According to Adobe, marketing automation (MA) “enables companies to streamline, automate and measure marketing tasks and workflows so they can increase operational efficiency and grow revenue faster.” It does so by reducing the workloads for marketing in the expanding array of channels by automating repetitive tasks in the following areas:
- Market segmentation
- Personalizing emails
- Lead generation
- Lead nurturing and scoring
- Relationship marketing/social media
- Cross-selling and upselling
- Account-based marketing
- Website functions
The global market for marketing automation software solutions is expected to reach $8.42 billion by 2027, according to Grand View Research, which reports that 50% of companies are currently using this technology. Catalysts for this expected growth include: the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to engage with customers; cost-effective cloud deployment, which makes the technology accessible to smaller entrepreneurial organizations; and, finally, mergers and acquisitions in the sector that drive economies of scale and product affordability.
MA Training Is Essential for a Future in Marketing
For professional marketers, such heavy investment in revolutionary MA technologies sends a clear signal: get educated or get left behind. Manually executing tasks like email deployment and social posting is antiquated. Today’s marketing organizations seek professionals trained in specific criteria, tasks and processes in MA software.
This employment market need has accelerated the development of specialized marketing Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs, including the St. Thomas University’s Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing online program. By fine tuning marketing automation technologies, graduates improve their productivity and employability, ultimately impacting their professional success.
Marketing Automation in Motion
Here are five common marketing automation tools deployed in organizations today:
- Constant Contact for email deployment: This software has evolved quickly over the past few years, and it enables marketers to welcome new contacts with automated emails while generating new leads, create nurture “drip” campaigns to target contacts based on prior interactions and engage audiences through complementary channels such as Facebook fan promotion, coupons and event management.
- Salesforce Pardot for B2B customer relationship management: This platform enables marketing and sales professionals to collaborate while sourcing and nurturing leads and closing deals. The software combines various functions including email marketing with A/B testing, delivering advanced dynamic content through online channels, Google AdWords, lead management and ROI reporting. It also uses AI to ensure that companies are reaching the right leads at the right times. The software automates these tasks to shorten sales cycles dramatically.
- HubSpot for attracting visitors and creating content: HubSpot provides individuals or companies with a number of functionalities and tools for websites, social media platforms, email strategy and more so marketing and sales teams can manage all their activities in one place. Perfect for content creation, workflow automation, lead capture and sales pipeline mapping, HubSpot is a convenient marketing automation tool that help you through every step of the process.
- Oracle Eloqua for personalization across channels: The world’s best brands have raised customer expectations, and personalization has quickly become the new standard. This software enables marketers to deliver more personalized content and messages through all channels, reflecting the more unique needs and desires of individual consumers, not just segments. The software provides infinite marketing segmentation possibilities, tracking reports and insights into customer journeys.
- Marketo for correlating investment to sales revenue: One of the most important functions of a company is efficient communication between marketing and sales professionals. This software helps marketing practitioners build robust campaigns, provides sales reps with insight into digital behavior and facilitates cooperation between marketing executives and sales pipelines to inform decision making.
By mastering marketing automation technologies and learning to leverage tools like these, professionals can focus on making the most of their natural talents, whether creative, strategic or visionary!
Learn more about St. Thomas University’s online Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing program.
Sources:
Adobe: Why Automation Is Vital to any Marketing Strategy
CMSWire: What Is Marketing Automation and How Does It Help Marketers?
GrandViewResearch: Marketing Automation Size Worth $8.42 Billion by 2027
