Marketing automation not only saves you a lot of time and increases the efficiency of your customer acquisition. It also allows you to create a highly personalized customer journey to create. You can reach your target group exactly when they really need your offers — and with messages that are always relevant.
In the modern market structure, where attention and loyalty are fiercely contested, correspondingly intensive customer centricity is increasingly becoming an important factor for long-term competitiveness. Here, you can find out how marketing automation can benefit you, which advantages are particularly significant, and how to use them
What is marketing automation?
In essence, marketing automation (often referred to as marketing automation) describes the use of specific software to simplify customer acquisition and retention processes or automate it in full. Typical tasks are carried out without constant manual intervention. The tools plan, execute and analyze campaigns.
This is not just about automated newsletters, as is often thought. In fact, you can map entire workflows that can be tailored precisely to your company's and your customers' needs. The most iitself. The systems require data to tailor every measure precisely to the relevant target groups and individual user needs
Typical fields of application of automation in marketing are:
• Lead generation or the maintenance and evaluation of interested parties via automated campaigns
• Email marketing and lead nurturing, i.e. the targeted building of trust up to the purchase decision
• Target group segmentation for personalized content based on behavioral data
• Automatic campaign delivery with suitable offers at the right moment
• Upselling and cross-selling strategies that give existing customers new impetus
• Loyalty programs for long-term customer loyalty
• Detailed analytics or A/B testing to verify effectiveness and ROI
All of these processes are running on a central platform together. Marketing teams can clearly control, measure and optimize all activities in the long term.
AI and marketing automation
The combination of classic process automation and artificial intelligence is currently transforming marketing fundamentally. Unlike traditional automation, which is based on predefined rules, AI automation uses machine learning to offer greater flexibility. Systems of this type can identify patterns, anticipate outcomes and make appropriate decisions or provide recommendations. Intelligent tools analyse customer data in real time, optimising content dynamically and adapting campaigns immediately in response to current trends.
An example: An algorithm recognizes that a specific customer group is increasingly responding to individual product videos. The system then automatically plays similar content and prioritizes exactly those channels that have an increased engagement rate. This results in highly personalized interactions that are not only maximally efficient, but also extremely customer-friendly. This intelligent automation measurably improves the customer experience and can significantly lead to an optimized conversion rate.
Key benefits of marketing automation
One of the biggest benefits of automation is, of course, the significant amount of time it saves. Routine tasks such as planning campaign distribution, collecting data, and maintaining email contacts are carried out automatically, accurately, and around the clock. This frees up time to focus on more complex, advanced strategic tasks, such as brand development and evaluating key figures. Automated systems ensure that you always present a uniform image, whether via newsletters, social media, Google or your website.
In addition to these superficial benefits, marketing automation enables you to achieve an unexpected level of personalisation. By using data and segmentation in a targeted manner, you can address individuals in your target group personally. Campaigns or direct communications are displayed based on user interaction behaviour, purchase history, and other signals. Combined with lead nurturing strategies, this creates a communication flow that gradually leads interested parties to purchase.
The aim is not to create processes for the sake of automation, but to support customers and interested parties with clear added value. Such Principles of Inbound Marketing, if they are strategically planned in an optimal way, lead to a positive customer experience and support today's customer centricity, which is so important.
- The publicly traded consulting and IT service provider Adesso presents in its current Customer centricity study“found that a seamless, personalized shopping experience is just as important as the product itself for almost 90 percent of customers. Furthermore, 60 percent of buyers remain loyal to brands that offer a high degree of personalization.
- According to one Investigation of Cintellic from 2023, however, less than half of the companies surveyed are using appropriate automation solutions. At the same time, according to the Adesso study, only around a third use existing data for a tailored, personalized approach.
These figures make it clear that the potential is great, but many companies are just getting started. Those ho invested early on in automating marketing processes acquires a decisive advantage.
How can marketing automation be introduced in a company?
Although implementing marketing automation software is demanding, it is generally worthwhile. It is important to plan the project realistically and implement it systematically, step by step. Professional automation advice can help you to identify potential issues and avoid costly mistakes. The following outlines the typical phases and success factors that have been proven time and time again in practice..
- Determine maturity level: The first step is to analyze your current processes. Which processes are still running manually? Where are there media breaks or duplicate data sets? This inventory shows where you should start and which systems can already be connected.
- Set goals and priorities: Not all marketing automation needs to cover all channels right away. Decide which areas have the greatest leverage — such as lead management or newsletter automation — and start there.
- Select a suitable platform: Check which marketing automation software meets your needs. Key selection criteria include the range of functions, scalability and the ability to integrate with existing tools (e.g., CRM or analysis systems). References from other companies, ratings and reviews give you real insights into the application.
- Set up a project team: Close cooperation between IT, marketing and, if applicable, sales is essential. Together, interfaces can be designed efficiently and responsibilities can be clearly defined. This creates transparency and prevents subsequent friction losses.
- Time and budget planning: Set a realistic time frame in which pilot projects are tested and gradually expanded. Plan for licensing, implementation, and training costs — this will help you avoid bottlenecks later on.
- Include use cases and tests: Develop specific use cases that your provider can show during the presentation. Live demos help to realistically assess functions and identify the need for adjustment at an early stage.
- Define data strategy: A clean database is fundamentally important for any intelligent automation. Clarify in advance which customer data may be used and how it can be optimally maintained and evaluated. This includes in particular, master data, transactions or behavioral data from shop and ERP systems.
- Training and roll-out: As soon as the platform is up and running, employees should be trained on it. Ideally, you will bring the functions to those responsible immediately after choosing the system. This lowers the inhibition threshold and enables faster use.
Conclusion
Marketing automation is becoming more and more the backbone of modern customer communication. It makes it possible to combine efficiency with real Proximity to the target group to connect. Anyone who automates appropriate processes can evaluate information in a targeted manner, deliver messages individually, and have decisions made based on data instead of guessing from the gut.
Companies that consistently rely on automation in marketing benefit from shorter response times, measurable success, and an improved customer experience. Customer centricity is strengthened, brand perception is raised, and the organization is becoming more agile overall. The ability to securely send marketing content at the right time via the appropriate channel is increasingly decisive for market success (even concerning current studies). If you rely on marketing automation early on, you are laying the foundation for a sustainable competitiveness.
FAQ
Who is marketing automation for?
Basically, marketing automation is suitable for companies of all sizes and industries. Both start-ups and established SMEs can benefit. It is crucial that the tools can be technically integrated and that clear goals are defined. Implementation should be realistically planned and systematically implemented.
Which marketing automation software is recommended?
The selection is large and depends on your needs. Popular solutions include ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud. It is important to carefully compare the features and costs and finally choose exactly the software that best suits your campaign goals and existing systems. As a first guide, please have a look at our contribution to 7 best automation tools 2025 on.
How much does a marketing automation tool cost?
The prices vary significantly depending on the provider and range of functions. Entry-level solutions start at around 50 euros a month, but more extensive suites can quickly cost several thousand euros. Factors such as the number of users, contact volume and additional modules (e.g. lead scoring or AI features) determine the price. Automation advice helps you find the right model for your budget.
Geschrieben von:
Jens ist Mitgründer von bakedwith, einer Boutique-Beratung für smarte Automatisierung und KI. Er unterstützt mittelständische Unternehmen und Konzerne dabei, Prozesse zu optimieren, manuelle Arbeit zu reduzieren und durch effiziente Workflows Wachstum zu erzielen. Zuvor war Jens Growth Lead bei OMR und begleitete als Freelancer zahlreiche Unternehmen bei der Optimierung ihrer CRM- und Automationssysteme. Seine Leidenschaft gilt der Verbindung von Wachstum und Effizienz – damit Teams sich auf das Wesentliche konzentrieren können.
