Marketing Automation Report 2021

The first edition of the report was published in February 2020. A study by ZHAW. The survey ran between August and November 2020.

This year, we have received exciting insights about B2B Marketing Automation. 402 companies from the DACH region took part in the study. On almost 40 pages, you will find everything about Marketing Automation:

  • Marketing Automation for Digital Marketing & Lead Generation.
  • Marketing Automation and Use Cases, Challenges.
  • Marketing Automation and the technologies, recommendations, checklists.

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More efficient processes thanks to Marketing Automation

MA-Report-2021-1

Marketing Automation Report 2021

In the core question about the marketing technologies used, it was confirmed that Customer Relationship Management (CRM), e-mail marketing and search engine marketing are relevant for practically every company and are the basis for automation. In 2021 only a minority were using marketing automation tools.

Lead generation and lead qualification through data-driven marketing in B2B. A study by Pedalix and the Institute of Marketing Management at ZHAW.

The year 2020 was turbulent and brought far-reaching changes. During the Corona crisis, digital value chains became the "saving anchor" for many companies.

Trade fair appearances, classic advertising and physical encounters became less important.

The sales of online shops increased rapidly, digital platforms as well as customer portals gained importance and sales as well as marketing became more digitalized.

In addition, many organizations felt compelled to continue to deal with digitization comprehensively and without compromise.

In 2020, it became apparent that people and companies can adapt quickly if they have to.

GENERALLY, TECHNOLOGIES CHANGE QUICKLY, ORGANIZATIONS RATHER SLOWLY.

In future times of a networked world, marketing automation will be critical for success in the interaction between customers and companies with their numerous digital contact points such as websites, online shops, social media, search engines and newsletters.

This study examines what Swiss companies think about marketing automation, whether they use it and how they use it. It is aimed at marketing and sales professionals who are involved in process automation and digitalization.

Statements

Comments of the Authors

The expert team and their recommendations for action in the Marketing Automation Report.

  • Data silos are a problem: but it only takes a few data and not a big DWH project to start automating. For e-commerce, it's master data, transaction data, and email/website tracking data.
    Urs Thüring
    CEO Mayoris
  • The most frequently mentioned benefit of Marketing Automation comes from making processes more efficient. For example, two-thirds automate the registration and acquisition processes of leads.
    Laura Mäder
    Marketing Manager at Google
  • Four out of five companies see an increase in the number of leads and conversions, as well as time saved on repetitive tasks, as further benefits of marketing automation. 
    Dr. Darius Zumstein
    Lecturer and Senior Researcher at the Institute for Marketing Management IMM ZHAW
  • The main goals are to increase sales and generate new leads. The biggest challenge is the lack of a process. Unfortunately, leads are still handed over from Marketing directly to Sales, without a qualification process!
    Marc Gasser
    CEO Pedalix
  • Processes in companies need to be simplified. For marketing automation to work well, tasks and steps should be transferred into workflows. However, we often see that customers want to keep all options as much as possible.
    Klaus Völk
    CEO Webalyse
  • The modern marketing expert is a marketing engineer: If you don't have an understanding of data, processes and technology, you should urgently educate yourself.
    Urs Thüring
    CEO Mayoris
  • The entry phase into marketing automation is the most difficult. The initial start-up costs for marketing automation are unfortunately quite high. Required resources and know-how are often underestimated.
    Klaus Völk
    CEO Webalyse