What is marketing automation
Also known as: automated marketing, automated flows, email automation
Marketing automation is the use of software to run repetitive marketing tasks and bring together in one system interactions across email, SMS, chat and social media, website tracking, lead scoring and campaign reporting. In practice, each contact gets the right message when they do something, such as downloading a resource, abandoning a cart or going quiet for a while, without anyone having to remember.
An online cosmetics store notices that its best selling moisturizer lasts about 60 days. It sets up three automations: abandoned cart (email after one hour and a message the next day), welcome after the first purchase and a reorder reminder 55 days later.
None of these messages needs anyone on the team. The reorder reminder alone starts accounting for a meaningful share of monthly sales, sold to people who were already customers.
What can be automated
| Trigger | What happens | |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome | Signup or first purchase | A sequence introducing the company and the next step |
| Nurturing | Resource download | Stage by stage content until the lead is ready |
| Abandoned cart | Product left in the cart | A reminder with the item and sometimes an incentive |
| Reorder | Time since last purchase | A reminder when the product should be running out |
| Re engagement | Months without interaction | A message to win the contact back or clean the list |
| Handoff to sales | Score above the threshold | An alert to the salesperson with the lead's history |
Marketing automation and CRM
The two tools complement each other. Marketing automation tracks top of funnel activity and moves prospects toward sales; the CRM holds customer information and their position in the sales cycle. That is why they are usually integrated, or the same system plays both roles.
How to get started
- List the messages your team always sends the same way; they are the first candidates.
- Start with a single flow, such as welcome or abandoned cart.
- Define trigger, sequence, interval and exit rule.
- Test it with your own team before turning it on for all contacts.
- Measure, and only then build the second flow.
Limits and cautions
Automating a bad process just makes the mistake happen faster and at scale. Too many messages lead to unsubscribes and spam complaints, and Gmail asks senders to keep their spam rate below 0.1% and never reach 0.3%.
It also pays to review flows often: expired offers, broken links and old prices keep going out every day while nobody looks. And any automation using personal data must respect the purpose disclosed to the person, as privacy laws require.
What to measure
- Revenue and conversions attributed to each flow.
- Clicks and replies per message.
- Unsubscribes and spam complaints.
- Time saved by the team.
- Spam rate in Postmaster Tools, for senders to Gmail.
Frequently asked questions
What is marketing automation?
The use of software to run repetitive marketing tasks, such as sending emails, segmentation and lead scoring, triggered by each contact's behavior.
What are examples of marketing automation?
Welcome series, lead nurturing, abandoned cart, reorder reminders, re engagement of inactive contacts and alerts to sales when a lead is ready.
What is the difference between marketing automation and a CRM?
Automation handles the relationship at the top of the funnel and moves contacts toward sales. The CRM organizes customers and deals during the sale. They usually work together.
Is marketing automation just email?
No. Besides email, it can involve SMS, messaging apps, chat, social media, ads and internal alerts for the team.
Where should I start automating?
With the messages your team already sends the same way every time. A welcome or abandoned cart flow is a good first step.
Related terms
- Lead nurturingLead nurturing is a planned relationship with contacts who are not yet ready to buy: a sequence of messages...
- CRMCRM, short for customer relationship management, is the process and, almost always, the system that records...
- Lead scoringLead scoring is the method of assigning points to each lead to rank who deserves attention first. The score...
- RemarketingRemarketing, also called retargeting, means showing ads to people who have already interacted with...
- ChurnChurn is the rate of customers who stop buying or cancel during a period, relative to those the business had...
- Customer journeyThe customer journey is the path a person takes from the first sign of a need to the purchase, and beyond it...
Rodrigo Fávaro
Founder of ROO3, a marketing and technology agency in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. Builds AI products running in production (Tobia, gerar.app, Pense Mercado) and maintains the AI Benchmark, a public ranking of AI models.
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