Inbound marketing automation

Inbound marketing automation is the name given to the process of automating Inbound marketing.

The concept

Inbound marketing automation combines two major trends in marketing: the move to web-based inbound marketing[1] and the growing utilization of marketing automation.[2]

Inbound marketing attracts prospects to a company's website through a combination of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC), and Social Media Marketing (SMM), then engages them with relevant content, converts them to identified sales leads through the completion of forms, and then nurtures them through a program of drip marketing until prospects are determined to be "sales ready".[3]

Marketing automation, in the context of inbound marketing, includes the automation of marketing analytics, reputation management or social media monitoring, email marketing, sales lead generation and sales lead management, and other regular marketing activities.[4]

Data volume

Because inbound marketing is web-based and therefore digital, it can generate large amounts of data[5] on website visitor activity, prospect profiles, prospect preferences and their "digital footprint".[6] Automation is needed to collect, analyze, correlate, and create actionable insight from this massive amount of data. Automation is also needed to store, access, and share electronically between various stakeholders in the company, including marketing and sales, both at corporate and in the field.[7]

Inbound marketing automation is most applicable in Business-to-Business (B2B) markets where prospects spend considerable time researching solutions and suppliers online, and where long sales cycles require prospect education and prospect nurturing over time, resulting in substantial data accumulation over the customer acquisition life-cycle.[8]

Other driving factors

From the seller's perspective, marketing personnel are freed from mundane, repeatable tasks, making them available for higher value strategic and creative tasks. In addition, the automation can be programmed to consistently deliver best practices in sales lead generation and management around the clock, outside normal business operating hours.

From the buyer's perspective, automation is preferred because of the speed of response, and the ability to program the automation to respond to a prospect's individual needs based on their profile, their demographics, and their digital footprint as they interact with the website.[9]

References
  1. Fishkin, Rand (October 24th, 2009). "The New Era of Inbound Marketing" Archived 2010-05-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 26th 2010.
  2. Morphy, Erika (May 10, 2009). "Marketing Automation: A Well-Oiled Machine That's Ready to Roll" Archived 2009-10-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 25th 2010.
  3. Kuhn, Axel (January, 20th, 2010). "How to turn your Website into a prospecting magnet" Archived 2010-02-07 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved Feb 15th, 2010.
  4. Goldman, Eric (November 20th, 2009). "Inbound Marketing Automation Overview" Archived 2010-01-11 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved Dec 14th, 2009.
  5. The Economist, Special Report (February 27th, 2010). "Data, data everywhere". Pg 4.
  6. Inbound Marketing Automation Glossary. "Digital Footprint" Archived 2010-05-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 20th, 2010.
  7. Aberdeen Group (December, 2007). "The Convergence of Sales and Marketing Technologies".
  8. Kotler, Phillip (2007). A Framework for Marketing Management, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Chapter 6: "Analyzing Business Markets", p. 101-115.
  9. Nurturing Prospects. Zimply Consulting "Engaging and Nurturing Prospects" Archived 2014-03-16 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 23rd, 2010.
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