5 Hot B2B Marketing Automation Trends in 2018

Marketing automation is an excellent and compelling tool developed to be used by marketers to streamline the activities that they keep repeating when engaging with prospects and customers. We have five marketing automation trends will benefit you significantly once integrated into your strategy in 2018.

Every marketer knows and understands the benefits of marketing automation. Tasks such as sending emails, accessing social media, and others are made easier and faster with this software. Even so, this strategy is not entirely focused on streamlining activities but multiplying the results gotten.

Because of using automation, many marketers report twice as many leads as compared to using email blast software. This technology’s success fuels the growth of the marketing automation industry. By 2025, marketers expect that this industry will have grown to highs of $8.6 billion. With this astounding growth rate, what should be the expectations of marketers for the coming months?

1. In-Depth understanding of the behavior of users and personalization

Marketing automation is a strategy used by many marketers to evade the repetition of mundane tasks. But other than that, they are also using this tool to establish a better relationship with their customers. Around 79 percent of prospects say that the chances of purchasing from a company increases if the company addresses them by their name, gives recommendations based on their past purchases and is aware of their history of acquisitions. We are in an era where customers want companies to know them. For instance, account-based marketing will allow companies to focus their campaigns on different prospects that they identify before time. Computer Science Corporation provides services relating to information technology. With marketing automation, this company built some ad campaigns which were tactfully designed to target specific accounts and to retarget them again. They used content that was strategically developed across various channels. This campaign increased the number of views, and more prospects were directed along the sales cycle.

Soon, marketing automation will be vital for creating such experiences that are personalized. Marketers will be able to acquire knowledge and understanding of prospect’s behaviors through tracking. This will enable them to put in place strategies that will act on the information gained strategically.

2. Live video is trending, and its incorporation into automation is increasing

B2B content marketing has seen an increase in the use of live videos as more social media platforms offer this feature. Below are a few facts about this trend.

• About Eighty percent of people prefer watching a video than reading a blog post
• As stated in Tubular Insights, viewers will typically spend 8× longer with live video as compared to on-demand.
• Viewers view an average of 5.1 minutes when it comes to on-demand. This is as compared to 42.8 minutes for live videos.
• Ninety-two percent of consumers of mobile videos always share videos with their contacts as stated by Invodo.
• Live video is outshining the rate of growth of other kinds of online videos. In a year, there is a remarkable ad growth, 113 percent increase to be precise.

For example, you can look at a food and travel website called Tastemade. This website used live video to teach their viewers how to appreciate food using an entertaining video. The company also created kitchen series where miniature food versions were created in a set that was very tiny.

It is time for B2B companies to start using live videos together with their marketing automation. The company should put out the content that is in demand by the prospects and use the opportunity to watch how the candidates interact with the content. This way, they will get valuable insight. From the information gained, one can develop marketing efforts that are precise and will drive more leads and sales.

3. End-to-end channel integration as a result of automation

In this era, customers can choose which channel to use when engaging with a brand. Regardless of the channel, they expect a consistent experience. Gartner Research shows that campaigns that depend on at least four digital channels outdo those that have two digital channels at most. While many channels is a good strategy, getting it right with each one is better.

With marketing automation, it will be easy to disseminate information consistently through all available channels. This helps to reach more customers and create a massive impact. With this, you can also get more knowledge and a better picture of what is going on with your prospects and customers. This way, your content creation will get better by the day.

With marketing automation, you will also be able to tailor the customer experience based on the channel they prefer and their location in the buying cycle. You will be able to deliver an experience that is well personalized and relevant using the power that automation grants you.

4. Pairing content marketing with automation creates a duo that is unstoppable

Marketing automation and content marketing is a duo that is powerful. It will give you the chance to stretch your content’s effectiveness, get more leads, and enhance the rate of conversion. It will also drive higher levels of ROI.
With marketing automation, you will get a tool that helps you in knowing your customers better. With the information gained, you can categorize the customers based on common factors and develop a content strategy best suited for each group.

It will be of great value for you to tap into specific data from each group. You can efficiently tap into the data when you understand their point of access to the product and service’s data. You will also have to know the search queries they are using. By being able to generate such reports and make the necessary changes effectively, marketers can meet their customer requirements effectively. In turn, you will be able to nurture leads and even move the customers through the sales cycles in a compelling way.

Also, once you have mastered a particular group of buyers, fine-tune the marketing strategies that you have so that you can meet their demands. With marketing automation, content delivery is quick. You can also get the chance to deliver ahead of time. This will stir the sales cycle forwards.

5. Shape the experience of users using marketing automation and insight

User experience is the heartbeat of every product success. Excellent marketing automation will always enhance the user experience and not distract it. For example, let us assume that you sent an email blast to your prospects recently. The email urges them to check out your website so that they can learn about the product. Ensure that any time they click on the sent link, the content that is displayed is relevant to the needs that they have. This could be case studies about the niche they are interested in. It can also be any other exciting and informative details.

Marketing automation has a vital role to play in ensuring that the customers view content that is customized to their need. It will also help to ensure that the customer experience is relevant to their location in the buying cycle.

When you gather data about prospects and take time to understand it, it gives you power for personalization. This way, you will present highly relevant content. This will make the candidates feel fortunate. They will feel like the company profoundly understands their pain points.

Finally

Marketing automation is a powerful asset for every marketer, and it has proved itself. Even so, soon it will not be enough. One will need to brainstorm on ways of using it creatively regularly.

The examples discussed can help you move your strategy ahead as you learn to integrate and test the different methods implementing marketing automation. You can use it for connecting, engaging, and delighting your customers in different and exciting ways. Ultimately, you will be able to manage leads to your business. You will be able to increase the demand generation with more impact.

Are you using marketing automation for your business? Kindly share your favorite tips and insights below.