B2B marketing automation is a hot-button topic among data-driven marketers. According to Social Media Today’s “State of Marketing Automation” report, 3 out of 4 marketers currently use some form of automation tool in their business.
Many modern marketers use automation to manage social media post scheduling, email marketing, and social media advertising. Automated chatbots, AI-based predictive analytics, and other conversational marketing aspects are becoming more common as technology develops.
Source: Social Media Today
In 2020, Omnisend found that marketers using three or more channels had a 287% higher purchase rate than those who used single-channel campaigns. Specifically, the use of SMS in omnichannel campaigns continues to rise. When a business’s omnichannel automation involves SMS, they see a 47.7% higher conversion rate. On average, SMS has an ROI of 2,755%.
Custom email automation also stands out, earning an average open rate of 50.89% and a CTR of 14.99%.
Keep in mind, however, that just because automated campaigns and technology are becoming more commonplace doesn’t mean they market to and engage prospects perfectly. The same Social Media Today report found that although 72% of business leaders believe automation is inevitable, they’re worried about potential implications.
Many fear that marketing automation will interfere with their customer relationships by removing the “human touch” from outreach and engagement. Others are afraid it could negatively impact their brand perception and lead to mistakes and missed opportunities.
Automation can undoubtedly be a powerful and effective marketing tool – if used correctly. Since automation is considered inevitable, B2B marketing leaders must understand why and how to use automation for maximum results.
Quick Takeaways
- Marketing automation offers B2B marketers many powerful benefits, such as better sales and marketing alignment, enhanced customer experiences, and higher quality lead generation.
- You can start automating your marketing efforts by following three straightforward steps: conduct audience research, map the buyer’s journey, and identify strategic placements.
- Live chat functionality, mobile marketing, and content targeting are three areas B2B marketers should focus their automation efforts on in 2021.
Why Do You Need Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation offers B2B marketers and businesses a plethora of powerful benefits.
1. Better Sales and Marketing Alignment
Using the same software to automate your sales and marketing efforts will help you align your goals and strategies. The process of earning marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and then nurturing them into sales qualified leads (SQLs) will be more seamless.
Source: SuperOffice
2. Increased Efficiency and Productivity
Automating manual and time-consuming tasks can save your team time and your business money. Using the right tools, you can remove tedious, repetitive tasks and allow your team to focus on more revenue-generating activities. Develop a more productive team by automating tasks like:
- Content creation, personalization, and management
- Scheduling and executing campaigns
- Cleaning up data
- Nurturing leads
- Communication between sales and marketing
3. Successful Data-Driven Strategies
Another big reason marketing automation can lead to such incredible improvement is because it ensures that your strategies are data-driven. Ad targeting and lead generation are two methods that require reliable data and quick action to be effective. Automation technology enables marketing teams to execute these strategies successfully.
4. Quality Lead Generation
Marketing automation software can help you identify and generate high-quality leads to nurture and convert MQLs to SQLs more easily. Set up lead scoring to automate the process of sending SQLs to your sales team at the right time.
5. Better Lead Conversions and Higher ROI
Studies have proven that marketing automation increases conversion rates. It can also help you better manage your leads by automatically tracking and retargeting them based on different behaviors.
6. Enhanced Customer Experiences
B2B marketing automation can give you a multichannel view of your customers and prospects. By integrating multiple channels – like email, mobile, and social media – you’ll create a more holistic view of your customers. This can help inform future strategies, empowering you to build more personalized experiences based on actual user behaviors.
Other expected benefits of marketing automation include:
- Measurable results
- Enhanced targeting and personalization
- Seamless campaign tracking and execution
- Increased efficiency and productivity
- Better customer relationship management
- Improved acquisition of business intelligence
- Improved user engagement and experience
- Higher ROI
- Improved targeting of prospects and current customers
- Reduction in human error
- Seamless multichannel experiences for customers
