What Marketing Automation Can Do For You

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Automation touches every industry, from manufacturing to food service to financial trading. Nearly any task that follows specific if/then rules with limited variations can be automated with today’s technology.

Even marketing.

No, we won’t be automating the creative aspects of our jobs anytime soon — no one has yet created an algorithm that can receive subjective information about your company’s perception in the market and use it to create a new brand identity, but many of the repetitive tasks of marketing can be turned over to the digital realm to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

What is marketing automation?

The umbrella of marketing automation covers a wide range of tools to streamline tasks such as managing contact lists, posting to social media, sending email blasts, and collecting data on website interactions.

Many of the tools may address only small part of the marketing workflow, while other integrate several tasks into a single software offering.

NG Data’s list of 50 different marketing automation tools provides a look at all of the different tasks automation can address, including:

Email marketing and campaign management
Lead generation
Measuring and optimizing ROI
Search marketing
Landing pages and forms
Website visitor tracking
Web and mobile personalization
Lead scoring, grading, and nurturing
A/B testing
Content and digital asset management
Automated workflows built around goals
Website publishing tools
Marketing analytics
Social media marketing
SEO competitive analysis
Budgets and reporting
Tracking lead activity
Online surveys
Post-purchase campaigns
Customer referral rewards
Facilitating brand advocacy
Managing affiliate programs
Customer loyalty programs and incentive rewards
Email marketing automation
List management
Social networking and online communities
Buyer persona creation

Phew. Did you even realize there were so many jobs you do every day? Marketing automation tools are now used by nearly 70 percent of businesses in some way. (Source)

So you probably already know that automation tools can make some of those tasks simpler. But what are you really hoping to get from your automation? Only improved work efficiency?

When the right tools are used in the right ways, the benefits can go beyond efficiency to impact actual marketing results, including lead quantity and quality.

Marketing automation can help you generate more leads.

While specific improvements may vary, some research shows that marketers using more complete automation software generate twice as many leads as those using blast email software. And B2B marketers say the top benefit of marketing automation is the ability to generate more and better leads.

How does automation increase lead generation?

By streamlining the efforts needed to implement inbound marketing strategies.

Developing and implementing a complete inbound marketing strategy requires managing a plethora of moving parts, from content creation and blogging, to social media, landing pages, lead nurturing, lead qualification, data collection and sales enablement. With so much to keep track of, using a full-service marketing automation solution such as HubSpot can make it possible for marketers to manage their entire strategy in one solution, ensuring that all of the pieces fall into place to attract website visitors and convert them into leads.

Marketing automation can improve lead quality and sales opportunity.

One key component of many marketing automation solutions, including HubSpot, is automated lead nurturing. With lead nurturing, a prospect’s interaction with your website kicks off a series of emails designed to move them closer to a sale.

According to statistics compiled by HubSpot, 67 percent of B2B marketers say they see at least a 10 percent increase in sales opportunities through lead nurturing, with 15 percent of respondents saying their opportunities increase by 30 percent or more.

How does lead nurturing improve lead quality?

Two ways:

Warming up cold leads before sending them on to sales along with information collecting along the way.
Weeding out leads that aren’t a good fit.

First, an automated lead nurturing program provides instant, relevant communication with new leads who convert on your website. There is no need to wait for a person to start the interaction, when preset workflows can begin an interaction that is relevant to the lead’s initial action on your site.

As leads move through the workflow, or take other actions on your site, the system also collects information about them through landing page forms and by tracking what pages they visit. When the lead finally takes an action that is been flagged as a trigger for transitioning to sales—such as requesting a quote or consultation or downloading specific pricing information—that lead intelligence is then passed along to the sales representative, providing them with data they need to make a great first impression with personal content.

Secondly, a lead nurturing program can save your sales department time chasing after dead-ends. If a lead never takes an action indicating they are serious about pursuing a solution you offer (perhaps because they are students doing research, or their company isn’t the right size for your products or service), you avoid spending valuable sales resources on poor fits. These leads may weed themselves out of the system, also, through unsubscribing to workflows if they are no longer interested in receiving communication from you.

Notice that all of those actions—warming up and qualifying leads for sales—happen behind the scenes and without direct contact from limited staff. Once established, automated systems allow your entire staff to work more efficiently and effectively, and to produce more qualified leads for more sales opportunities.

Want to see the real-world impact of inbound marketing and marketing automation on a B2B business in the healthcare industry? Check out the results realized by Primaris in their first year of inbound marketing with HubSpot and JONES in this case study and testimonial. We’d love to help you see the same benefits also.