The blindness that shrouded marketing operations has disappeared in most agencies over the last decade and a half. Some of the earliest marketing automation (MA) adopters were able to show breakthrough results, especially with social media and email marketing for B2B companies. They may not have been able to sustain such results for years at a stretch, but improved marketing across the board began justifying additional marketing investments, mainly in IT. Ironically, cost-effective marketing is possible only with automation tools and here’s why.
As Chris Chodnicki explains in another article, by consistently producing twice as many leads as any email marketing software, MA has proved its usefulness across many industries. It is important that customers are reached where they are. Personalization has become easy to implement, because MA tools prioritize real-time data and analytics to drive customized messages. Manual ways of performing multi-channel marketing do not allow consistent personalization at the individual level. Even with data and analytics, the lack of automation in multichannel marketing reduces the reach factor by a great margin.
Marketing automation has thrived because of cloud data. While there used to be separate tools for CRM, lead management and email marketing, MA integrates them all and performs marketing in the most informed manner possible. It is needless to say that highly detailed segmentation is the need of the hour. In order to reach the right people, you need to be sure which people have the needs you can meet. But that is not all that MA can do. Analytics engines allow MA tools to develop intelligence based on data about people, and personalize your messages to be delivered when they might need them.
With internet of things looming, automation will soon become elementary to marketing services. With cross-device and cross-channel personalization, it will be easy to ensure that people develop a sense of trust for your brand.
