Marketing automation tools

Marketing Automation Tools

Marketing is a different world from the one that existed a few decades ago — more than that, it is different from the way it was even a few years ago. Modern technology has changed so much about the way that people go about everyday tasks that it now permeates everything that they do. As a result, when trying to reach people through sales and marketing, it should come as no surprise that technology is an integral tool to use.

This has resulted in a surge of new retail technology and the emergence of a booming new industry. With developers touting the latest hot new tech solution from every direction, the market is filled to the brim with sales, customer relationship, and marketing automation tools. The question now is: which of these tools are truly the best? Which of the many offerings will not only make jobs easier, but actually encourage a business to grow, making that all-important boost to the bottom line?

Understanding what modern customers want.

The key to separating the best technology solutions from the lesser choices lies in properly understanding the modern customer, and what it demands. Eighty-eight percent of top marketers say a customer journey strategy is critical to the success of their overall marketing. So what do customers want? There is no one answer to that question, but perhaps more than anything else the modern customer is looking for a simplified and cohesive shopping experience. This is the type of “customer journey” that top marketers should be looking to provide.

Eighty-eight percent of top marketers say a customer journey strategy is critical to the success of their overall marketing

One of the main influences that the internet has had on modern society is the immediacy of information. If someone needs to remember a particular fact, or directions to somewhere new, all they have to do is perform a quick search on their phone and they have an answer in seconds. If there is something that they need at home, they can go online and see a list of products arranged based on their personal history and preferences. In every area of life, people are looking for this same combination of immediacy and personalisation.

This has resulted in the rise of omnichannel retail. That is to say, a complete, unified customer experience from start to finish. In order to find success in the current market, companies must meet their customers where they are — whether in-store, online, on social media, or wherever — and provide the same high quality experience every time. This is what separates the best marketing automation tools from the rest.

The next generation of marketing automation tools.

In order to reach customers with these all-important 1-to-1 journeys, a new generation of marketing automation tools has emerged. These tools take advantage of cloud capabilities in order to provide marketing teams with the ability to get to know their customers better, manage campaigns, and collaborate more seamlessly with other departments such as sales, service, IT, and more.

The success of these kinds of tools is evident — among high-performing marketing teams, 63 percent are excellent at collaborating with other business units, and a further 63 percent are implementing digital transformation across the company.

among high-performing marketing teams, 63 percent are excellent at collaborating with other business units, and a further 63 percent are implementing digital transformation across the company

Top marketing automation tools go hand in hand with a software solution that works for company-wide automation. A CRM platform that can be used by everybody from the top down, in order to create that seamless omnichannel experience that customers are looking for. However, this just scratches the surface of the kinds of features that a marketing manager should be looking for when deciding which marketing automation tools to implement.

How to find the best marketing automation tools.

The question then, is this: how does a marketing manager look past those good marketing automation tools, and find the best marketing automation tools? As mentioned, it starts with knowing what the customer wants, but the next step is to know which features will give them that. With that in mind, here are some features to look for in an effective marketing automation tool.

Advanced Customisable Capabilities
Depending on a company’s specific needs, the abilities that are required of their platform will change, but the best marketing automation tools will provide a comprehensive list of features that you can pick and choose as needed. Some of the most important tools are:

Automated email marketing, with the ability to personalise based off of specific customer needs.
Mobile messaging through SMS, MMS, push notifications, and group messaging.
Social media marketing, with analytics and automation tools.
The ability to create and manage ad campaigns, and track their success.
Landing page creation and analytics.
Connection to other channels to create 1-to-1 customer journeys.

Easy Usability on Any Device
Perhaps it should go without saying, but usability is also a very important factor in choosing a marketing automation platform. It should be intuitive enough that it does not require days or weeks to get the hang of, and require little or no advanced knowledge. Furthermore it is important to check user interface on every screen size, to make sure that it is easy to use across all mobile devices and platforms.

Streamlined Integration
Moreover, as it will be used across many different platforms, integration is key. Integration with every device — both desktop and mobile — as well as existing software is essential.

Enhanced Flexibility
Finally, as mentioned, the best marketing automation tools leave room for customisation. But they also allow for facilitating growth. Businesses can sometimes expand at an accelerated rate, and it is important to have a tool that aids with that.

High performing marketing teams are 3.3 times more likely than underperformers to use CRM tools extensively, and 34.4 times more likely to say that they are excellent at creating personalised omnichannel customer experiences across all business units. The evidence is clear. If a business hopes to excel in marketing, its focus must be on facilitating customer journeys, and finding the tools with which to do so. Salesforce is a good place to start. Using Salesforce, you can create these kinds of 1-to-1 journeys, and connect to customers in a whole new way. Check out the tools that you can add to your arsenal today.