Frequently asked questions about Marketing Automation

Marketing Automation refers to the process of using digital tools to automate and target your marketing based on the behavior of current or potential customers. By communicating at the 'right' time, with the 'right' message to the 'right' person in the 'right' channel, the aim is to increase the relevance of communications.

Marketing Automation is also used to automate processes and activities and is thus a tool that can really streamline your organization if used correctly.

Read more about what Marketing Automation is here.

What is required to get started with Marketing Automation?

Getting started with Marketing Automation should be seen as a long-term investment. That said, it takes a lot more than a system to succeed. Here are the steps you should take to increase the chances of getting the best out of your investment:

• Feasibility study and baseline analysis

• Needs assessment and ROI calculation

• System evaluation and needs mapping

• System procurement

• Implementation and integration

• System expert constantly working on optimization

Why Marketing Automation?

Marketing Automation can help you put the recipient/customer first. Used correctly, it allows you to better meet individual customer's wants and needs for information.

In addition, it helps marketers save time and increase efficiency by automating internal processes that would otherwise need to be done manually. It also helps by saving money and making campaigns more effective. Marketing Automation makes it easier for marketers to track and analyze their campaigns and measure the return on their marketing efforts.

By sending the right information to the right person, in the right channel at the right time, Marketing Automation can increase the relevance of your leads. Increased relevance leads to a better customer experience.

You can read more about the benefits of marketing automation here.

How does Marketing Automation work?

A Marketing Automation system will not reach its full potential without good quality data. Often you connect the Marketing Automation system with several different systems such as a CRM system, event management, social media and your website. In the CRM system, you then collect other data on your leads and customers. This data can be geographical, demographic and behavioral. For example, it can be data such as:

• Address and country.

• Age, title and income.

• Interactions with your sales reps

Marketing Automation gives you the opportunity to communicate in multiple channels with the ambition to adapt the communication to the individual, so-called personalized communication. This is done, for example, by using the information from the CRM system to distinguish between communication sent to a buying or non-buying contact.

Marketing Automation is not only about automated communication. It can also be used to automate data flows, processes and procedures, thus streamlining work processes.

What does a Marketing Automation specialist do?

As a Marketing Automation specialist, you work to develop a basis for data-driven decisions with a focus on your company's communication. With the data you have access to, you can automate parts of the customer journey while optimizing it. This with the help of the technology that the Marketing Automation system provides.

Marketing Automation specialists also automate activities in the system to streamline processes. Examples of this can be field updates and creating automated tasks for sales reps for specific events.

How does Marketing Automation affect the customer experience?

By continuously collecting data about your visitors and customers, you can keep your communication relevant.

By analyzing data, you can increase your customer knowledge and better understand your customers and their needs.

With this knowledge, you can use Marketing Automation to trigger relevant communications that help your customers make a purchase decision, meet their needs and questions, and make the customer journey seamless.

Which is the best Marketing Automation system?

With over 365 Marketing Automation solutions to choose from, it's not easy to make a decision. Which technology will make your everyday tasks easier and add value to your business?

Making informed decisions when it comes to new technologies is more important than ever in this complex environment, and Marketing Automation is no exception.

Starting with your organization's current position, needs and level of ambition is crucial. Different systems are better suited to different types of organizations, have different requirements in terms of technical know-how and require different degrees of external help, for example from vendors or consultants.

For this reason, there is no one best Marketing Automation system that works for everyone. The best system for your organization is not necessarily the best for another organization. You need to analyze your company's current situation and needs to choose the most suitable system.

Are you faced with choosing a system? You can read our guide to Marketing Automation procurement and implementation here.

What is the difference between email marketing and marketing automation?

Traditional email marketing is about collecting email addresses and then sending mass mailings to the contact list.

Marketing Automation is instead about collecting data to communicate a relevant message to selected segments.

Marketing Automation, unlike email marketing, is also not tied to just email as a channel. You can use Marketing Automation to communicate in several different channels such as SMS, push notifications and social media.

What is the difference between Sales Automation and Marketing Automation?

It's exactly what it sounds like. With Marketing Automation, you can automate marketing communication and processes, while with Sales Automation you automate parts of the sales process. The best way to do this is to find ways to combine them.

Want to learn more about how to create integration between sales and marketing? Download our guide on SMarketing.

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What is data-driven marketing?

Data-driven marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on customer behavior and activity. It helps marketers understand and respond to customer needs with relevant communications.

Data-driven marketing is the process of using data and statistics to make informed decisions about campaigns, strategies and content. It is a way to gain insight and understand the effectiveness of your marketing efforts without having to guess. These insights can be used to improve performance over time by optimizing the right things.

You can read more about data-driven marketing here.

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How can you get started with Marketing Automation?

There are no shortcuts. To get started with Marketing Automation, you must first purchase a Marketing Automation system. This process consists of a feasibility study, comparison, procurement and implementation.

Once the system is in place, user training is required. The system only becomes an investment if it is used correctly.

Once the system is in place, it requires that the right processes are in place, such as the SMarketing process, Scoring, management of MQL, etc.

Then the fun begins. Use the data you have to set up triggered flows that are constantly optimized and relevant to the target group/segment you have chosen.

If you need help getting started, you can book a meeting here.