Marketing Automation
By Nati Song
There is a difference between a sales funnel and a flywheel. Marketing automation is a flywheel approach rather than a sales funnel one. The mistake most marketers make is that they consider automation marketing (or marketing automation) as a sales funnel. They think that getting more leads or buying email lists will get them the desired results. It is true, but only to some extent, especially in case of this niche of marketing.
Hubspot claims that this approach can work in the short term, but not for a long term where you want to nurture the customers and build up an effective relationship. Think of it as growing a garden; you will first sow the seeds, nurture them, and then enjoy the fruits of your labour. Similarly, with automation marketing, your approach has to be somewhat similar; you first have to nurture the leads, offer them a unique service aspect, respect their wishes, provide quality service, and then they will become your paying customers.
自动化营销必须先培养潜在客户，为他们提供独特的服务，尊重他们的意愿，然后发展他们成为您的付费客户。
What is marketing automation?
Here’s what Hubspot has to say about marketing automation: “At its best, marketing automation is software and tactics that allow companies to buy and sell like Amazon – that is, to nurture prospects with highly personalized, useful content that helps convert prospects to customers and turn customers into delighted customers.” – Hubspot
In simple terms, marketing automation is a process whereby a seller uses different online channels to attract, retain, and nurture leads. They can use social media channels, emails, content marketing, media marketing, and other such online tools where the prospective customer is present.
自动化营销是什么？
自动化营销是一个过程，通过该过程卖方可以使用不同的在线渠道来吸引，保留和培育潜在客户。销售人员可以使用社交媒体渠道，电子邮件，内容营销等在线工具吸引潜在客户。
The scope of marketing automation (in numbers)
This means that under the scope of automation marketing, customer retention and nurturing should be given more importance and attention than customer attraction. Statista has found that 1.8 billion people shopped online in 2018, generating sales of $2.8 trillion. And these sales are predicted to spike up to $4.8 trillion by 2021. So this means that the trend of online shopping will rise progressively. And of the $2.8 trillion, Asia had the largest share of $831.7 billion. Going further deep, China’s share was $740 billion.
One thing is clear, and that is that automation marketing has a huge role to play in the world of online shopping. So why not use it to your benefit with the correct approach?
Marketing automation is evolving
The customer buying cycle that we have been used to until now is evolving. From the earlier one-size-fits-all approach to a personalized system of marketing, automation is making way for a personalized customer journey. Added to this, customers are also using online shopping platforms with full enthusiasm.
“Think with Google” has found that more than 60% of shopping occasions begin online. In this scenario, your automation marketing strategy has to cover all the parameters of a customer journey.
This Google Trends chart shows how automation marketing has been popularized from the beginning of 2004 till now.
自动化营销在不断发展
自动化营销为个性化的客户旅程铺平道路。在超过60％的购物场合都是在网上进行的情况下，自动化营销策略必须涵盖客户旅程的所有参数。
Automation marketing has transitioned to Omni-Channel Marketing
Omni-Channel Marketing is a much bigger and wider concept than automation marketing. Unlike automation marketing which covers lead generation, nurturing, and conversion, Omni-channel marketing widens this conversion scope.
Apart from taking care of the leads, it conducts and predicts campaign analytics. Another amazing addition to automation marketing is Artificial Intelligence (AI). This will add a whole new dimension in automation marketing to the industry. Most of all, the automated actions prioritized as per customer reaction will be amazing. And it is already being practiced within the purview of automation marketing.
自动化营销已过渡到全渠道营销
全渠道营销是一个比自动化营销更大，更广泛的概念。全渠道营销最了不起的点是根据客户反应利用人工智能确定优先顺序从而完成自动化操作。
The growth of automation marketing platforms
The present marketing platforms have also diversified. From single operation to multiple operational and integrations capacity, platforms like Hubspot Marketing Automation, CM Commerce, and Adzooma have taken this branch of marketing to the next level. They have in-built tools and software to automate email campaigns, understand customer behaviour, read analytics, manage ad campaigns and ecommerce, and much more. On the basis of these platforms, managing automation marketing has been streamlined.
You need to evolve too
Since the technology is changing the work structure, and as a marketer, you also need to change. Think in terms of the new and advanced technology; learn at the pace of these next-gen platforms to excel at making marketing decisions. Yes, there are a lot of self-assessment tools built into these platforms, but as a marketer you also have to understand them.
To conclude
As dynamic as the current market is, how you understand it makes a big difference. And marketing automation has presented you with a useful and smart way to make sense of the customer experiences, wishes, requirements, demands, and journey. Understand that there is no such thing as an expert marketer. Those who claim to be so are simply good at reading the software, understanding the customer journey, and making sense of the data. So focus on the software aspect of automation marketing and you will automatically grow along with it.
自动化营销为您提供了一种智能的方式来理解客户，专注于自动化营销的软件，您将随之提升。
