Brands considering marketing automation strategy are most focused on bucking up their campaign performance, according to Marketing Automation Integration, a study byAscend2.
Their
primary reasons for deploying automation are to improve campaign effectiveness (57%), marketing/sales alignment (53%) and quality lead generation (49%).
Among the lesser-ranked factors are
improvement of marketing-related metrics (34%), data systems centralization (30%) and marketing attribution (26%). Only 9% seek to improve data governance/hygiene.
Their most critical
challenges are in a slightly different order. Firms are daunted when trying to improve:
- Marketing/sales alignment — 49%
- !quality lead generation —
49%
- Campaign effectiveness — 45%
- Marketing-related metrics — 31%
- Marketing attribution — 23%
- Data governance/hygiene —
17%
- Data systems centralization — 16%
Despite these challenges, almost all the respondents say their automation implementation strategy is at least partially
successful.
Of those polled, 40% rank themselves as very successful, or best in class. Another 55% feel they are somewhat successful. And 9% sadly say they’re unsuccessful.
Look for brands to raise their marketing automation budgets this year. For 64%, the budget will increase moderately. And 23% say it will go up significantly. But 13% expect a decrease, and 2%
expect a significant one.
How do they choose automation systems? They look at:
- Total cost or pricing model — 53%
- Ease of use/learning curve —
47%
- Analytics and reporting — 40%
- All-in-one/integrated solution — 39%
- Lead management — 30%
- Data management —
27%
- Email/campaign automation — 27%
It takes time to realize the benefits of marketing automation — 54% report that it takes six to 12 months, 36% cite six months
or less and 10% say it takes 12 months or more.
How do they measure automation success? They analyze:
- Revenue generated — 60%
- Customers acquired
— 52%
- Conversion rates — 44%
- Sales accepted leads — 29%
- Marketing qualified leads — 23%
- Cost per lead generate —
14%
- Open and click rates — 6%
Of the respondents, 63% use both in-house and outside resources, 24% do everything in-house and 13% rely totally on outside
specialists.
Ascend2 and its Research Partners surveyed 277 marketing influencers.