Top marketing automation statistics for 2022

For many marketing automation is a time saver, by automating repetitive labor-intensive tasks. When time is money, every minute counts. In fact for every dollar spent, marketing automation returns $5.44 over the first three years with a payback period in under six months.

We’ve compiled some data to help illustrate what others are doing with marketing automation software to help them generate leads, personalize their marketing efforts, improve the customer experience, and overcome challenges. See how much you can relate with any the marketing automation stats we compiled below.

Why use marketing automation?

Marketing teams have many jobs, but they only have one goal—to increase revenue. Therefore, they need the right tools to work more efficiently, collaborate more effectively, and engage with customers better. And this is what drew them to marketing automation software in the first place.

• 35% want to streamline marketing and sales efforts
• 34% want to improve customer engagement
• 34% want to improve the customer experience (CX)
• 30% want to minimize manual tasks
• 28% want to increase the number of leads captured

Marketing automation and lead generation

Marketing automation features

Many vendors have moved beyond what is considered the basic functionality of marketing automation software solutions—email marketing, landing page and form creation, lead nurturing and scoring, standard workflows, CRM and SFA integration, and marketing analytics. In fact, 8 out of the top 10 marketing automation solution providers offer A/B testing, audience segmentation, and automated email responses as key features.

But what do marketers want in their marketing automation solutions. In many cases, there is a disconnect between what vendors offer and what marketing teams want. While many vendors offer A/B testing, only 17% of marketers are using A/B testing on landing pages to improve conversion

• 50% of marketers expect easy integration into existing content management, CRM, and ERP systems
• 45% want lead qualification and lead scoring capabilities
• 35% want content creation capabilities and email workflows
• 12% want ecommerce storefront integration

Sources: Top 25 statistics about marketing automation software 10/2020, 21 Key Marketing Automation Stats For 2020

Marketing automation ROI and profitability

• 63% of those who implement marketing automation software expect to see benefits within 6 months
• 44% who implement marketing automation software do see a return within 6 months
• 31% struggle to prove marketing attribution and ROI

Sources: Marketing Automation Statistics: The Definitive List, Marketing trends 2022

Marketing automation’s impact on productivity and costs

• Marketing automation provides a 12.2% reduction in marketing overhead.
• By automating marketing activity and centralizing campaigns on a unified software platform, more than one in ten businesses reported that they have experienced benefits leading to a reduction in marketing costs.
• Marketing automation solutions can reduce time spent on marketing activities as well as other related tasks leading to a reduction in overhead.
• Marketing automation software can lead to a 14.5% increase in sales productivity.

Importance of marketing automation

There is a perceived value in using marketing automation software. It improves every aspect of a marketer’s job, from email marketing and lead management, reduces costs, and generates additional revenue. Marketing automation will become the foundation of most companies’ digital business strategies. Over one-third confirm this more prominent role (PDF), while 10% go so far to say that it will replace personal communication (PDF) – at least to some degree. Only 11% of companies feel that it is too expensive and not worth the cost.

Sources: Marketing Automation Report 2021: Lead Generation and Lead Qualification Through Data-Driven Marketing in B2B, Top 25 statistics about marketing automation software, 10/2020

Top marketing automation benefits

There are numerous benefits to using marketing automation software. Marketing teams can personalize and optimize marketing campaigns to get more quality leads, better align with sales, and improve reporting. Ultimately, marketing automation helps to improve overall business growth through improved performance.

Marketing automation challenges

The #1 challenge in vendor selection for many marketing teams is understanding the difference in functionality and features. That lack of understanding can lead to a disconnect between needs and functionality once teams begin working with the software. In fact, 70% of marketers are unhappy with their marketing automation software and 85% of B2B marketers feel they are not using marketing automation software to its full potential.

What are some of the other challenges in preventing marketers from using their automation tools to their fullest potential?

• 60% of companies thought implementation was difficult
• Only 17% of marketers use A/B testing on landing pages to improve conversion
• 16% find creating quality automation a challenge
• 10% of companies across all industries found it difficult to create content
• Only 8% of companies use marketing automation to engage with current customers

Sources: 21 Key Marketing Automation Stats For 2020, What are the Key Challenges for Marketing Automation Experts

Barriers to automation

There are some significant advantages to being the first to automate in a space. The sooner you start automating your marketing tasks and processes, the more streamlined your will become. The more streamlined you become, the more opportunities you will find. Overtime, you will be more productive, nimble, and effective than your competitors. But what are the barriers holding you back?

Future of marketing automation