NextGen Blog | Tech Insights

What is Marketing Automation and Why is it Important?

Marketing automation, just as the name implies, takes the heavy lifting out of nearly every task in a marketer’s playbook. The perks of automation are crystal clear—it amps up marketing efficiency, fine-tunes targeting, and ultimately supercharges sales. It’s no wonder this field has skyrocketed since its modest origins in the late ’80s when it was primarily used for email marketing.

Fast forward to today, and marketing automation has evolved into a multi-billion-dollar industry, with a multitude of software providers vying to make marketers’ lives not only easier but significantly more productive. Enter the marketing automation platform, or MAP for short – a versatile software that handles those repetitive tasks such as:

  • Sending email campaigns
  • Scheduling social media posts
  • Seamlessly managing leads
  • Dividing customers into segments
  • Crafting and delivering personalized messages, and more.

What problems does marketing automation solve?

Marketing automation offers a promising solution to tackle many of the challenges that marketers often face. The key lies in understanding your team’s unique pain points and applying the right blend of tools and expertise to address them effectively. Making the right choices in terms of tools and their implementation can unlock a plethora of benefits.

For instance, marketing automation equips your team with the ability to enhance the customer experience by delivering tailored messages and content precisely when they are most relevant. It empowers you to elevate brand awareness by automating the management of social media and email campaigns. Ultimately, an automation platform can elevate your sales figures and bolster your return on investment by assisting your sales team in nurturing and converting leads into satisfied customers with greater efficiency.

Here’s a checklist of issues to keep an eye out for within your team. If any of these resonate with your current situation, it might be high time to consider adopting a marketing automation platform:

  1. Repetitive Tasks: An automation platform is a reliable ally in automating recurring chores like sending email campaigns, managing social media posts, and overseeing lead management. By taking on these tasks, it liberates marketers to channel their energy into more strategic endeavors.
  2. Manual Workflows: Embracing marketing automation allows for the automation of manual workflows, such as lead nurturing and customer onboarding. This streamlines your marketing operations, enhancing overall efficiency.
  3. Lack of Personalization: Personalization is the name of the game. Marketing automation assists businesses in crafting personalized marketing messages by segmenting their audience and delivering content that resonates. This contributes to higher levels of engagement and conversion.
  4. Results-tracking Challenges: Keep tabs on campaign performance in real-time with an automation platform. This real-time feedback equips marketers with valuable insights into what’s clicking and what needs refining, allowing for prompt adjustments.
  5. Inconsistent Messaging: Consistency is key in building brand awareness and trust. Marketing automation can help ensure your messaging remains consistent across all channels, further strengthening your brand’s identity.
  6. Resource Drain: Wasting time and resources on manual tasks is costly. A MAP solution steps in to automate these tasks, leading to significant cost savings over time.
  7. Missed Opportunities: Marketing automation acts as a vigilant ally, helping businesses identify and seize marketing opportunities with finesse. For instance, it can trigger automated messages when leads visit a specific webpage or abandon their shopping carts, turning missed opportunities into success stories.

Incorporating these solutions into your marketing strategy not only alleviates current challenges but also propels your marketing efforts to a new level of success.

How does MA work?

Software plays a pivotal role in streamlining marketing efforts, granting marketers the freedom to dive into more strategic tasks, like refining marketing strategies and crafting captivating content.

Here’s a quick rundown of how marketing automation gets the job done:

  • Data Collection: MA platforms gather data from various sources, including website visits, email interactions, and social media engagements.
  • Segmentation: This data is harnessed to segment customers into different groups, categorizing them based on their interests and behaviors.
  • Workflow Creation: Marketers are the architects of workflows, essentially a series of automated steps triggered by specific events or criteria. For instance, a workflow can be designed to warmly welcome new subscribers or nurture leads with a sequence of targeted emails over time.
  • Campaign Execution: Marketing automation software brings these campaigns to life in accordance with the predefined workflows.
  • Analysis and Reporting: It doesn’t stop there. MA software keeps tabs on campaign performance and offers a range of reports, providing valuable insights to marketers.

This powerful combination of automation and data-driven decision-making is what empowers modern marketing efforts.

Getting started

Navigating the sea of information on marketing automation and making that all-important platform decision can feel like a daunting mission. But fear not – if you’re considering a digital makeover for your marketing or need expert guidance on platform selection and strategy execution, you’ve got a friend in Nextgen.

Our crew, along with our seasoned partners, boasts decades of experience in the realms of marketing strategy and technology. Don’t hesitate to reach out; we’re more than happy to lend a hand on your journey to automation success.