Marketing Automation: A convincing business case
Around 90% of European marketers indicate that they will have to undergo drastic changes over the next 3-5 years in order to continue to meet rising technological and customer requirements. That is the perfect breeding ground for Marketing Automation, as it turns out, because this newest toy also seems to be breaking through in the Netherlands this year as the hit among marketers.
What can Marketing Automation contribute to the success of your marketing department and how do you ensure a convincing business case? Marketing Automation is a software automated process in which you build up a profile of your target group. In this way, you can offer relevant information one-to-one during the entire purchasing process and enter into dialogue via different channels, for example via e-mail, mobile, web and social media channels.
1. Efficiently do the good thing well
Streamlining common tasks in an automated process not only saves time, but also helps you understand whether your people are doing the right things. A good Marketing Automation System helps to keep an overview, to set priorities and to make the consequences of choices transparent. With Marketing Automation nobody has to reinvent the wheel: templates, forms, landing pages, checklists etc. can easily be reused and you get insight into what works well or not.
2. Related insights in the target group
Insight into the market, the intentions of prospects and the perception of customers about products and services is crucial to be able to make informed decisions about what an organization must do to increase its success. With Marketing Automation you gradually collect a wealth of information about customers and prospects. The system is a valuable and, above all, reliable source of information about the market and customers.
3. Accountability: make marketing ROI detectable
As a manager you want to be able to clearly demonstrate the contribution of marketing to the organization, which is only possible if results are recorded in a structural and analytical way. A good Marketing Automation system helps you to show the added value of every euro invested and, conversely, the negative impact of every reduction in marketing spending.
4. The language barrier between sales & marketing
It sounds cliché, but unfortunately there is some truth in it: sales and marketing speak a different language. Sales speaks in terms of relationships and sales opportunities while marketing talks about contact moments and target groups. Marketing Automation helps the language barrier out of the way, because more clarity is provided about what marketing is doing and sales influence priorities.
5. Make impact at the right time
Research by Beeckestijn Business School shows that 70% of the purchase journey has already been completed before the first sales contact takes place. The main reason why marketing automation is applied by companies is to make an impact in that first phase of the purchase journey.
With Marketing Automation, far-reaching insight into the target group and their behavior is obtained, which is then used efficiently by sales and marketing to make an impact during the purchase journey, each with its own strength and expertise.
