• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, September 8, 2021

Most brands are effective at using marketing automation. But some are not getting the most out of their tools, judging by The State Of Marketing Automation, a study by Ascend2.  

Of the firms polled, 67% rank themselves as somewhat successful at using automation to reach their goals, and 17% say they are successful
(best in class). Only 16% admit they are unsuccessful. 

But 54% feel they are not are not using their automation marketing tools to their fullest potential, and only 20% say they are. The remainder are unsure. 

Among the barriers they face are: 

• Lack of training/resources/knowledge base — 39% 
• Lack of resources to manage — 32% 
• Lack of budget to maintain — 31%
• Complicated setup — 25%
• Slow onboarding process — 16% 
• Inability to integrate with other tools — 16%
• Missing or inadequate features — 14%
• Decentralized data — 14% 
• Lack of internal adoption or buy-in — 13%%
• Lack of customization options — 12%

Still, most have been able to integrate their automation solutions with the rest of their technology stack, although few have done so totally and a quarter of them have not done so at all:

• Entirely integrated — 7% 
• Mostly integrated — 29%
• Somewhat integrated — 39%
• Not at all integrated — 25%

Still, most users see the need for implementing automation. They cite these reasons: 

• Streamlining marketing and sales efforts — 35% 
• Improving customer engagement — 34% 
• Improving customer experience — 34% 
• Minimizing manual tasks — 30%

What helps them most in amplifying their automation success? 

• Quality data — 52%
• Strategic execution — 46%
• Alignment of sales and marketing — 45%
• Customer journey mapping — 26% 
• Adequate staff training — 22%
• Lead scoring — 18%
• Defining personas — 13%

Brands now use marketing automation for the following activities:

• Email marketing — 65% 
• Social media engagement — 47%
• Landing pages — 30% 
• Paid ads — 28%
• Campaign tracking — 25%
• Content management — 23% 
• SEO Efforts — 18%
• Account-based marketing — 18%
• SMS marketing — 17%
• Lead scoring — 17%
• Workflows/automation visualization — 16%
• Sales funnel communications — 14%
• Push notifications — 13%
• Live chat — 13%
• Dynamic web forms — 12%

Here are the areas where they hope to implement automation over the next year:

• Email marketing — 40% 
• Social media management — 39%
• Paid ads — 32%
• Landing pages — 26%
• Campaign tracking — 23%
• Content management — 22%  
• Account-based marketing — 21%
• Live chat — 21%
• Workflows/automation visualization — 19%
• SEO efforts — 18% 
• SMS marketing — 18%
• Lead scoring — 18%
• Sales funnel communications — 17%
• Push notifications — 16%
• Dynamic web forms — 14%

Ascend2 and its Research Partners surveyed 302 marketers in July 2021, 30% of them B2B, 46% B2C and 24% engaged in B2B and B2C equally.