What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation refers to all the techniques and tools that automate marketing actions in order to generate more qualified leads for sales people and increase a company's sales, while increasing the efficiency and productivity of the marketing department. To answer the question "what is marketing automation?" find in this article its definition, its advantages, an action strategy, techniques, examples of use, as well as a guide to choose your automation marketing solution.

What does marketing automation mean?

In general, automated marketing encompasses all the means, methods and solutions to automate digital marketing actions, in a commercial context. Automation marketing software brings together a range of powerful marketing tools within the same platform such as:

• emailing,
• the management of social networks,
• visitor tracking,
• landing page management,
• the implementation of automatic processes based on the customer profile,
• the implementation of lead nurturing processes,
• the implementation of lead scoring processes,
• management and publication of reporting,
• The possible synchronization with a CRM tool.

Three essential points define marketing automation both as a discipline and as software: Automating repetitive tasks such as a series of welcome emails to new newsletter subscribers is done using software. At the same time, we can observe both an approach to automating a marketing campaign thought out by an expert to save time, but also the use of automation marketing software as an essential tool to implement this same marketing action. The automation process aims to qualify prospects and generate more leads while saving time. It requires both the intelligence and know-how of a web marketing expert, as well as a technical solution that allows you to set up and manage all processes. In BtoB as in BtoC, the final objective is to (better) sell. The sales tunnel is designed upstream through close collaboration between the marketing and sales departments: each customer profile corresponds to a specific scenario that leads to the purchase act. The tool greatly facilitates the different tasks from marketing automation to each scenario. To better understand marketing automation, we can say: discipline is the head; the software, the legs.

Why automate marketing?

Digital marketing has revolutionized communication between prospects and sales people. Access to information and legitimate consumer demands have disrupted customer relationship codes: they want to know everything, immediately, get information about websites, social networks, and take their time to think. The prospect needs all the elements that will help him/her to mature his/her reflection before proceeding to the act of buying. Using automation marketing means; equipping you with tools and solutions that allow you to provide it with all the necessary elements to bring it closer to your business proposal by optimizing your time.

The objectives of a solution

The objective of automation marketing is to meet the expectations of prospects and potential leads by facilitating the company's work:

• you personalize the customer relationship,
• you promote their commitment,
• you free up time thanks to the automation of actions,
• your marketing teams can focus on high value-added tasks,
• you measure and optimize the ROI of your actions,
• You increase your commercial efficiency.

The benefits of automated marketing

You get more quality leads

An automation marketing platform is designed to provide qualified leads in quantity to the sales teams of your organization.

You reduce your sales cycle

Marketing automation techniques such as content, lead nurturing and scoring (see below) reduce the purchasing cycle, thanks to a maturation process adapted to your customer profile.

You generate more sales

The undeniable advantage of automated marketing is its ability to qualify as a buyer: the solution allows you to send your commercial proposal to the right person at the right time.

You save time and a lot of money

Compare what your marketing and sales teams do by hand with what software can do automatically. Consider the more strategic actions that your teams can invest in while the software is working for them.