Marketing Automation allows to automate almost every element of marketing–sales process. Automation, even being strongly mechanically affiliated, was in fact invented by nature. Initial processes within human being body, like breathing or heart beating, are prompted and automated by nature. Even though, there’s an anxiety among marketers who wonder whether complete automation won’t dehumanize communication with client and influence negatively client–business relations. A question arises if in fact each element should be automated?
Marketing experienced real revolution within a few recent years. If we took typical marketer from the late 90s and seated him in present-day marketing department, he would really be shocked and it could be tough for him to find his feet in digital reality. It’s enough to mention social media or digital marketing and we are right away on completely new territories for him. Even the most efficient and having-things-in-hand marketers, find it difficult to follow all novelty and news in the scope of new systems, tactics and communication channels with clients. Marketing Automation is a family of systems, which are being continuously developed, providing new solutions and servicing more and more communication channels. Despite obvious benefits for marketer and his work, there’s this unrest somewhere inside. To what extent we should automate our activities, to what extent we should handle them manually and which of them we should automate to not to loose human attitude to consumer and at the same time potential or current client.
First of all, before we answer what and if to automate, it’s worth to mention that systems like SALESmanago provide marketers with functionality which is necessary these days. Marketing Automation systems allow to perform marketing activities in such efficient and automated manner that it’s not possible to carry them out manually anymore. Thanks to Marketing Automation, we can accomplish things not possible before, like providing appropriate content, from suitable persons and at the right timing.
Why we should automate marketing and sales activities
There are companies with 10 or even 20 people in marketing department. No kidding! However, in most cases marketing department consists of 1 or 2 persons. It means that we have very limited capabilities against marketing activities possible to carry out. Therefore, optimal usage of available resources is essential. SALESmanago analytics enables to measure precisely conducted activities and their efficiency. What’s more, linking marketing activities with their influence on sales–purchase process will show where and how to operate, in order to generate new client in real terms. Creating automated processes we increase marketing effectiveness and gain additional time for developing and optimizing our activities. We’ll quickly find best available content in the company and secure that they get to the right person, at the right time. Like every tool, Marketing Automation was invented to facilitate our life and accomplish more and better quality tasks at the same time.
Which activities should not be automated
There are a few areas, where automation doesn’t prove too useful and social media is one of them. Even the best algorithm won’t substitute interaction with another person. That’s why, if social media are important element of client acquiring in the business, then the contact with client should be run in most natural way, which means manually. Any kind of automatic response in social media looks unnatural and is associated with spam.
Once classical activities proved successful. They rested on printed industry adverts, catalogues or direct sales. Today, marketing abandons archaic channels in favor of digital channels, which dominated communication with clients. Now, e-books, case studies, reports, blog entries and on-line presentations (webinars) prove successful, especially in B2B. Like electronic mail almost completely substituted traditional mail, digital marketing pushed away the ‘printing’ one. That’s why the Internet became main tool of content distribution and growing popularity of social media made it main channel of content promotion. To conclude, similarly as we don’t let automatic content creation for company’s blog, we shouldn’t automatically create content and news releases for social media.
Marketing Automation is essential part of modern marketing mix in practically every market segment. Since marketers have so many activities to perform, Marketing Automation systems must be taken advantage of to optimize every marketing channel. Yet, it needs to be done with appropriate reserve, in order to make the human factor evident in our activities.
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