Introduction
Automation marketing is a name given to the usage of software to perform automated marketing tasks, which save time and effort and provide results which are much more accurate and free of human error. The concept behind marketing automation software is the usage of such programs to interpret and store relevant customer and product information and automating some of the repetitive processes of sales and marketing, thereby aiding marketing firms in performing efficient and more effective marketing related activities.
History
Automation marketing performs a number of key tasks which make it an invaluable aid for marketers and marketing consultants today. Among the most important of these tasks is the storing, tracking and analysis of customer information. This helps marketers in the management of marketing campaigns, allowing them to keep accurate records of consumer information thereby providing them with valuable time saving as well as cost benefits. Automation marketing software that exist in the market today are not only using artificial marketing intelligence to store and manipulate customer data, they are also used in the formation and planning of marketing campaigns. This means that these automated programs are involved in a number of activities which measure everything from customer responsiveness to the demand of a particular product in the market. As the automation marketing software allows marketers to target customers based on the intent exhibited by the customers themselves, the leads that are generated through these programs allow for a better allocation of time and resources on the part of the marketer, allowing relevant marketing information to end up with the customer who is in fact seeking the same information at the time.
Features
The automation marketing programs that perform these marketing activities are essentially a mixture of email marketing technology and direct selling software which completes the entire process from lead scoring and nurturing consumer interest cumulating in the eventual sale. However, there also exist more sophisticated software in the market which make the use of Advanced Workflow Automation, which require an administrator to set up specifications about action items and different marketing functions, thereby allowing the software to allocate its resources more intelligently and efficiently.
Tips and comments
However, a large majority of automation marketing software is still mainly used to track and record customer intent about specific products on the Internet. Most frequently, these automated programs record consumer interest by tracking online activity of customers through linking and piecing together recorded links that the customer clicks, search tags used in emails etc and by doing so, maintains a record of specific consumer choices, allowing marketers to then specifically target the customers who have shown an interest in that particular product. By helping marketers in dividing the consumers into specific segments on the basis of their choices and interests, the automation marketing software allow for the development and execution of extremely efficient marketing campaigns which allow for higher sales and eventually a better relationship with consumers. Therefore it can also be said that these automation marketing software make up an integral part of customer relationship management.
