Victoria Godfrey says, “Marketing automation technology is designed to automate portions of the marketing process and provide data that helps marketers and brands determine who to target across multiple outreach methods. But it’s not just a tool; marketers use automation technology to strategize and implement business decisions. When using marketing automation platforms to maximize email efforts, marketers need to choose the correct tool with the proper features and use the data produced to its greatest potential. Once marketers are able to gain insight into how recipients are engaging... [...]

Tom Ryan says, “It’s safe to say that 2016 will go down in history as one of the strangest in modern times: Trump, Brexit, Leicester City’s winning the Premier League, and the death of so many iconic artists. Fortunately for marketers, it was a great year for marketing automation (MA). Some of the highlights of 2016: approximately 55% of B2B companies are now using marketing automation; 91% of the most successful users agree that marketing automation is “very important” to the overall success of their marketing across channels; and the Pardot Engagement Studio and... [...]

Jeff Rajeck says, “Marketing automation has come a long way. Considered an emerging technology as recently as a few years ago, estimates are that more than half (59%) of Fortune 500 companies now use marketing automation along with nearly all (95%) of SAAS-based companies. Yet many of those who have implemented marketing automation are struggling to use it to improve overall marketing performance. According to a recent Econsultancy survey, less than 5% of marketers in Australia and New Zealand consider their automated email campaigns ‘very successful’“. Five steps toward... [...]

Ayaz Nanji says, “More than three-quarters (78%) of B2B organizations are using marketing automation tools, according to recent research from Dun & Bradstreet and Ascend2. The report was based on data from a survey of more than 200 B2B executives (50% work for firms with 50 or fewer employees). Some 46% of respondents say their B2B firm makes extensive use of marketing automation tools, whereas 32% say their B2B firm makes limited use of marketing automation tools. Respondents say the top goals of using marketing automation tools are improving lead nurturing (63% cite it as a goal),... [...]

Marry Wallace says, “Most of us have baked a cake at one time or another. We’ve put all the ingredients in a large bowl, mixed it up, dumped it in a pan, and then put it in the oven. When the cake was baked, we let it cool and added icing to the top. Why do we add the icing? Because icing makes a delicious cake even sweeter and provides a smoother, shinier confection to behold. Marketing automation does the same for marketers; it enhances how marketers engage leads and drive business. It makes what we do even better. Digital body language icing Regardless of whether it’s a huge enterprise... [...]

Sophia Bernazzani says, “I have money in my savings account because my bank has a built-in auto-deposit process. I’m not logging into my account every day and moving money around, but when I do log in, I can see the progress I’ve made toward my goals by setting my account to automate deductions. Think of marketing automation like auto-deducting money from your checking account and putting it into savings: The automatic process lets you invest in your future goals in an easier way than if you did it manually. Marketing automation can play a significant role in the success of your inbound... [...]

Joseph Blankenship says, “After years of shunning automation and information sharing efforts, the security industry is now embracing them. Every vendor conference I attended this fall talked about the need to automate some security functions in order to increase security teams’ efficiency and ability to quickly detect and respond to incidents. The vendors also focused on the need to break down the silos and share information across the security and IT organizations, between vendors, and throughout the security community. Why the change? The pace of attacks along with the continued... [...]

Andrew Davies says, “The effort needed to create marketing automation rules are causing B2B organisations to lose time, money and new business. It’s time to use predictive machine learning instead. Is marketing automation delivering? As marketers, we live in a world where the number of choices that we have to make to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time is increasing exponentially. Marketing has moved from mass advertising where you sent one message to everyone, to segments where messages are sent to a limited number of people, to now having to understand... [...]

Lauren Hintz says, “A sales sequence is an outreach strategy that’s personalized to each and every buyer, but also part of a repeatable framework. What’s the best way to reach out to a prospect? When? How many times do you reach out before you give up? Creating sequences for your company’s buyer personas will add structure to those ambiguous questions. The first step in determing the right sequences for your sales team is to create buyer personas. When developing your personas, keep them simple at first. In practice, you might target small and large companies in three... [...]

Ehsan Jahandarpour says, “When it comes to growth hacking and digital marketing, it’s vital to leverage marketing automation and implement a solid customer journey optimization strategy that helps you save time, money, and quickly acquire more customers. What is Marketing Automation? In plain English, marketing automation refers to the technologies that enable you to automate, and measure your marketing activities, workflows and strategies to attract more customer faster, and generate a higher return of investment (ROI). If implemented correctly, you can nurture your visitors and... [...]