Marketing automation is a type of technology designed to help companies streamline, automate, and measure marketing tasks and workflows. When implemented effectively, marketing automation can increase operational efficiency and grow revenue faster.
In the past few years, marketing automation has become more widely used, as it is easier to afford, scale, and implement than ever before. B2B & B2C companies have both adopted marketing automation in their campaigns to great success.
B2C marketers who are using automation have seen conversion rates up to 50%
B2B companies using marketing automation have reported 60% revenue growth
Both B2B and B2C companies use marketing automation to send more personalised, timely, and relevant messages to prospects and clients. While both are using the system to the same end goal (increasing revenue and efficiency), the methods of doing this are different.
The Similarities and Differences Between B2B & B2C Marketing Automation
B2B and B2C companies use marketing automation to build their brand by sending regular, relevant communications to their subscribers. Marketing automation provides both B2B and B2C companies with metrics that inform them what’s working most effectively for more successful future campaigns.
The main difference between how the channels use the technology is in the messaging. B2C is all about the customer journey and where the individual is their buying process, whereas B2B is more about education and sharing value to lead prospects through the sales funnel.
B2C Marketing Automation
B2C businesses are using marketing automation to send subscribers highly personalized, relevant content at exactly the right moment. Marketing automation can be used to send automated emails in real-time to customers based on their interaction with the brand website. Time or action-based triggers can be set up in combination with personalised email messages to drive revenue for the brand.
Personalised emails are 26% more likely to be opened and that they can produce a 760% increase in email revenue.
Marketing automation allows B2C brands to deliver these personalised messages without breaking the bank. Automation programs are not only affordable, but they are designed to be simple to use. They also integrate with systems that many businesses commonly use such as Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce. This makes Marketing Automation the ideal platform to deliver an exceptional customer experience, power customer journeys and deliver significant revenue with little manual effort (other than the initial setup). That combination makes marketing automation the ideal solution for busy B2C marketers who are juggling competing priorities.
B2B Marketing Automation
While B2C Marketing Automation is more likely to deliver hyper-targeted messages (like discounts on the exact pair of shoes you were looking at online); B2B marketing automation is more often used to demonstrate the company’s value to leads in order to educate and on-board users. This approach is still personalised, but there isn’t the need for the same level of personalisation as B2C.
B2B marketing automation is just as effective when businesses keep things more broad, and applicable to a target market group. As B2B companies often use marketing automation to educate prospects about how their products or services can be of benefit to them, splitting prospects into industry-specific groups is often sufficient to send relevant, targeted communications. These automated email campaigns often have the objective of driving free trials, sign-ups, on-boarding, and promoting events.
It takes 8 to 10 touches to generate a viable sales lead. Marketing automation allows B2B Marketers to create a relationship with a prospect by regularly staying in touch. Automated processes significantly reduce the workload for B2B marketers, while ensuring prospects are kept up to date with industry news, events, and educational resources that will add value to the relationship.
The Future of Marketing Automation
Marketing technology is developing fast, and solutions like Marketing Automation are being constantly developed to meet the needs of modern organisations. Marketers today need to be agile and take advantage of the new software and programs available to them. The most effective marketers in both B2C and B2B companies are agile, continually testing their approach and ability to change direction quickly as the industry evolves and customer expectations increase. They need to be armed with tools like Marketing Automation that will help them with the customisation, personalisation, and processes they need to engage today’s consumer.
It doesn’t matter whether they are in B2B or B2C, the bottom line is that modern marketers need automation technology that delivers on its promise.
For more information on how you can use marketing automation to boost your bottom line, get in touch with Digital Squad. As a digital marketing agency Hong Kong, we can help you with your B2B Marketing Services Hong Kong, SEO Hong Kong, Facebook Marketing Hong Kong, AdWords Marketing Hong Kong, and much more.
