Over 75% of B2B companies intend to adopt marketing automation in 2021. Also, over 80% of top-performing businesses have adopted marketing automation software in the past year. These trends show that it is becoming a must-have for companies of different sizes.

What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation refers to the use of systems or software to automate marketing activities. Since most marketing activities are repetitive, automation systems help make these tasks easier and faster.

Marketing automation software runs on pre-defined workflows. It allows you to run hands-free marketing campaigns. They also facilitate customer relationships through data collection that drives customer engagement.

Benefits of using marketing automation

Increased efficiency

The number one reason businesses use marketing automation is to boost their efficiency. The software reduces time spent on manual, repetitive tasks. That way, you can focus on doing more productive income-generating activities. 

Over 20% of marketers already report an increase in productivity from using marketing automation. Furthermore, since the tasks are automated, it maintains consistency and accuracy when handling communications.

Generates more leads

Using marketing automation can help your business to generate more qualified leads in a shorter time. The systems conduct marketing tasks faster. They can also sift through and identify sales-qualified leads much quicker based on multiple criteria that you set.

Marketing automation software collects and tracks consumer information better than manual methods. These features make it easy to engage and nurture leads. With automation software, you can simultaneously target your buyer persona on various channels, which may not be possible manually.

Higher conversions

Marketing automation software can help increase your conversions. They enable tracking and managing leads which you can then exploit to drive more sales. 

For example, your automation software may identify qualified leads for retargeting via email. You then act accordingly and provide more content that would encourage them to buy.

Additionally, marketing automation may more accurately monitor the behavior of potential leads. Your team can then use this information to entice potential customers further and therefore increase conversions.

Improved personalization

80% of customers state that they are more likely to buy from brands that offer them a more personalized experience. Using marketing automation helps with that.

Automation software often has great segmentation and analytics capabilities. These help to identify and predict customer behavioral patterns and preferences. As a result, you can provide more personalized messages and offers. 

When your marketing communications can appeal to customers, they are more likely to trust you and buy from you.

Measurement 

Comprehensive marketing automation software has data collection and analytics capabilities which is essential to your campaigns. With this data, they can measure performance and give accurate reports. 

Such reports are critical in measuring the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. They show you what is working and what isn’t. You can then use the information to predict future trends and thus adjust your marketing specifics accordingly.

Creates synergy between marketing and sales

Using marketing automation can help your company to align marketing and sales goals to generate more revenue.

Automation facilitates lead generation and nurturing. Your business can target potential customers and guide qualified leads down the marketing funnel. 

Software like CRM systems also helps collect and analyze customer data, allowing marketing teams to derive effective ways of reaching customers. Meanwhile, it also provides sales teams with the information they need to potentially close sales.

Marketing software, therefore, make it easier to move potential customers from marketing qualified to sales qualified leads. With the two departments working in sync, higher conversions are inevitable. 

7 Signs your business should use marketing automation

1. You need to reduce labor costs

A major cost driver for many businesses is high labor costs. Since marketing involves multiple activities, you may find that you are spending a bit too much on your marketing labor. If this is the case, you must use marketing automation.

With marketing automation, you can automate all the repetitive tasks like emails, social media posting, etc. This would help your business to use one central solution for your marketing needs. You simply set up workflows and let them run with periodic monitoring.

Then, your employees can focus on other aspects of your business that are more human-intensive.

Furthermore, marketing automation software would cost you significantly less money. Even a paid solution would be cheaper in the long run than having several full-time people doing similar tasks.

2. You are losing potential leads

You must fully nurture your leads to increase conversions and revenue. Yet, this can be hard to do without marketing automation. Nurtured leads are way more likely to complete purchases. So, if you don't do so, your competitors likely will.

You need to provide content, deals, among others, to multiple leads. When you do it manually, you might miss out on several opportunities or potential clients. If you discover that you have high traffic and not many leads converting, you are losing many potential customers. As such, you might need to adopt marketing automation.

Automation software helps send the necessary content needed and engage potential leads on several platforms like social media.

3. Your marketing is inconsistent

Consistency is essential to the success of your marketing activity and the growth of your brand. However, it can be hard to achieve due to the many activities involved. 

Your team needs to research, develop campaigns, create content, do segmentation, analysis, etc. So, it is more than likely that some key issues will seep through the cracks and thus affect your business.

In such a case, you certainly need marketing automation. Marketing automation software takes many of these tasks off your team and ensures smoother and consistent marketing activity. 

For example, if you send out emails every week, your automation system can do just that without much additional human input.

4. You are using Inbound marketing

When you use inbound marketing as part of your strategy, you will need to use marketing automation. Contrary to popular belief, not every email subscription, eBook download, etc., is a lead. Some may even be competitors. But, you may not tell the difference by sifting through all the data yourself.

Marketing automation would therefore help in separating your leads. It would help you match potential lead profiles against pre-determined criteria and consumer profiles. That way, you can determine who to focus on to maximize conversion rates.

Additionally, an inbound marketing strategy would need a system to segment customers to create the best content for every funnel level.

5. Your competitors are using it

If your main competitors have adopted marketing automation, then you probably should too. Marketing automation software is proven to be an efficient way of reaching and connecting with customers. So, your competition might attract more of your potential customers and leave you behind.

You should therefore conduct research to find out how they are engaging their leads. With marketing automation, they are probably attracting and nurturing more leads. So, you will only compete favorably when you adopt it too. 

6. Your campaigns are unprofitable

Are your marketing campaigns not yielding any returns? Then you probably need to use marketing automation. With this software, you can focus less on running the campaign's little details. Instead, you get to concentrate more on the rate of return.

When you set up workflows, the software does all the hard work based on the system, e.g., email marketing. Your challenge remains to analyze the data it collects and the campaign performance.

This then allows you to focus more time on creating effective strategies to improve your business. 

7. You have low customer retention

Most marketing automation software helps with attracting customers and maintaining relationships with existing ones. So, if your retention rate is low, it is time to use marketing automation.

The automation software can help you provide a great customer experience by keeping them informed and sending offers. Since automation also facilitates personalization, it is a great way to maintain customer trust and encourage repeat purchases.

Final thoughts

Using marketing automation has become a necessity for any business in this digital age. It is a critical tool for engaging leads and nurturing them into paying customers. It is also essential for increasing the efficiency and productivity of marketing campaigns. 

Therefore, you must analyze your current business situation soon enough and determine whether you need to adopt it. Otherwise, you risk falling behind the competition.

The more comprehensive the automation system you choose is, the better. So, try out marketing automation solutions like SharpSpring. It offers an all-in-one solution, perfect for any business size.