Moving to Marketing Automation

 What is Marketing Automation?  

There are several definitions for Marketing Automation, but ultimately it the use of technology to automate manual, repetitive tasks, performed mostly in lead generation and customer relationship management (CRM).  It captures data of prospects’ and customers’ activities – internet, social media, etc., and uses specially-designed programs to schedule and track every communication, insight, action which may prove useful in cultivating the relationship and securing future business commitments. Think of it as a data trail that enables a one-one relationship across a vast number of potential customers.

Automation, within marketing, has evolved only so far as to cover data analysis and database-enabled activities – specifically, e-mail marketing, lead generation and other customer relationship activities. Some fast-growing agencies that specialize in automation focus primarily on improving or managing these functions. But data pools are growing in other areas as well (e.g. digital media response, social media feedback, e-commerce).  Add in the explosion of new applications tied to smart devices that can capture, respond, report and analyze (summarized by the words – Artificial Intelligence – (AI for short)), and we seem to be at a tipping point where marketing becomes data analytics.  No wonder that application and software companies, like Microsoft and IBM Watson, are leading the solutions platforms in these areas.

 Can Automation Do More?

Marketing automation cannot today replace all essential marketing functions, but the arrow is pointing in this direction more than ever.  I envision a time in which all functions of marketing outside of strategic goal setting can be accomplished more quickly and correctly through automation. Marketing is moving from a discipline that uncovered consumer insights through observation, built a differentiated, inspirational brand positioning and inspiring message (essentially, creative endeavors) to a discipline defined by the measurement of data evaluating the efficiency of response-to-value offers, pinpointing these offers to reach customers at precise points of time along their path towards purchase (essentially analytical endeavors).

As a classical left-brained, brand-positioning geek, I find this change from “message” to “metric” unsettling, yet intriguing.   Automation could theoretically handle the analytical side of marketing more quickly and with more consistent results. Its benefits are things I want as a marketing executive.  Sifting through data is not fun; making and acting on decisions that grow a business is fun.

What are the areas of marketing best suited to automation?

Marketing Issue	Marketing Task	Is Automation Applicable
What does the brand stand for?	Brand positioning / differentiation development and refinement	Not easily automated
Who are the highest value target customers?	Target customer identification / personification	Automate
What is the overall brand message?	Brand campaign / message creation	Not easily automated
How and where do you reach the highest value customers?	Consumer journey mapping	Automate
What is the best message at specific time to gain awareness / trial / purchase?	Promotional offers development (tailored to customer touch points from journey mapping)	Automate
What is the response and success of the campaign?	Measurement and reporting – dashboards and metrics	Automate

I have heard it said that robots and artificial intelligence won’t replace what we do, but rather make us all better at doing what we do – especially if we are in knowledge led careers.  So, it is with marketing automation. The essential functions of marketing have not changed. The true opportunity is to embrace marketing automation to enable stronger insights, stronger execution of creative ideas and ultimately build more productive customer relationships.