Marketing has changed dramatically over the years and will continue to do so. Innovative technologies like B2B marketing automation have made their way into almost every part of marketing, making it much more complex.
The reality is that automating your marketing procedures is no longer a choice. It has become an essential component of any company. If you don’t use marketing automation, you won’t be able to stay on top of shifting consumer expectations or even your competition.
According to the research, 53 percent of B2B organisations currently utilise marketing automation, with another 37 percent planning to do so shortly. If you haven’t already, you should think about automating your marketing procedures.
What is Business-to-Business Marketing Automation?
In a word, marketing automation is the process of automating repetitive marketing operations using software or technologies. Automation technologies are being used by marketers all over the world for almost every aspect of marketing, including social media management, customer relationship management (CRM), lead nurturing, and so on.
Marketers in the B2B sector are increasingly adding marketing automation to their campaigns. However, not all of them produce results at once, as getting the most out of marketing automation necessitates a thorough understanding of the processes as well as the tools.
For starters, having a good understanding of marketing and sales funnels will aid you in properly planning your automation. After all, if you want to get anywhere, you need to time your marketing efforts carefully and integrate your tools into your marketing operations appropriately.
While you don’t want to try to narrow a lead too soon and risk scaring them away, you also don’t want to meander if you don’t want one of your competitors to get them. So, when is the optimum time to do it? Your marketing tools can assist you in better comprehending this.
So, researching and understanding the buyer’s journey through a marketing and sales funnel will help you figure out where marketing automation can help speed up the process and make it easier on your team.
Examples of Common B2B Marketing Automation
B2B marketers, as previously stated, can automate a range of procedures. Here are a few examples of marketing tasks that many organisations around the world often automate:
- Email Marketing and Lead Nurturing
- Onboarding New Customers
- Automated Website Chat
- Reducing Churn Rate
- Trending Blog Post Topics
- Social Media B2B Marketing Automation
- Referral Marketing
What Should You Look for in B2B Marketing Automation Software?
There are a lot of marketing automation solutions on the market today, and we’ll go over a few of them later in this post.
Aside from your budget, there are a few other things you should think about when choosing a marketing automation platform for your B2B company.
Features of B2B Marketing Automation
It’s a no-brainer on this one. Marketing automation has been shown to be extremely effective, prompting almost every B2B company to implement it. It allows you to send targeted messaging to thousands of prospects at once, saving you the time and effort of reaching out to each one individually. For example, let’s take an individual making the choice of selecting coworking space, which could be supported by software such as Andcards or Cobot. A typical consumer must hear about flexible workspaces from three or more sources before making a purchasing decision.
As a result, be sure to use the correct mix of marketing strategies, such as SEO, social media, paid ad retargeting, and more, to meet clients where they are. You can combine these methods as part of your B2B marketing and brand recognition strategy over time. Check to see if the marketing automation software you’re considering has the capabilities you’re searching for. You should also see if it works with the technology you already have.
Customer Service
Customer support is critical, especially given how tough it is to get a handle on new, intricate software. You’ll need to see what type of customer service is offered, if any. You’ll also need to figure out how long you’ll have to wait for assistance.
User Interface
Ideally, you should look for automation solutions with user interfaces that are simple to use (UI). You should also choose marketing automation software that doesn’t require a lot of work and time to do simple tasks.
Conclusion
Marketing automation has been adopted by businesses in various niches and sectors. Because when firms grow, it becomes impossible to manage client journeys, increased personalisation, and a slew of other chores that come with expansion. Marketing automation has stepped in to help.
To be successful with marketing automation, you must not only select the correct platform for your company but also identify the processes that may be automated to improve the efficiency of your marketing activities.
