7 Benefits of Marketing Automation, According to Marketing Executives

Marketing automation is growing in popularity.  Industry executives are noticing the benefits of marketing automation and it isn’t difficult to see why. With the demand for relevant content rising, there has never been a better time for marketing departments to invest in marketing automation software.

In a recent survey conducted by EmailMonday and Liana Technologies, marketing executives identified seven benefits of using marketing automation. Each benefit is centered around two themes. First, the customer’s journey. Second, internal department’s efficiency. Understanding marketing automation’s capabilities and benefits – for your customer and your company – reveals why marketing automation is at the pinnacle of marketing strategies today.   

Seven marketing automation benefits, identified by marketing executives

 

Creating a better user experience and improving communication relevancy

Improving the customer experience is a top priority.  How telling is that? Marketing automation plays a critical role in helping marketers understand their customer’s journey.  A key purpose of this technology is through sending hyper-relevant communications to consumers with messaging specific to their own behavior.  

Each piece of marketing material is optimized in real-time, meaning it is no longer necessary to wait until the end of a campaign to measure results.  (Can I get an “Amen”?!)

 Improve Conversion Rates and Other KPIs

Effective marketing communication is centered around a conversion goal.  But key metrics are not always focused on increasing revenue — at least not in the beginning. Some of those metrics may include increases in:

  • Form submissions
  • Event attendance
  • Social media followers
  • Emails gathered
  • Contest entries 
  • Closed sales
  • Website traffic
  • Demos scheduled 
  • Callbacks requested
  • And more

The analytical capabilities marketing automation software possess allows for conversion metrics to constantly be optimized. Focusing on conversion metrics, marketing and sales teams determine which assets are performing and, in turn, which assets need attention. 

Improving Overall Quality of Leads 

Within marketing automation software lies a powerful tool — the lead scoring model. Gathering thousands of leads is not enough. What’s worse, is hoping they convert on the first contact.  Developing a lead scoring model tailored to your audience’s customer journey is essential.  

Lead scores allow two things to happen. First, it gives marketers insight into the lead’s behavior.  Secondly, it moves the customer down the marketing funnel which turns leads into qualifying customers or contacts.
Lead scores change when any of the following actions are taken by contacts:

  • Opens an email
  • Clicks on a link in an email
  • Fills out a lead form
  • Visits a product page
  • Books a demonstration
  • Downloads a piece of gated content
  • Books a reservation
  • Talks to a sales representative
  • Returns to the website
  • Views a piece of media
  • Becomes a follower on social media
  • And more

Improving the quality of leads not only speeds up the sales process, but it also leads to a great customer experience. For internal departments, the lead score is a fantastic indicator of where your lead is in the customer journey, helping you to make more informed decisions in how you communicate to them. 

Generate More Leads

There is a common misconception surrounding marketing automation. It is not just an email marketing platform; it is a powerful, holistic digital marketing tool.  

You can generate more qualified leads by using other functions of marketing automation technology, including: 

  • Custom landing page design
  • Custom lead form design
  • Dynamic content 
  • Website content
  • Social media integration 
  • Email marketing campaigns
  • Call tracking integrations
  • Display ads
  • Chatbot integrations 
  • Exit intent pop up banners
  • And more

Each of these lead generation tactics are developed inside a marketing automation platform.  And because marketing automation is centered around generating and nurturing leads, as leads increase, nurturing campaigns will automatically deploy, repeating the process from beginning to end for every new lead entering the database.  

Reduce Overall Marketing Costs

Is it any wonder this benefit made our list? Every marketing department looks for ways to reduce costs. Marketing automation helps alleviate the marketing department’s limited resources by allowing you to create your campaign strategy and implement it once. Bye-bye “blast” communications — hello automated, customized messaging.  

Once an automated flow is launched, there is no need to recreate it from scratch.  Rather, you can make small tweaks to optimize your campaign and ensure it is benefiting both you and your customer. 

Shorter Sales Cycles

This benefit is one that does not make most lists.  According to a survey conducted by  MarketingCharts, the average sales cycle for B2B companies is four months — that is a lot of time and resources spent just to warm up a lead.  The reason for this is that the typical customer flows in and out of the cycle without proper lead nurturing.

Sales Cycle

According to a major marketing automation platform, 79% of leads never turn into a sale due to the lack of lead nurturing.  With marketing automation, nurturing leads within your sales cycle is taken care of automatically. Marketing automation is designed for nurturing people down the sales funnel faster. This is how:

  • By creating a hyper-relevant content experience.
  • Using a data-driven lead scoring model informing sales agents of progressing leads.  
  • Sales representatives focus on internal pipeline reports for all contacts. 

Improve Sales and Marketing Alignment 

The communication between sales and marketing teams is critical since one cannot exist without the other.  That is why marketing automation helps align goals and measuring metrics running parallel with one another’s leads.  

To run a cohesive sales and marketing team, constant feedback is critical. Sales agents are in direct communication with contacts. They hear the questions and know the pain points that customers experience. This information, if communicated correctly, is a driving force in strategy for marketing teams.  

Marketers know what content is resonating with consumers.  Above all, marketers know what content is converting. They also help to answer the lead’s questions before talking to a sales representative.  Aligning these two departments is paramount in acquiring and converting contacts into customers. Marketing automation can help streamline that process.

Streamlined Efforts for Improved Customer Connection

The benefits of marketing automation listed in this article centers around two things: the customer’s journey, and an internal department’s efficiency.  

You may have noticed that increasing ROI did not fall into the top seven benefits. That is because, while we all want to see a return on our investment, marketing executives recognize that connecting with customers through marketing automation is an essential part of that process.

Marketing automation software allows companies a chance to connect on a deeper level with their audience. Consequently, it streamlines the effort of marketing and sales teams.