Marketing automation – what is communication automation and what benefits does it bring?

Marketing automation improves the way a brand communicates with its audience.

It allows you to build a long-term strategy that includes sending real-time emails to potential customers. Thanks to personalised communication, the message reaches specific and targeted audiences. Let marketing automation stop being an unknown! Discover the tools known as the future of marketing and improve your company’s operations!

Marketing automation – what is communication automation?

Marketing automation, as the name suggests, is a set of systems used to automate marketing activities. Its tools are designed to collect and structure information about user behaviour on websites. Marketing automation makes it possible to organise the collected demographic data on an ongoing basis and to analyse the behaviour of the audience at each stage of their interaction with the brand. Marketing automation systems evaluate the order and timing of decisions along the customer journey.

What is a customer journey?

The customer journey is the path a customer takes during the buying process. Marketing automation systems analyse this journey to identify audience trends and improve the personalisation of communications. The marketer learns what catches the customer’s attention and which messages on the brand’s website are completely missing their preferences.

By carefully analysing all of your users’ activities, you can gain a better understanding of their behaviour and needs at each stage of the sales funnel. What should be included in such an analysis, carried out with the right marketing automation tools?

Firstly, you should analyse the purpose and needs of your customers – after all, every activity has a purpose and need behind it. For example, you can consider why the user acted in a certain way and why they took that particular action. What was the need behind that action and was it met?

It is also important to consider where exactly the user’s needs were met. Where on the site did the user take action?

Emotions are also very important when analysing user behaviour on a website. Think about what specific emotions were evoked by customers at each stage of the sales funnel. You can also consider what problems the user may have encountered and what was missing from your site.

Also try to look for opportunities to improve. Perhaps the user sees an opportunity to fine-tune certain elements of the site? Maybe there are some processes you can improve or change completely?

So-called metrics also play a big role in customer journey research. Consider how accurately you can measure user satisfaction and how you can analyse their interactions.

Declarative, transactional and behavioural customer data

All the automation activities that a marketing automation system undertakes are made possible through the use of declarative, transactional and behavioural data. It is this data that allows us to create so-called 360 profiles of customers and to study their customer journey in detail.

Declarative data is all information that a customer voluntarily leaves on a website. This can be done, for example, by completing a form or survey.

Transactional data, on the other hand, is all information about previous transactions made by customers. Such data includes various elements, such as the quantity of transactions, the nature of transactions, and the monetary worth of transactions.

Conversely, behavioral data refers to the user activity on a website or mobile app. We may also include individual behaviours within that website or app.

By collecting declarative, transactional and behavioural data, you can not only examine the customer journey in detail, but also segment your contact base according to differentiated criteria, allowing you to deliver more personalised marketing communications.

What is marketing automation for?

Marketing automation tools replace a number of marketers in performing repetitive and routine activities. As a result, collaborations with third parties or brands become more profitable over time, and building relationships with audiences becomes smoother and more personalised. According to a Salesforce report, marketing automation is already used by 67% of global industry leaders.

A marketing automation system is useful for, among other things:

• Email marketing, including real-time automated email sending
• Landing pages
• Data analysis
• Audience behaviour analysis
• Advanced segmentation of the user base
• Sending notifications, i.e. web push and mobile push
• Abandoned shopping carts (e-commerce websites)
• Lead nurturing, i.e. educating potential customers that ultimately lead to a purchase
• Communicating with anonymous users
• Recommendation of products and services
• Automated customer service processes such as onboarding, articles and tutorials surveys
• Increase conversions through automated content delivery

It is important to remember that marketing automation is very flexible. After all, there is a reason why it is used by so many companies and supports marketing activities in almost every industry.

What else can you do with marketing automation?

In addition to the basic uses of a marketing automation system, you can use it for other, less obvious tasks.

• Marketing automation also allows you to more efficiently
• Onboard employees, both in marketing departments and across all positions in the company
• Collections through a series of payment reminders
• Customer satisfaction surveys
• Training through emails, online tests and surveys

Marketing Automation vs. CRM

Marketing automation systems are often CRM systems, or can be integrated with the CRM solution you are currently using.

This is because a marketing automation system can track each user’s activity in real time. Information about the IP address, the device the user is using, the language and the location are all recorded in the system application.

In addition, the system also allows the collection of data related to the company’s activities. For example, if the company is in the business of selling clothes, the marketing automation systems will remember the size or favourite colour of the user in question. They will also know what products and services the user is most interested in, and how many times they have visited the site in the last month.

All of this information has a huge impact on your marketing activities and the design of a campaign that will reach your target audience.

What communication channels does a marketing automation system use?

A marketing automation system uses a number of different communication channels. These include:

• Email
• SMS
• Web push and mobile push
• Social media, including instant messaging
• Websites (on-site)
• Mobile applications

Basic tools provided by marketing automation systems

A marketing automation system is undoubtedly an excellent support for both sales and marketing departments. What are the basic marketing automation tools you can use?

Contact database management

The primary function of a marketing automation system is to manage contacts and collect data directly through the system. In addition, a marketing automation system allows you to collect data on individual contact activities within a website or application.

Managing email campaigns

How can you use marketing automation systems to manage email campaigns? One way is to automatically personalise the content of the emails used in a particular campaign. This makes email marketing much more effective.

Forms on the website

Automated marketing also includes forms on the website. These can be used to collect additional contact details and other information from website visitors.

A/B/X testing

Marketing automation also provides the ability to perform A/B/X testing, i.e. testing different forms of communication, such as email or web push, and automatically selecting the best. This allows you to reach potential customers more effectively.

Scoring

Marketing automation also allows you to award and deduct points to individual users. These points depend on certain characteristics and attributes that the user does or does not have, which is important for e-commerce websites, for example. Scoring can be divided into demographic and behavioural scoring.

Communication scenarios

With marketing automation it is possible to create communication scenarios. These multi-threaded, multi-channel scenarios run automatically and are automatically assigned to contacts.

Customer service automation

To enhance and automate the website, marketing automation systems also use tools such as chatbots or live chats.

Chatbots are automated bots that respond to messages sent by a customer. It uses a communication script, among other things.

Live chat, on the other hand, is nothing more than a real-time exchange of messages with the customer.

Marketing automation tools – what is SALESmanago and other software?

One of the most popular marketing automation solutions is SALESmanago. This software offers all the main tools for monitoring customer behaviour on a website. It also allows you to carry out marketing processes in a personalised and therefore effective way.

SALESmanago is particularly recommended for the e-commerce sector. It is perfect for small and medium-sized companies involved in sales.

The main advantages of the software are the time saved through marketing automation, frequent updates and advanced technology that allows you to keep up with the most important trends in sales marketing.

Other marketing automation tools

Other marketing automation software that can provide invaluable support to marketing departments, including contact database creation, real-time emailing, data analysis, lead nurturing and many other marketing automation activities include:

• iPresso
• ActiveCampaign
• Marketo Engage
• Pardot
• Getresponse
• Drip
• Convert Kit
• Ontraport

Why choose a marketing automation system?

There are undoubtedly many benefits to marketing automation. By automating your marketing activities, your business will gain many new opportunities. Why should you choose a marketing automation system?

First of all, it will be a great support for online shops. With marketing automation systems, shops enhance their ability to understand the needs and expectations of a potential customer. Marketing automation will also support email marketing as well as other content and tools that marketers use.

In other words, marketing automation is undoubtedly the future of marketing and one of the most effective tools that can be used for sales.

Marketing automation – Frequently Asked Questions

What is marketing automation? Marketing automation refers to using systems to automate marketing activities, enhancing efficiency in communicating with audiences and analyzing their behavior.

How does marketing automation benefit a company? It streamlines repetitive tasks, improves audience engagement, personalizes communication, and ultimately, boosts conversions and sales.

What key functions does marketing automation serve? It serves various functions including email marketing, audience behavior analysis, advanced segmentation, lead nurturing, and automated customer service processes.

Can marketing automation integrate with CRM systems? Yes, marketing automation systems often integrate with CRM systems to provide real-time tracking of user activities and enhance marketing campaigns.

What are some popular marketing automation tools? Popular tools include SALESmanago, iPresso, ActiveCampaign, and Marketo Engage, among others, catering to different aspects of marketing automation.