Marketing Automation

Transcription

1 Marketing Automation Benchmark Summary Report The most challenging obstacles to marketing automation success in the year ahead and how marketers plan to overcome them. Ascend2 Research Conducted in Partnership with Leading Marketing Solution Providers. Client Connection Research conducted by Ascend2 and [Research Partner]

2 Marketing Automation Benchmark Summary Report Ascend2 Research Conducted in Partnership with Leading Marketing Solution Providers. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. You may adapt, copy, distribute and transmit this work. However, you must attribute the work as produced by Ascend2 and its Research Partners but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work. 2

3 Table of Contents Finding, nurturing and converting customers automatically 4 Most important marketing automation objectives 5 Rating the success of marketing automation programs 6 Most challenging obstacles to achieving success 7 Resources used to perform automated marketing campaigns 8 Most important factors in choosing a system 9 Most useful metrics for measuring performance 10 Research methodology and survey demographics 12 About Ascend2 14 3

4 Finding, nurturing and converting customers automatically Marketing automation has dramatically increased the effectiveness and efficiency of finding, nurturing and converting customers. But what will be the most challenging obstacles to marketing automation success in the year ahead and how will marketers overcome them? To find out, Ascend2 and our Research Partners fielded the Marketing Automation Survey and completed interviews with 291 marketing, sales and business professionals from around the world. We thank them for sharing their valuable insights with you. The charts in this edition of our study, titled the Marketing Automation Benchmark Summary Report, represent the average of all market segments responding to the survey. Specific market segments are reported on exclusively by our Research Partners. This research has been produced for your use. Put it to work in your own marketing strategy planning and presentation materials. Clip the charts and write about them in your blog or post them on social media. Please share this research credited as published. Sergio Balegno, Chief Strategy Officer 4

5 Automating marketing processes improves productivity the top objective. Increasing sales revenue, generating more leads and improving lead nurturing are next. 5

6 Only 7% of respondents consider marketing automation unsuccessful at achieving important objectives, while nearly one quarter (24%) rate it very successful. 6

7 Without an effective marketing automation strategy, achieving success is difficult at best. Planning reveals the budgets, training and other factors required to succeed. 7

8 Nearly half (48%) outsource all or part of their automated marketing campaigns, gaining expertise not found internally. The result is a higher level of performance. 8

9 What do companies want most from their marketing automation? An easy-to-use system that provides a clear and concise measure of performance tops the list. 9

10 Knowing the number of leads generated is about half as useful as knowing the rate at which they are converted when measuring performance. 10

11 Notes 11

12 Research methodology Ascend2 Research Surveys are conducted online from a panel of more than 50,000 US and international marketing and sales decision-makers and practitioners representing a range of contact roles, company types, sizes and geographic regions. The questionnaire used is standardized to incorporate these methodologies across all studies while maintaining our proven 3-Minute Survey format. Survey findings are examined in a quantitative context by experienced analysts and reported objectively. 12

13 Survey demographics 13

14 About Ascend2 Research-Based Demand Generation for Marketing Solution Providers Marketing agencies, marketing software and data companies partner with Ascend2 to reliably generate new business opportunities. Our white label research, content creation and demand generation process is credited to your brand in partnership with Ascend2. Learn more at 14

15 Marketing agencies, software and data companies partner with Ascend2 to generate demand and supplement content. Research Partner Programs provide white label reports and a guaranteed number of leads in two simple steps: 1. Choose the topics of interest to your target market Content Marketing Marketing Video Marketing Organic Search (SEO) Mobile Marketing Brand Marketing Website Optimization Inbound Marketing Paid Search (PPC) Lead Generation Social Media Marketing Database 2. Choose an exclusive research segment for each marketing topic Benchmarks for Success [A comparison of Very Successful and Not Successful segments] Benchmarks by Channel [A comparison by or targeting of B2B and/or B2C segments] Benchmarks by Company Size [A comparison by or targeting of SMB and/or Large Enterprises] Agency Benchmarks [The Agency perspective based on a wide-range of client experience] Benchmarks by Resources [A comparison of Outsourced and In-house campaign segments] Benchmarks for Europe [The European perspective on marketing practices and performance] Benchmarks by Revenue Attainment [A comparison of performance by Revenue Targets Attained] Benchmarks for other research segments may be available and specific to individual Topics Learn more about Ascend2 Research Partner Programs and Pricing. 15