“When we look at the usage of AI and cloud, I think it is especially going to accelerate also not just us, but how our clients are going to go on their digital transformations. And I believe this crisis is only going to accelerate that as we go over the next few months.”
Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM
What is arguably the most important secret to any company's success?
Profit, right?
And what can drive the best earnings for any company?
That’s marketing!
The journey of marketing till now has been genuinely fascinating. From billboards to inbound calls and radio commercials to personalized Facebook ads, marketing has evolved tremendously. Technology advancement has played a significant role in shaping today's top marketing practices.
Today, marketing activities around the globe are undergoing enormous disruptions caused by technological progress, and companies are forced to embrace new strategies to stay competitive. And of these new techniques, marketing automation platforms have gained the most reputation.
This article explains what a marketing automation platform is, its types, features, and how it can benefit businesses of all sizes. So without further ado, let’s dive right into it!
What is a Marketing Automation Platform?
Have you ever given a post-sales survey on any product you purchased to share your experience with a particular brand? These kinds of surveys are routine tasks of marketing automation.
Simply put, marketing automation streamlines various business operations with the help of software (often referred to as a marketing automation platform). Using the same example of a post-sales survey, the marketing automation platform sends surveys automatically to consumers to learn more about their experiences with the brand. Marketing teams can automate this work by setting up the required triggers and parameters. Such applications relieve your marketing team of some of their responsibilities, allowing them to focus on more important objectives.
Marketing automation refers to software intended to automate marketing actions. Many marketing departments have to automate repetitive emails, social media, and other website actions. The technology of marketing automation makes these tasks easier (the definition of marketing automation by Hubspot).
Types of Marketing Automation
Marketing automation can take care of both internal and external marketing tasks. Marketing teams choose repetitive and tedious tasks, and based on that; they incorporate the most helpful marketing stack into their business operations. The following are the most renowned types of marketing automation used globally:
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Customer relationship management automation tool
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Website forms automation software
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Social media tasks automation tools
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Emails automation platforms
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Blogs automation tools
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Landing pages automation software
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Marketing analytics automation tools
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Content automation software
Features of Marketing Automation
Companies count on marketing automation to streamline their multi-channel marketing workflows through automation without hiring a team. So what are those features of marketing automation that enable businesses to simplify their marketing process? Let’s have a look! The following are the top features of marketing automation to consider:
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Lead generating and nurturing
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Build web forms and landing pages
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Monitor the activities of your prospects
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Marketing content tracking
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Visitor tracking
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Improved profiling
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Native integration
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Smart list segmentation
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Software integration and A/B testing
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Dynamic content creation
Ensure to look for these features to choose the most suitable marketing automation tool for your business.
Marketing Automation for Small Businesses
Customer communication is one of the most vital tasks small businesses need to succeed. Marketers use various marketing automation tools for small businesses to optimize and automate different means of customer communication. It helps small businesses to analyze customer behavior, the sales cycles, the buying patterns, etc., to ultimately tweak their marketing campaigns to gain more and more profits. Many small business owners worldwide have confirmed that marketing automation helps them draw more gains through improved productivity.
Top Automation Marketing Software for Small Businesses
Choosing the best automation marketing software for small businesses can be an overwhelming job, considering millions of tools are available in the market. To narrow down your search, we bring you the top automation marketing software for small businesses:
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ActiveCampaign and MailChimp for email automation
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HubSpot and Marketo for multi-channel marketing automation
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Ahrefs and Google Analytics for marketing analysis automation
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ZOHO and SalesForce for CRM automation
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WordPress for content automation
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Engagebay for multi-function marketing automation
Conclusion
Marketing automation can do wonders for your business. It has the power to accelerate ROI growth, improve productivity, save time, boost efficiency and increase the value of your brand. The wide range of benefits it offers is enough to consider investing in it. It is your practical and trustworthy solution to take care of all the time-consuming tasks and focus on growing your business.
The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself.”
Peter Drucker, A Renowned Management Consultant, Educator, and Author.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does marketing automation help your business?
Marketing automation complements various internal and external areas of your business. The following are the significant benefits your business can get from marketing automation platforms:
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It helps you monitor data from your marketing campaigns
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It enables you to get rid of the silo mentality
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It improves your customer retention
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It helps you identify customer behavior in the best way
Can both marketing and sales teams use automation platforms?
In every company, sales and marketing teams are co-dependent, and their responsibilities go hand in hand. So yes, both sales and marketing teams can use marketing automation platforms.
Before you purchase, check if the tool is helpful for both teams. Also, see how many users can work on your device simultaneously.
Is budget a significant factor in choosing a marketing automation platform?
Yes, budgeting is essential before choosing the most suitable marketing automation platform for your company. Even if you should not go ahead and splurge on the purchase, you should also not limit yourself, because purchasing a tool simply because it is inexpensive may result in additional costs in the long run.