead Scoring: Lead scoring can automate the prioritization of leads and help marketers focus on the most relevant and valuable leads. It can help to increase lead engagement rates and reduce lead drop-off rates.
  • Campaign Automation: Campaign automation can be used to create automated marketing campaigns that are triggered by events and customer data. It can help to increase the frequency and consistency of marketing activities.

How To Build An Automated Marketing System

Marketers who are considering automating their marketing efforts should first consider the tools and technologies that can be used to implement automation. Once they’ve identified potential options, they should assess each solution based on its functionality and ROI. They should also consider the level of technical expertise required to implement each solution and how it can be integrated with their current software.

Next, marketers should prioritize their candidate activities and determine how each technology can help to automate them. They should also consider the resources that will be necessary to implement each solution.

Finally, marketers should create a roadmap for implementing each technology and determine what resources are necessary and how each solution can help to achieve business objectives.

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About the Author

James McMinn

Senior Digital Strategist

James is a savvy digital marketing specialist with a Masters of Science in Internet Marketing. For the past fourteen years, he has been specializing in SEO, PPC & Marketing Strategy. He has a super sharp analytical mind and a finely tuned creative eye for marketing initiatives that optimize brands.

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