Marketing Automation Software
We are living in a digital world where being findable is challenging. Due to stiff competition, businesses find it hard to secure their place in the market. This makes digital marketing more important than ever. As a marketing team member, you must boost conversion rates and create more leads. Automating the entire process can benefit your business in several ways. According to recent reports, around 61% of businesses are considering marketing automation. As a result, more businesses are turning to marketing automation software to make this easier.
What is Marketing Automation Software?
Marketing automation software is a digital marketing tool designed to streamline marketing processes. These tools promote digital marketing campaigns, including audience segmentation, web monitoring, behavioral analysis, and more.
Common Features of Marketing Automation Software
Marketing automation tools are often available as platforms. The specific features and abilities of each tool vary. Having that in mind, marketing automation tools usually come with the following features:
1. Lead Management
Through lead management, experts can utilize demographics and behavioral data to distinguish between hot leads and those who are just browsing. Every organization has a different lead score. However, the main focus is identifying the most encouraging leads for your business. Lead scores help evaluate the activities visitors have engaged in on your site. Visitors can download a datasheet or watch a demo video. Demographic information can be used to build a lead guide. Important information may include industry, title, organization information, or market size. Lead management tools can trigger alerts for people who are ready to purchase and may need more inspiration through a drip campaign.
2. Email Marketing
Marketing automation software comes with an email marketing tool to support direct and digital marketing. This functionality lets your customers know what your latest products are. Additionally, the feature can support your marketing strategies, help establish relationships and build brand awareness.
3. CRM and Web Integration
Marketing automation must have a good CRM. The automation tools help you capture customer info throughout their lifecycle. The main object of the CRM is to capture personal and demographic information and firmographic details. CRM features parallel all information, behavioral traits, and conversation history. Hence the CRM stores and organizes everything. This feature automates information updates based on activities inside marketing automation software. As you can see, before deciding on marketing automation software, it's worth ensuring that it has a CRM and web integration feature.
4. Social Functionality
The main object of social functionality is to sell positive behavior to potential consumers.
5. Analytics
Automated marketing helps capture massive data. Marketing automated tools come with analytic features to help you tweak and plan marketing campaigns more effectively.
Types of Marketing Automation Software
There are various types of marketing automation tools, including: • Identity/mail validation software • Analytics and segmentation software • Lead generation software • Customer communication software • Customer retention software
The Best Marketing Automation Software
Since we started using Sendinblue, our marketing campaigns are so much more seamless – with customizations built in! Would 100% recommend this tool to marketers.
David Busi, Infernal City Games
Zapier was a great investment for our agency. The software can handle tons of automations. Even better, it tracks recipient behaviour to improve deliverability and open rates.
Teagen Thomas, Bubbly
Omnisend has been a game-changer for our small business. Not only is it user-friendly, but it also has lots of templates that make our emails look professional and appealing.
Fred McMann, Webber
Benefits of Marketing Automation Software
Using marketing automation tools comes with diverse benefits, including:
- Boosts the efficiency of the organization
- Helps align marketing and sales
- Boosts conversation rates
- Promotes accuracy, especially in reporting
- Helps set up a perfect lead scoring system for the organization
How to Select the Best Marketing Automation Tools
Digitalization has inspired the development of several marketing automation tools. With these alternatives, picking the right tool for your organization can be quite challenging. Therefore, before deciding on a marketing automation tool, here is what you need to keep in mind:
1. Your Budget and Current Needs
Suppose we are to sum up the benefits of marketing automation in one sentence. In that case, we can say it improves efficiency to allow you to focus on activities that generate high returns. Having said that, you need to evaluate the price while considering the capability. Using a scaled-down system might be enough for SMBs and B2C companies that focus more on email. Even so, with advanced demands, enterprise software can be an ideal choice in the long run as it’s more cost-efficient. Ensure to choose a marketing automation tool that is fairly priced and can grow with the organization as the needs change.
2. Evaluate the Level of User-friendliness
Implementing marketing automation is not an easy task. Therefore, ensure that the interface of the tool works with you rather than working against you. If possible, use the UX screenshot to determine whether it’s easy to navigate. The process of automating your marketing campaign can be a bit technical. Therefore, remember to look for a skilled provider with good customer support.
3. Evaluate Analytic and Reporting Features
You must be able to gauge the success of your drip campaigns. This allows the automation tool to track important metrics. For B2B and enterprise organizations, advanced reporting abilities might be necessary.
4. Explore Integrations
Does the tool have integration features? Integration helps in data management. The feature ensures that the organization gets the most from marketing automation tools.
5. Identify Potential Limitations
Some marketing automation tools can only perform limited actions. While evaluating your choices, keep in mind how many contacts you need to manage, the average number of emails you'll send, and what you intend to achieve with the tool.
The Bottom Line
Marketing automation tools are designed to streamline your marketing campaigns. These tools help you carve a space for your brand through effective marketing in the face of fierce competition.