Article

Leonie Mercedes
Leonie Mercedes 28 February 2019

Three Key Trends Driving Marketing Automation Adoption

Many B2B and B2C companies are investing in marketing automation platforms to satisfy their customers' increasing appetite for personalised customer experiences, while also nurturing meaningful relationships with them. But what other drivers are leading marketers to adopt marketing automation platforms?

Marketing automation software allows businesses to create and execute campaigns by sending the most relevant and valuable content to the right prospects, leads or customers at the right time.

#1 More empowered, knowledgeable customers

Never before has the online customer been so empowered when it comes to information about the products they buy. Whatever product or service they are in the market for, they effectively have the choice of every single online supplier in the world at their fingertips, and they are happy to shop around.

Customers have more information and more choice, leading to greater competition between brands. So how do you get an edge?

According to a study by Salesforce, more than three-quarters (76%) of “consumers expect companies to understand their needs and expectations”, and the ability to offer a personalised customer experience has long been the holy grail among B2B and B2C marketers. However, it is incredibly challenging to execute well.

The first step is understanding the customer, which requires a data-driven strategy. After collecting data about their customers through their interactions and behaviours, determining what is most important to them, and what their pain points are, businesses can use marketing automation to serve the most appropriate content to them at just the right time.

This approach can help establish the business as a thought leader, so that the customer is more inclined to return to them for expertise or advice. For long-time customers, it is a way of fostering loyalty.

#2 The importance of complying with data privacy regulations

In order to provide the personalised experiences now expected by customers, organisations need to hold, and have the ability to analyse, a lot of data. This might include behavioural or preference data, or even sensitive personal data.

However, it is imperative that any data an organisation collects about its customers is responsibly collected and handled, so that it complies with data privacy laws such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which can carry a €20m penalty (or 4% annual revenue, whichever is higher) for infringements.

Fortunately, many of the processes businesses need to put into place in order to comply with GDPR align with best customer experience practices. An organised data management system enables the delivery of personalised campaigns, while being transparent about the data you collect from your customers and what you will use it for also helps nurture trust.

A marketing automation platform can make it easier for businesses to comply with GDPR. Companies can automate the delivery of messages to the customer from their very first interaction to ask directly what kind of data they are happy to share, and let them know what it will be used for.

The platform can also make it simpler for the customer to manage their email preferences, so that businesses don’t run the risk of contacting them too often or with content that is not relevant to them.

#3 Customers’ preference for email communication

Email continues to prove itself as one of the best channels for of marketing communication, both in terms of customers’ preferences and in delivering ROI.

According to a 2017 study by the DMA [Direct Marketing Association], nearly three quarters (73%) of consumers rate email as one of their top two preferred marketing channels (out of eight), despite fears about the impact of GDPR. A study by Adobe from the same year found that 61% of consumers prefer to receive offers by email, which was a 24% increase on the previous year.

Email marketing is also good for the bottom line: another by the DMA has found that organisations see an average return of £38 for every £1 invested in email marketing.

Although email isn’t the only marketing function offered by marketing automation platforms, it does make building email campaigns far more efficient. Marketers can nurture leads by scheduling personalised emails to send at the most appropriate times, as well as setting up trigger emails that will be sent after the lead takes a specific action.

Using a marketing automation platform in this way delivers wins for the business in two ways – not only are sales and marketing teams saving time by automating the process of sending highly personalised emails at different times, they are likely to get a greater return on investment if the messaging they send is relevant to the customer.

For more information about how marketing automation can help the sales team to nurture and convert leads, download Act-On’s eBook 10 Ways Sales Benefits from Marketing Automation.

Please login or register to add a comment.

Contribute Now!

Loving our articles? Do you have an insightful post that you want to shout about? Well, you've come to the right place! We are always looking for fresh Doughnuts to be a part of our community.

Popular Articles

See all
The Impact of New Technology on Marketing

The Impact of New Technology on Marketing

Technology has impacted every part of our lives. From household chores to business disciplines and etiquette, there's a gadget or app for it. Marketing has changed dramatically over the years, but what is the...

Alex Lysak
Alex Lysak 22 September 2020
Read more
The Carrot of a Bigger Market is More Powerful Than the Stick of Legal Action in Driving Web Accessibility Investment, New Research Finds

The Carrot of a Bigger Market is More Powerful Than the Stick of Legal Action in Driving Web Accessibility Investment, New Research Finds

Getting web accessibility right is a massive commercial opportunity. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3bn people worldwide are living with some form of impairment. The benefits of making it easier for...

Michael Nutley
Michael Nutley 30 November 2023
Read more
It’s Time For Brands to Move From Personalised, to Personal

It’s Time For Brands to Move From Personalised, to Personal

At a time when almost every brand is tailoring content and offers to individual customers based on their demographic data, purchase history, and online behaviours, are these personalisation efforts still adding value?...

Shafqat Islam
Shafqat Islam 27 November 2023
Read more
The 3 Most Important Stages In Your Presentation

The 3 Most Important Stages In Your Presentation

If you want to deliver a presentation on a particular topic and you have to prepare yourself for it you should make sure that you go through several very important stages in order to craft a compelling, persuasive and...

Nicky Nikolaev
Nicky Nikolaev 16 February 2016
Read more
From Success to Setback: Lessons in MarTech Decision-Making

From Success to Setback: Lessons in MarTech Decision-Making

We often talk to clients about the consolidation of MarTech capabilities across vendors, to the point that it’s often not too difficult to pick up a new technology if you’re comfortable working with an alternative...

Andrew Addison
Andrew Addison 29 November 2023
Read more