What Is Marketing Automation, and Why Do You Need It?

Marketing automation is a buzz term that has become increasingly common over the past several years. Although it might sound like a new concept, marketing automation has actually been around since late 1990s; it is only now that we have begun to hear more about it. So, what exactly is it, and is marketing automation something that your company needs?

What Is Marketing Automation?

In the most basic sense, marketing automation utilizes a single system for tracking data for leads, generating reports for all of your company’s marketing activities, and automating those activities. Certain features are also used in marketing automation to trigger marketing activities without the need for human interaction, saving significant time and resources.

The Benefits of Marketing Automation

Marketing automation can provide companies of all sizes with a vast number of benefits, including the ability to function more efficiently, capture more leads, and develop a more granular understanding of data.

One of the most important benefits of marketing automation is the fact that it offers the opportunity to generate more leads without expanding your budget. This can be particularly beneficial for small businesses and startups with limited budgets. By automating manual tasks, marketing departments are able to allocate more time to the creative side of marketing.

Marketing automation also offers the opportunity to prove return on investment for marketing efforts. Regardless of company size, the need to prove ROI always exists. Marketing at any level can be expensive, and companies must be able to show financial justification. With marketing automation, it becomes possible to track and report on leads, thus linking marketing efforts to proven sales opportunities.

Companies will also find that marketing automation can be quite empowering in terms of building online marketing campaigns. If you feel uncomfortable working with code, marketing automation can help you benefit from a variety of features without the need to invest time and money in designing customized landing pages.

Finally, marketing automation presents the opportunity to consolidate multiple tools into a single easy-to-use system. From social media to email marketing to mobile marketing, marketing automation can help you manage it all. As a result, you can launch cross-channel campaigns more easily and effectively.

Contact Lead Liaison if you’d like to learn more about marketing automation.