Marketing Automation: Why You Urgently Need It and How to Get Started

Marketing automation sounds fancy. In practice, it’s just this: software that runs repeatable marketing tasks for you based on rules, timing, and customer behavior.

Instead of manually sending every email, tagging every lead, or remembering to follow up, you set up a system once and let it do the boring parts while you focus on strategy, creative, and improving offers.

Salesforce’s definition captures the core idea: automation tools help you identify audiences, design content, and trigger actions based on schedules and behavior.

Automation has vastly changed the marketing landscape. More and more people are seeing its benefits in their business and are more invested in maximizing this tool from the future.

A $32 billion investment in marketing automation is projected to be spent this year. This figure is still estimated to rise as companies recognize the advantages this innovation brings.

With all the fanfare surrounding this breakthrough in marketing technology, you would want to find out how exactly this can help you and your business. How does marketing automation figure in your business? And more importantly, how do you go about it?

What marketing automation actually does

Think of it as a “smart relay team” for your marketing:

• Collects signals (signups, page views, clicks, purchases)
• Segments people (who they are, what they need, how warm they are)
• Sends the right message at the right time (email, SMS, ads, in-app)
• Notifies sales when someone is ready
• Tracks outcomes so you can improve

Marketing automation vs email marketing vs CRM

• Email marketing: sending emails (campaigns, newsletters)
• Marketing automation: automated journeys and triggers (nurture, onboarding, reactivation)
• CRM: system of record for leads/customers and sales activity

Automation works best when the CRM and marketing system talk to each other.

Benefits of marketing automation (the real ones)

1) More revenue from the same traffic

Most leads don’t buy the first time. Automation helps you stay useful and present without spamming.

2) Less busywork, fewer mistakes

Follow-ups, tagging, routing, reminders, and lifecycle emails stop living in someone’s head.

3) Better customer experience

People get content that matches what they did (or didn’t do). That beats the “one newsletter to rule them all” approach.

4) Cleaner reporting

When journeys are tracked, you can connect actions to outcomes (pipeline, revenue, retention), not just opens and clicks.

A common industry warning is that many teams use only a fraction of their marketing tech’s capabilities. That’s usually a strategy and setup issue, not a “tool” issue. (Business Insider summary of McKinsey findings)

Before you automate anything: start with the boring foundation

This is the part most beginner guides skip, and it’s why teams get stuck.

Step 1: Pick one goal per workflow

Examples:

• Turn signups into booked calls
• Convert trial users into paid plans
• Reactivate churned customers
• Reduce no-shows for demos

Step 2: Map your customer journey (rough is fine)

• What do people do before they buy?
• What questions do they ask?
• Where do they drop off?

If you can’t explain your journey on one page, automation will amplify confusion.

Step 3: Get your data basics right

At minimum you need:

• A single “source of truth” for contacts (often your CRM)
• Consistent fields (email, name, company, stage, consent)
• Event tracking that matters (signup, activation, pricing page, purchase)

If you operate in the EU or serve EU customers, don’t sleep on privacy and consent. Cookie rules and GDPR expectations affect tracking and messaging. (EU GDPR overview)

The best way to start (without buying a monster tool)

Most teams should start with 2–3 simple workflows and earn the right to build more.

The “Starter Pack” workflows

Automate to innovate

To put it simply, marketing automation means to automate marketing functions. This is to streamline the usual marketing tasks by using advanced software technology. With the use of this software, previously tedious and repetitive marketing processes can now be automated, optimized, and properly measured. Aside from marketing, a wide range of other business processes can also be automated, allowing growing teams to simplify their operations without sacrificing results.

Benefits of Marketing Automation

1 Save time

This is the most obvious reason why you need to urgently invest in marketing automation.

There are a million and one marketing tasks requiring your attention. Sending repetitive emails or posting weekly reminders on your social media feed should not be your top priority. You should start with email marketing automation instead.

With marketing automation software, you can send automated messages to your customers with just a simple click of a button. Looking to send out event invitations? Click. Need to send yearly reminders for insurance renewals? Click. Post weekly shout-outs to your social media audience? Click.

With the right automated marketing tool, all the data collection, customer touchpoint experiences, and marketing metrics will flow as smoothly as possible.

2 Save money

Knowing the key to a successful marketing strategy can now allow you to maximize automation to the hilt. For example, you can put in place an effective prospect activation strategy by using automated workflows. You can then encourage prospects to become purchasers which will, in turn, increase your likelihood for conversion.

By utilizing these customized work channels, you can cut down on time and expenses.

3 Enhance your customer’s experience

With lead scoring, you can identify your most qualified prospects based on their activities. For example, if a customer subscribes to your e-newsletter, you can increase their score by 5. If they click on a link in your microsite, you can increase their score by 10, and if they make a purchase, you can increase it by 15. This way, you can identify your most qualified prospects and clients.

Dynamic scoring helps you to execute a more tailored approach to your marketing strategies. For instance, you can reward your best customers and turn them into brand ambassadors. At the same time, you can also send out mailers to follow up with contacts whom you haven’t heard from for quite some time.

With the data you have mined using automated methods, you can have a better understanding of your market. Knowing your customers is key in a successful marketing campaign. With the valuable information that you have, you can have a more targeted approach.

Getting Started With Marketing Automation

How then can you get on with maximizing this valuable technological aid?

1. Know your target market.

First, you have to know who your customers are. Then, identify what makes them tick. How can your product or service address their needs or requirements? Where do they go? What do they buy? When are they most likely to purchase?

By identifying who you are talking to, you will be more informed in crafting your message, which will guide you to have more buy in. When you have the necessary demographics and psychographics of your target market, it will be easier for you to create a message that will hook them in and capture their interest.

This will also allow you to create segments within your automated marketing system. These segments will serve as your basic structure in grouping your customers, setting up systems for lead generation, and managing customer relationship programs.

2. Engage your customers.

Once you have set up your parameters in identifying your customers, making them an offer, and capturing their data, you now need to engage them in conversation.

Having their attention is important and maintaining a conversation with them is even more crucial. Design a simple engagement campaign that will ultimately lead them into your sales process.

If you are a car dealer, for example, you can create a basic email engagement program that will last for about two to three weeks. You can start with a simple email blast to your current clients informing them of a new car that you are about to launch. Follow up with an invitation to come to the showroom and avail themselves of the exclusive pre-launch test drive. Then after they have visited you, take the chance to have another customer touchpoint by making a phone call or sending another email asking them about their experience.

3. Keep in touch.

If you have noticed, the tail end of the engagement program mentioned a follow-up call or email regarding their experience. This is a significant factor in ascertaining that the customer is still within your radius.

Not everyone will be ready to buy right after their test drive, as in the case presented. It is therefore important that you keep the conversation going. You can set your automation system to send a bi-weekly email, for instance, giving them bits and pieces of information about the car. This way, your brand and product will not be out of mind. Just be careful not to bombard them with frequent messages as this can also annoy and drive customers away.

How to build your first automation (step-by-step)

1) Define the audience (one sentence)

Example: “New trial users who haven’t completed onboarding.”

2) Choose one trigger

Good triggers:

• Signup
• Product activation event
• Demo request
• Pricing page view (use carefully and ethically)
• Abandoned cart (ecommerce)

3) Pick 3–5 messages max

Most automation fails because it becomes a novel.

A simple sequence might be:

• Day 0: Welcome + quick win
• Day 2: Common mistake + fix
• Day 4: Case study or proof
• Day 6: Invite to next step

4) Add one decision point

Example:

• If they booked a call, stop the sequence
• If they activated feature X, send advanced tips
• If they didn’t open any emails, slow down or switch angle

5) Put guardrails in place

Frequency caps (don’t hit people from 3 workflows at once)

Exits (when someone becomes a customer)

Suppression lists (customers shouldn’t get “become a customer” emails)

6) Measure what matters

Open rates are fine, but your KPI should match the goal:

• bookings
• trials activated
• pipeline created
• purchases
• churn reduced

Picking a marketing automation tool (without regrets)

Most “tool lists” are fluffy. Here’s what actually matters when choosing:

Common mistakes (so you don’t build an expensive email robot)

Automating before you understand the customer journey
You’ll just send faster nonsense.

Overbuilding on day one
Start small, learn, then expand.

Not aligning marketing + sales
If sales doesn’t trust the “hot lead” alerts, your handoff fails.

Using automation to spam
Automation should reduce noise, not increase it.

Measuring vanity metrics only
Tie workflows to pipeline, revenue, or retention.

Quick checklist

• One workflow goal
• One audience
• One trigger
• 3–5 messages
• One branch (if/then)
• Exits and suppression rules
• Frequency cap
• KPI tied to revenue or retention
• Review after 2–4 weeks and iterate

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Marketing automation FAQs

What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation is the use of software to run marketing tasks automatically, often by triggering messages and actions based on schedules and customer behavior.

Is marketing automation only for big companies?

No. Smaller teams often benefit the most because automation replaces repetitive work and helps them follow up consistently.

What’s the first workflow I should build?

A welcome/onboarding sequence is usually the best first build because it’s simple, triggered by a clear event (signup), and easy to measure.

How many emails should be in a nurture sequence?

Start with 3–5. If you can’t explain why each email exists, it probably shouldn’t.

What should trigger an automation?

Use triggers tied to real intent or lifecycle steps: signup, demo request, trial start, activation event, purchase, inactivity.

What’s the difference between a drip campaign and a workflow?

A drip campaign is usually time-based. A workflow is behavior-based and can branch, stop, or adapt based on what the person does.

How do I avoid sending too many messages?

Use frequency caps, workflow priorities, and suppression lists. Also add “exit rules” when someone converts.

Do I need a CRM to do marketing automation?

Not always, but it helps. If sales is involved, a CRM becomes important for lifecycle stages, ownership, and reporting.

How do I measure ROI from marketing automation?

Pick one goal per workflow and measure outcomes: leads to opportunities, trials to paid, churn reduction, average order value, repeat purchase. Broader martech ROI measurement is a known challenge, so keep it simple and outcome-driven. (Business Insider summary of McKinsey findings)

Is marketing automation the same as AI marketing?

Not necessarily. Automation is rules + triggers. AI can help with personalization, prediction, and content generation, but you can run great automation without AI.

How long does it take to set up?

A basic welcome workflow can be built in a day. Getting data, tracking, and alignment right can take longer. Start with the smallest useful version.

What about privacy and GDPR?

If you market to EU users, you need a lawful basis for processing, clear consent where required, and an easy way for people to opt out and access/delete data.

The human factor

While it is undeniable that technology – in this case, marketing automation – has definitely made lives easier and more convenient, do not neglect the fact that it still needs the human touch.

Businesses market to people, so they also need to talk to them as people. Marketing automation is there to make this communication more targeted, streamlined and functional. It is still up to business owners and marketers to know how to apply the fruits of the automated labor to reap a bountiful harvest.

AUTHOR BIO

Tomi Saikkonen is the Vice President of Liana Technologies, Middle East. Just like you Tomi is fascinated by the possibilities of digital marketing and technology. He actively seeks out ways to help businesses and organizations across industries to improve their digital marketing ROI. https://www.facebook.com/lianatech