Businesses turning to automation for email marketing success
While email marketing has long been a key part of many business-to-business (B2B) marketing campaigns, it faces some significant changes in 2014, according to a new report.
This year, companies are shifting their focus to more automated and personalised email marketing campaigns, says the new report from eMarketer, which finds that while the main purpose of email marketing has not changed, trends such as mobile adoption, content marketing and automation are leading B2B marketers to alter their approach.
Companies continue to value email marketing, despite the growing number of digital platforms, formats and channels now available, says eMarketer.
But as businesses seek to personalise marketing messages, to target the right message to the right person at the right time, increased automation is essential, says the report. Marketers are therefore opting for integrated campaigns that link directly to their company’s sales and marketing initiatives.
The report, “B2B Email Marketing: Benchmarks and Best Practices for 2014”, notes that while just over a quarter of American B2B marketers surveyed by BtoB Magazine had completely integrated automation into their sales and marketing initiatives in 2013, that level is set to double in 2014, when 52% of respondents expect to complete adoption of marketing automation.
While automation can be used in a range of different marketing tools, email automation remains the most important to B2B marketers, according to a 2014 survey by digital marketing company Regalix, quoted in the report.
Whether you're planning to reach new customers this year or increase your contact with existing customers, one thing is clear: your audience is already receiving personalised and automated marketing messages. So how could you use automation to improve your own email marketing campaigns?
Have you seen any good examples of automated or personalised email marketing? Or are you already using these techniques in your business?