Communigator has collaborated with Smart Insights to bring us their recent survey results in relation to Marketing Automation. For both B2B and B2C companies, Marketing Automation is a valuable tool. These survey results show how applications and attitudes have changed since a similar study from 2016.

1 in 8 businesses in 2019 is not using Marketing Automation, compared to 18% in 2016. Of those businesses who have opted for this incredible technology, only 5% are taking advantage of all the features available to them, this figure has remained consistent since 2016.

However, those who declared the usage of the majority of these features have declined significantly, from over 30% in 2016 to under 15% this year.

The choice of automation techniques used showed one of the largest drops in the last three years. Sending clients initial welcome emails has remained the number 1 choice for businesses between 2016 and 2019.

But welcoming emails and all other techniques have seen a drop in popularity. However, nurturing emails, based on browsed content or downloaded has seen a small increase. Businesses appear to be favouring their target towards those who have shown a genuine interest in the business rather than trying to entice inactive customers.

The use of user activity tracking is an amazing tool for businesses. However, only 29% of those surveyed do not tailor their emails based on this. Emails sent to potential clients and customers remain the same, regardless of their activity and can result in missed conversions.

This shortfall can be attributed to a lack of knowledge for just how effective the process of tailored emails can be. Overall, businesses do appear to highly value current and returning clients, with nurturing emails seeing a jump in use from 4% to 18% in these three years.

Lead scoring, a process of targeting emails based on user ‘scores’ obtained through their activity, remains a popular choice. Companies are given the ability to filter users based on their sincerity for the service or product. The most common form of lead scoring is based on links clicked within emails and on websites. Lead scoring can be so concise, it can be tailored to target clients with an interest in particular products.

Below shows how businesses reflected on the ROI of AI. As this technology is still very much in its infancy, the previous study in 2016 did not cover this topic. Artificial Intelligence provides user actionable insights by using existing data to show personalized landing pages. A common use would be adapting a home page to reflect previous site history.

A largely ineffective method to gain data is through the use of sign in via social media, this is most likely due to these platforms encrypting data.

The question is, this technology advances, why are we seeing a decline since 2016 and why are businesses not taking advantage of this tech?

Lack of staff knowledge has appeared to pose as the biggest barrier, closely followed by the need to integrate outdated systems to fall in line with modern technology. Budget, staffing and lack of resources have also been defined as factors.

If companies are unable to obtain an initial contact email, these techniques are swiftly rendered redundant. How are businesses persuading visitors to hand over their contact details?

Using key pages on sites as content that requires a sign in s used by 56%, while another 44% offer free content in exchange for these contact details.

Overall, lack of staff knowledge, along with resources appears to be the largest contributing factor as to why only 2% of B2B marketers are using marketing automation. Alongside the integration with outdated technology.

A study by Smart Insights revealed lightboxes improve leads predominantly but this study shows they are one of the most unpopular tools. It is imperative that businesses seeking opportunities with Marketing Automation ensure staffs are fully educated in its abilities to unlock the full potential of Marketing Automation.

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