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What is Marketing Automation?

It’s a common story that a company has plenty of leads, and yet somehow doesn’t end up with plenty of sales. You know they’re dropping off somewhere, but you don’t know where, so you can’t fix the problem. Marketing automation (MA) helps you distinguish the pieces of your sales process, and shows you exactly where leads are falling off. Like any professional software, however, you need the expertise and experience to leverage the full potential of any marketing automation system. The good news is that the basic ideas really aren’t that complicated.

Marketing automation allows businesses to automate tasks such as lead scoring, email marketing for lead generation and lead nurturing, to name a few.  MA is used primarily for increasing lead generation, lead nurturing, and sales revenue. Any business, big or small, digital or physical, can reap the numerous benefits of marketing automation.

Automation is for everyone — from the sole entrepreneur to the CMO, and everyone in between. Below are some common marketing and marketing automation terms that you will want to familiarize yourself with:

  • CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
  • A/B testing (split testing)
  • Lead scoring
  • Advanced segmentation
  • Behavioral-based automation
  • Drip programs/automated campaigns
  • Dynamic content

Don’t worry, you won’t have to memorize them all right now. You can download our handy Marketing Automation Guide of Terminology to get you started.

MA vs CRM

It can get confusing when a bunch of acronyms get combined together like CRM (Customer Relationship Management) & MA (Marketing Automation). You may already have a CRM, like Salesforce, or you may just be realizing you need both! Don’t worry, if your trying to decide between software or just getting started, To The Point Marketing can help.

Marketing Automation for Businesses

Marketing automation has dramatically increased the effectiveness and efficiency of finding, nurturing, and converting customers. But what will be the most challenging obstacles to marketing automation success in the year ahead and how can businesses overcome them?

What Are the Biggest Obstacles to Marketing Automation Success?

Budget and strategy can be intimidating when considering adopting marketing automation, but they don’t have to be. High quality marketing automation is becoming available at prices even the smallest companies can afford. The quality software providers also offer guidance and support when it comes to marketing automation strategy.

MA obstacles

Not Sure If You Need a Full Agency?

Sometimes it’s a hard decision between hiring an outside agency or bringing on additional in-house staff.  Outsourcing your marketing automation to an agency can be a big asset if your company doesn’t have the time or personnel to implement marketing automation. Learn more about Agency vs In-house