“Though tech vendors have been the primary early adopters of marketing automation due to their comfort with technology solutions, we are seeing an increase in the adoption of marketing automation platforms by companies outside of technology, including manufacturing, healthcare, banking and education. Also we are seeing adopters increase their marketing communication channels to include social, mobile, websites and email. Marketers are now using emerging social capabilities to tap into the power of peer influence to increase conversion rates and generate leads. Social media marketing is picking up traction as companies are able to connect the dots between their social efforts and ROI.”
“The number of channels in which marketers can collect data about customers and communicate with them is exploding at an unprecedented pace. As marketers, we have an obligation to leverage this information to inform what we communicate with customers [right message, right time] and then to communicate through the right channel. At the same time, we're seeing marketers move to integrate, consolidate and standardize their marketing infrastructures.”
“Marketing automation vendors are still struggling to strike a balance between power and ease of use. Every marketer dreams about a world where their marketing feels ultra-personal, converts at a huge rate and it all happens automatically. But only a fraction of organizations who use a marketing automation tool ever reach that end because it's fundamentally hard to do. Some vendors keep adding features and complexity that sound great in a sales pitch. At the end of the day, the platform that delivers the most value to its customers will be the one that is intuitive to the marketer and grows with them over time.”
“We're seeing a few key trends that are leading to a deeper understanding of buyers. The explosion of information beyond demographics that captures 'digital body language' has resulted in more targeted communications. The technological advancement in marketing automation is a driving force behind this. The future of marketing automation is not about what the platform does on its own but how it integrates multiple channels to create an ecosystem that informs the overall marketing strategy. Business intelligence and tie-in to revenue is perhaps the biggest advancement in marketing automation.”