Marketing Automation Software Explained!

Automation exists to make our lives easier, reducing repetitive and time-consuming tasks so that we humans can be more creative, productive and purposeful. Companies like GE, Toyota and Amazon use automated robots in their warehouses and production facilities. No, really!

It makes sense that automation is associated with production and logistics tasks — after all, it’s the conveyor belt in I Love Lucy’s “The Chocolate Factory,” the elves humming along in Santa’s workshop and the disembodied mechanical arms constructing cars at Toyota and Ford factories.


Having said that, modern automation isn’t just for building cars and boxing chocolates. Thanks to advances in computer technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), we now have Marketing Automation (MA) Software — a suite of tools that perform the repetitive, time-consuming tasks involved in planning, launching, optimizing and monitoring marketing initiatives.
Too much information at once? Let us break this down for you!

What Is Marketing Automation Software?

Marketing Automation Software is very good at managing the repetitive tasks associated with marketing — maintaining contacts, updating databases, tracking results and generating reports.

There are tools that focus on just one aspect of digital marketing, like Mailchimp for email marketing and platforms like HubSpot that automate many different aspects of the digital marketing and sales process. Before we delve into the different types of Marketing Automation Software, let’s harken back to how it all started.

History Of Marketing Automation Software

Marketing automation evolved from the need to manage customers and prospect contacts. We once maintained these lists on paper — in Rolodexes or with collections of business cards. Don’t worry if you don’t remember it; here’s an image.
 
In the 1980s, these Rolodexes went digital. They were the first iteration of database marketing, collecting and analyzing customer information. Here’s a brief timeline of how we got to the MA tools we use today:
 

• 1986

  The first contact management software was ACT! which stored and organized customer contact information. It was like a digital Rolodex, storing contacts and making them easily accessible. Competitors quickly emerged and by the end of the decade, Content Management Software was ubiquitous.

• 1990s

  Early Content Management Systems evolved into more robust sales force automation (SFA) tools. SFA tools go beyond simply storing contact information. They also help sales representatives schedule and track meetings, create documents and send emails to their list. The first in this class was Siebel Systems, a company founded by former Oracle employee Tom Siebel in 1993.

• Early 2000s

  Marketing Automation company Eloqua, launched in 1999, introduced the first true marketing automation platform in 2003. Email marketing software, the earliest example of marketing automation, became popular in the early years with companies like Mailchimp and Constant Contact (the latter was founded in 1995). In addition to Eloqua, Salesforce and HubSpot were launched, combining a variety of marketing and sales tasks into one platform (web analytics, contact management, email marketing, etc.)

• 2006 And Beyond

  Pardot, Marketo and Act-on all emerged as robust marketing automation platforms, joining more established solutions like Salesforce and HubSpot. Companies in this space began merging and expanding platform capabilities.

We now have over 8000 players in the marketing technology universe with an automated solution for pretty much every digital marketing and sales requirement you can think of.


Enough with the past, let’s talk a little about how these tools function at present.

How Does Marketing Automation Software Work?

Marketing Automation Software enables businesses to automate tasks and workflows for every aspect of digital marketing and sales, from email management to social media marketing to event scheduling.

Like the tactical robot, TARS, in Interstellar — marketing automation at its most functional is powered by Artificial Intelligence, is user-friendly and reacts to situations based on the primary objective it’s been programmed with — namely, to assist humans.

Like TARS, a good marketing automation tool will communicate data to us in ways that we understand. Its functionality lies not only in how it interprets information but also in how easy it is to retrieve the information for immediate use.
 
To do all of this, MA Software has a lot of features, though not every tool includes every feature. These include:
 

• Analytics and reporting

• Campaign segmentation and personalization

• Social media management

• Content management/publishing

• Email marketing

• Sales enablement/lead management

• Campaign creation, deployment, testing and analysis

• Website traffic analysis

Depending on the set of features that these tools provide, we can also categorize these MA tools. Let’s take a look at the common categories.

Types Of Marketing Automation Software

There’s a marketing automation tool for every digital marketing need but marketing automation (e.g., all-in-one tools that serve every need) is the current hot trend. Here are the types of MA tools currently available.
 

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for managing, tracking and communicating with prospects and customers.

• Email marketing software to create, deploy, track, optimize and analyze email campaigns.

• Marketing & sales workflow automation which includes all features from content/creative management to sale enablement to campaign deployment.

• Social media marketing software which focuses on creating/monitoring social posts, engaging with customers on social channels, measuring social clout and managing campaigns.

• Marketing analytics software like Google Analytics tracks campaign and website performance, enables A/B testing and supports dashboard reporting tools to help you visualize your marketing results.

While you may not need all of these in your toolset, you can’t possibly do without at least one of these tools at your disposal. Depending on your business needs (or the chocolate factory you work in!) you would end up automating some aspect of marketing – and for good reason.

Why Do We Need Marketing Automation Software?

Businesses need Marketing Automation Software to remain efficient and relevant in today’s rapidly evolving digital environment. MA saves time — what once took days, now takes hours. We can turn to the magic computer and say, “Get it done!”

The benefits are many but here’s what’s key:
 

• MA Software saves time and increases productivity

• Optimized and automated campaigns produce higher conversion rates and contribute to more effective and efficient use of your marketing dollars

• MA enables better workflow and task management (let the computers do the boring stuff!)

• It’s easier to establish and maintain customer relationships with automated tools.

• No more pivot tables!

Still not convinced? Don’t worry we got more chocolaty...umm...convincing arguments for you.

Importance Of Marketing Automation Software

Marketing automation tools can significantly grow your ROI by improving your marketing campaign performance. Technology enables you to do more with less, automating the tasks that once bogged down whole teams of people and freeing them up to enable quick, informed decisions.

American tool manufacturer Black & Decker used a marketing automation platform to improve customer experience and increase sales. They successfully reduced the sales cycle by 30% within the first year of implementing their MA platform and an additional 25% by the second year.

Marketing automation tools also help companies centralize their data, enabling better personalization and scalability as customer needs and company goals change – while being timely and quick in every action and response. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Marketing Automation Software is crucial in letting you keep up with the competition – without that you would probably be too late to the party.
That’s everything about the now of Marketing Automation Software but what’s next?

Future Of Marketing Automation Software

Currently, about half of the companies are already using marketing automation tools and this number will continue to grow. Driven by the need for personalized content, Machine Learning/AI and mobile strategies, marketing automation tools will take center stage in the rapidly evolving realm of digital transformation.

As the need for these tools grows, consumers will look for more personalized, relevant content and better digital experiences and the power of automation would make it possible to deliver on these expectations.

Summing it up

More than ever, the way we connect with each other and engage with media is digital, with nearly half of the world’s population — 3.5 billion people — online. Automation is not optional. It is, in fact, critical so that businesses can keep up with the rapid pace of change in every aspect of the digital marketing and sales process — from email to content creation and distribution to customer experience.
Marketing Automation Software is what makes it possible to quickly adapt and scale your marketing initiatives so that you can stay competitive, relevant and effective. The robots are coming and it’s going to be awesome!