Barry Levine says, “In the beginning, marketing automation platforms grew other channels and tools around their core of email marketing. The basic mode involved if/then rules: if a customer takes this action, show this response.

But overlapping campaigns with if/then rules become very complicated very quickly, especially when you’re talking about millions of customers, each one in a different frame of mind, and each expecting his/her own personalized experience.

As a result, marketing platforms are evolving from their traditional if/then campaigns to the newer approach of customer journeys that are often guided by machine learning.

It’s the difference between setting up all the rules for the encounter on the one hand, B2B marketing startup YesPath CEO Jason Garoutte told me, and employing something like Netflix’s recommendation engine, on the other.

“Netflix doesn’t write rules about what [movie] you should watch next,” he pointed out. Instead, it makes inferences from what other people — who have a profile similar to yours and who chose similar films — also enjoy.”.

The evolution of marketing platforms: From automation to journeys

Marketing Land

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