Automation and the Marketing Discipline
In today’s corporate world, change is an unavoidable reality. One of the most sought-after management abilities is the skill to master and exploit change, this is especially true in marketing, where the rate of change is always increasing. So, is the profession of the traditional marketer dead in an ever-changing world?
How the Marketing Discipline Has Changed
Marketing is no longer limited to traditional approaches, thanks to the internet, social media, advancements in technology, and the world becoming a more connected place.
Customers have greater purchasing power than ever before, thanks to virtually endless data online, user evaluations, and a plethora of providers from which to choose. Companies used to have more authority to persuade and reason with customers when it came to purchases. Customers can now find the majority of their desired information without speaking with the organization, complicating sales, and outreach for businesses.
No longer through traditional marketing, buyers are gathering knowledge about products and services in their own time, typically on the Internet and from sources other than the company, such as customer reviews. There’s a possibility that the majority of CMOs are unsure of how to upgrade their outdated tools. Retargeting, ineffective programmatic ads, spamming emails, and other similar tactics are on the decline.
The Role Technological Automation Plays
Automation is a term used to describe technology applications that require little or no human involvement.
Marketing automation is a type of software that allows businesses to streamline, program, and track marketing operations and workflows in order to improve operational efficiency and revenue growth. Marketers can use marketing automation to streamline lead generation, segmentation, lead nurturing, and lead scoring, as well as customer lifecycle marketing, cross-sell and up-sell, customer retention, and marketing ROI analysis.
Technological Automation can work alongside marketers to provide improved product quality, higher production rates, and productivity, and more efficient use of materials. Many marketing teams automate time-consuming processes like email marketing, social media posting, and even ad campaigns, not only to save time but also to create a more personalized experience for their clients. These repetitive tasks are made simple by marketing automation technology.
What’s Been Automated
It’s critical to obtain the correct data. You can obtain the client data you need by utilizing data mapping technologies, whether it’s data from online social media or data from offline channels. Deduplication, standardization, cleansing, and appending data-quality processes ensure that your customer data is reliable and ready for analysis. Predictive analytics assist you to answer questions such as “Which activities will yield the best returns?” using analytically determined models. The modeling method can also be used to predict client reactions or purchases, as well as encourage cross-sell opportunities. Predictive models aid in the acquisition, retention, and expansion of the most profitable customers.
Apart from simplifying data analysis, automation also occurs to deliver personalized emails. An automated email can now be delivered to a user based on behavior triggers defined by marketers in a marketing automation platform ahead of time. Marketers are able to send an automatic welcome email to new subscribers or remind a website visitor of products abandoned in their cart. Marketing automation enables businesses to boost efficiency, sales, and personalize interactions with clients, which can ultimately result in faster revenue growth. With 6 out of 10 cart abandoners coming back to purchase within 24 hours of getting a personalized email, it’s no secret these automated technologies are here to stay.
There are even automated ad campaigns for retargeting customers through re-engagement on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and the web. These automated campaigns can be used to find more customers, build profitable relationships, track, and improve results while protecting customer data. Additionally, other automated software offer integrated marketing solutions available to launch cross-channel marketing programs to help generate a higher return on digital marketing investments, generate customer loyalty through superior campaign performance, and unlock real-time performance decisions during critical campaign cycles.
What Can’t Be Automated… yet
Engagement shouldn’t be automated. A successful marketing effort requires you to connect with your target audience. Only 29% of B2B customers are completely engaged with the companies they use, as a result, it’s reasonable to state that client involvement should not be taken lightly. Customers expect brands to be authentic, and it is often obvious when software attempts to replace human relationships. Furthermore, having a real person solve problems and answer inquiries is far more convenient for customers than relying on a robot to do so. With this being said, a vast majority of companies are beginning to use robotic chatbots to provide customers with quick automated responses, really emphasizing just how quickly roles can be automated.
A company’s content should be original, customized and authentic. Again, programs do exist that will automatically create social media and blog posts. While automated scheduling is more than necessary automating your content isn’t perceived as genuine and can cause issues with consumers trying to connect with your brand. Copywriting is essential to the growth of any company, as it requires someone to produce commercials, manage social media, and, most importantly, generate sales. As a copywriter, you must be aware of how your target audience thinks, feels, and behaves. Holding back automation is that it lacks the ability to empathize with people in the same manner that humans can. To a certain extent, automation might be able to imitate compassion, but it can only go so far. Automation has the ability to assist copywriters through finding trends and identifying specific keywords that may invoke a positive response, however, it is still going to be the copywriter evaluating the data and creating the final product.
Syndicated research is funded by market research companies, with resulting reports made available for purchase to the public. Syndicated research is utilized during the exploratory phase of research to obtain information on a target market, industry, or company. Following syndicated research, custom market research is conducted to obtain in-depth information based on a structured and well-defined data demand that can aid in strategic decision-making. Reports, presentations, and raw data are frequently produced as a result of such research, making it only possible for automation to occur during the analysis process.
What We Can Expect to See in The Coming Years
In an industry that is dependent on adaptability and staying with the times, it seems that it’s only a matter of time where marketing automation will not be questioned but needed. For companies to stay competing in this fast-paced, ever-changing industry it’s likely that investing in this type of technology might save them from falling behind. In 2021, 51% of companies are currently using Marketing automation. Marketing automation is not an ‘interesting’ strategy you can ignore, investing in marketing automation means investing in an industry expected to be worth more than 25 billion dollars by 2023. This ongoing growth suggests that if marketers are reluctant to make the investment in marketing automation, they may feel that they are trying to catch up to their competitors who are able to facilitate their time in more areas.
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