Hi friend! Marketing automation tools have become indispensable weapons in the modern marketer‘s arsenal. As we enter 2023, there are some major marketing automation capabilities and trends rising to the forefront that you need to know about.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you through the top 5 marketing automation trends that should be on your radar for dominating in the year ahead. I‘ve been working hands-on with marketing automation technologies for over 5 years, so I‘m excited to share my insights with you on how these trends can impact your business! Let‘s get started.
1. AI and Machine Learning Will Be Everywhere
The exciting field of artificial intelligence (AI) and its subset machine learning (ML) are taking marketing automation to the next level. These transformative technologies enable marketing platforms to crunch huge volumes of data, identify patterns, and drive everything from predictive lead scoring to hyper-personalized messaging.
Here are some jaw-dropping stats on the growth of AI in marketing:
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65% of marketers are already using AI and ML in their tech stacks, up from only 29% in 2018 (Salesforce)
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Over 75% of high-performing marketing teams have implemented AI capabilities (Evergage)
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63% of marketers believe AI is "very important" for the future of marketing (SmartInsights)
And we‘re just getting started. With AI advancement accelerating, marketing automation platforms are integrating more robust AI capabilities across the entire customer lifecycle:
(1) Lead Scoring & Segmentation
Sophisticated machine learning algorithms analyze numerous customer attributes and behaviors to determine lead potential and group users into hyper-targeted segments. This level of predictive insight allows marketers to precisely focus efforts on the highest value prospects.
For example, a leading insurance provider implemented AI-based lead scoring which increased sales qualified lead conversion rates by a whopping 80% within 3 months!
(2) Personalized Content & Recommendations
Platforms like Uberflip leverage natural language processing (NLP) to analyze content performance and recommend specific pieces of content to each visitor based on their individual interests. This AI-powered personalization can boost content consumption by up to 300%!
(3) 24/7 Chatbot Support
AI chatbots have progressed remarkably in their ability to handle multi-turn conversations and address customer issues. According to Gartner, 85% of all customer interactions will be completely handled by chatbots by 2023.
With AI advancements accelerating, marketing automation platforms will get infused with "intelligence" to drive everything from predictive lead scoring to 24/7 chatbot support over the coming years. Implementing these AI capabilities will be pivotal for boosting marketing performance and gaining a competitive edge.
2. Omnichannel Marketing Will Be Automated
Today‘s consumers engage across a multitude of channels ranging from email and SMS to websites, social media, mobile apps, online ads, and more. Orchestrating a unified experience across all these touchpoints is incredibly challenging. This makes omnichannel marketing automation an indispensable capability.
Sophisticated marketing automation platforms act as a centralized hub to map out and coordinate messaging across channels throughout the customer journey. This omnichannel approach provides a seamless, consistent experience that aligns with how people actually interact with brands today.
Just look at these statistics that highlight the business impact of orchestrating omnichannel campaigns with marketing automation:
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89% customer retention rates for brands using omnichannel automation versus 33% for those who don‘t (Salesforce)
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14% average increase in sales for companies with highly integrated cross-channel campaigns (Aberdeen Group)
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72% of consumers say they engage more with brands that provide unified omnichannel experiences (Omnisend)
Here are some of the key omnichannel marketing automation tactics you should leverage:
Email Marketing Automation
Time sending sequences, behavior-triggered campaigns, and personalized content across email. Integrate email with your website experience through tactics like triggered on-site messages when a prospect opens your message.
Social Media Automation
Schedule and queue content across all social channels. Respond to mentions automatically. Create customized audience segments for each network.
Ads Automation
Build sequential ad journeys tailored to each stage of the funnel. Leverage custom audiences and hyper-targeted ad creation.
Mobile Marketing Automation
Send behavioral-based app push notifications, in-app messages, and location-triggered campaigns. Market to users based on app usage history and behaviors.
As you can see, coordinating compelling omnichannel experiences is extremely difficult without automation. In 2023, I expect virtually every serious marketer to invest in robust platforms that can simplify omnichannel orchestration.
3. Hyper-Personalization Will Be the Norm
With customers demanding ultra-tailored brand interactions, marketing personalization needs to become much more sophisticated. Leveraging marketing automation to achieve hyper-personalization will be crucial for resonance and results.
But what exactly is hyper-personalization? It‘s using data at an individual level to completely customize messaging and offers based on each person‘s unique preferences and context. The stats speak volumes about the power of dialing personalization up to this level:
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Hyper-personalized promotions have 6-10X higher conversion rates on average (Infinity Tracking)
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72% of consumers say they will only engage with personalized messaging (Salesforce)
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Personalization can increase revenue by up to 15% (Adobe)
Here are some ways to leverage automation for hyper-personalization magic:
Granular Customer Profiles
Build in-depth profiles for both new and existing contacts based on attributes like demographics, behaviors, clickstream activity, purchase history, and real-time interactions. Identify their precise interests and preferences.
Location-Based Automations
Use geofencing and localized data to deliver contextual messages and offers based on each customer‘s real-time location. Location can signal strong intent and relevancy.
Event-Triggered Campaigns
Set up personalized campaigns timed to events like birthdays, anniversaries, or milestone purchase achievements. This shows customers you value the relationship. For example, a hotel chain sends a special offer on a customer‘s 10-year booking anniversary.
Dynamic Content Recommendations
Analyze each visitor‘s on-site behaviors and interests to serve up personalized content and product recommendations in real-time.This tailored content performs up to 22% better for user engagement.
Customized Journeys
Orchestrate personalized nurture journeys for different personas/segments that adapt in real-time based on engagement and behaviors. Journeys tailored to persona or buying stage consistently outperform generic messaging.
With consumers expecting interactions tailored to their individual needs, hyper-personalization should be a major focus for your automation efforts. The technology is ready – now you need to use it to delight customers!
4. Chatbots Will Be Your New BFF
Chatbots are one of the most disruptive marketing automation technologies to emerge in recent years. These AI-powered bots enable personalized conversations with prospects and customers at scale across multiple channels.
Adoption of chatbots is absolutely exploding:
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More than 75% of large companies will be using chatbots by 2023 (Juniper Research)
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Over 50% of millennials say they are fine using chatbots for customer service needs (HubSpot)
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Chatbots can reduce customer service costs by up to 30% while handling common inquiries (Gartner)
Here are some of the most effective ways to use chatbot automation:
24/7 Live Chat Support
Deploy bots with human hand-off capabilities so real agents can step in easily if needed. This ensures seamless support.
Lead Qualification & Nurturing
Bots can engage prospects with personalized questions to determine interest and needs, then automatically enroll them in relevant nurture tracks.
Appointment Scheduling
Enable effortless self-service booking of calls, demos, and meetings. No back and forth emails required!
Post-Purchase Follow-Ups
Proactively engage customers after purchases to answer questions, request reviews, gauge satisfaction, and drive retention.
FAQ Assistance
Instantly provide answers to common questions and guide users to helpful support content. Studies show chatbots now resolve ~80% of routine inquiries.
With chatbots getting smarter by the minute, I expect them to fundamentally transform marketing automation within just a few years. Now is the time to get on board!
5. Mobile Will be the Epicenter
It‘s clear that mobile dominates today‘s digital landscape. According to Google analytics, over 60% of all website traffic now originates from mobile devices. And mobile accounts for a staggering 90% of total media consumption time.
With engagement exploding on mobile, optimizing for these devices will be mandatory. Mobile marketing automation provides the tools to coordinate personalized omnichannel experiences optimized for mobile users.
Consider these mobile marketing automation capabilities that will be crucial:
Behavior-Based Push Notifications
Send timely, hyper-targeted notifications across mobile apps based on user behaviors and preferences. Choose the right message for the right user at the right time.
Location-Based Automations
Geo-fencing and other location data can trigger contextual notifications when mobile users are near stores or specific geographic areas. Be where your customers are.
In-App Messaging
Communicate promotions, new features, feedback requests, or any call-to-action through customized in-app messages and mobile wallet cards.
1-Click Payment
Enable instant checkout and frictionless payments within your mobile app experience. Simplicity rules on mobile.
AI-Optimized Experiences
Leverage AI to optimize and personalize the entire mobile app experience from user flows to layouts, engagement opportunities, and push timing.
As you can see, mobile provides limitless opportunities to engage users with the right message at the right time and place. With mobile domination showing no signs of slowing down, make sure your marketing automation is fully mobile-optimized!
brace Your Marketing for the Future!
My friend, I hope this guide provided you with a comprehensive overview of the top marketing automation trends that should be on your radar for 2024. Mastering these capabilities now will set your marketing efforts up for maximum success in the coming year.
Here are a few key takeaways:
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AI and machine learning will enable intelligent automation across your tech stack.
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Omnichannel coordination is mandatory to engage customers seamlessly.
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Hyper-personalization is needed to provide tailored brand experiences.
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Chatbots are emerging as digital assistants for marketing automation.
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And don‘t forget to optimize for mobile in everything you do!
The marketing automation landscape will keep evolving rapidly. But implementing these key trends now will help future-proof your strategy while boosting results and outsmarting the competition.
I‘m excited to see how these technologies shape the future of our profession. But for now – let‘s embrace these trends and achieve some amazing results in 2024! Wishing you the greatest success.
