10 Stats to Prove That Your Business Needs a Marketing Automation System

If you haven’t considered a marketing automation system (MAS) for your business, you could be falling behind.

A good MAS helps you reach out to your customers and prospects better than ever before, personalizing your marketing efforts to maximize their overall impact.

As a business owner or marketing executive, you’ve watched from a front row seat as marketing automation has caused a dramatic shift in the business landscape. While you recognize the marketing potential that an MAS offers, you might still have some reservations about cost, and whether or not it is right for your business.

If you’re worried about cost, you’re not alone. Although most enterprises have long since added an MAS to their marketing arsenal, most SMBs have lagged behind. One of the primary reasons for the hesitation in adapting a marketing automation systems is the misconception that they cost too much for them to worthwhile for SMBs.

However, the returns that an MAS can bring apply just as much to smaller customers as they do to larger, enterprise customers, and there are many options available that can fit even the smallest of budgets.

As you deliberate whether or not your business needs a marketing automation system, consider the following 9 statistics from Wishpond’s State of Marketing Automation in 2015.

Not only do these statistics emphasize the benefits of marketing automation, but I also believe that they will prove once and for all that your business probably needs a marketing automation system to maintain a competitive edge in today’s marketplace.

1. 79% of the CMOs at high-performing companies rely on an MAS to boost their revenue.

This is the big one, so let’s tackle it right off the bat. A good MAS can help you increase your bottom line in a number of different ways. It can help bring in more leads, keep you in closer contact with your best customers, and ensure that you’re tracking your marketing efforts properly.

According to Nucleus Research, automating your marketing can increase sales productivity by 14.5% while also reducing overhead by 12.2%. That’s an incredible difference from such a simple change.

2. 75% of all businesses that use an MAS see positive ROI within the first year.

This statistic addresses the elephant-in-the-room: cost. Many small-to-medium-sized business owners are hesitant to use an MAS because they fear it will be added cost to already tight budget.

However, what is being overlooked is that the software will pay for itself – many times over. After all, even if all it did was reduce your overhead, it would be worth every penny, but it’s also bringing in new customers every day.

Those new, targeted leads and customers will offset the cost of the system in the first year, and the increase in value that you’ll see from your existing customers can push you into the black. Keep in mind, that’s only in the first year – you’ll see huge returns from these customers year after year, all thanks to your MAS.

3. Companies that use an MAS generate twice as many leads as companies that only use blast email software.

It’s no secret that email marketing continues to be one of the most effective ways to generate and nurture leads. While blast email software has been used effectively in the past to reach new prospects, its effectiveness pales in comparison to the results obtained with an MAS. By doubling the number of generated leads, an MAS will bring you more prospects, and if successfully converted, more customers and more revenue.

Of course, effective communication isn’t just about pumping new blood into your business; it also keeps your existing customers happy and loyal.

4. Successfully nurtured leads through the use of an MAS make spend 47% more than non-nurtured leads.

An MAS gives you the ability to narrowly target your leads so that you can design hyper-focused, personalized content that fits their needs.

This makes them happier, more loyal, and more appreciative of your services – to the tune of radically increasing the size of their purchases. In fact, when a successfully nurtured lead converts into a happy and informed customer, they’ll spend as much as 47% more than they typically would. Now that’s a revenue booster.

5. Successful lead nurturing brings in 50% more qualified leads while cutting costs by 33%.

While it’s great to get more out of your existing customer base, every business on the planet wants to grow.

Unfortunately, getting new leads is expensive, and it’s even harder to drum up sales-ready leads without nurturing them effectively. Instead of just grabbing cold leads and jamming them into your sales funnel, an MAS allows you to cheaply nurture your leads and coax them along at their leisure. This gives you 50% more sales-ready leads…at 33% less per lead.

6. Companies that effectively use a marketing automation system have reported as much as a 451% boost in qualified leads.

Automating your marketing allows you to spend much more time nurturing prospects. Since it’s all hands-off, you can educate and persuade many more leads at once, without taking up all of your time.

This means that you’ll be able to turn more prospects into leads, and more leads into qualified leads. They’ll come into your sales funnel with a better understanding of your business, and a clearer idea of why it’s valuable to them.

7. Companies using an MAS have reported conversion rates up to 50%.

An MAS opens up a world of communication with your customers. You can follow up warm leads with personalized correspondence, automatic reminders, and even birthday wishes.

All of this keeps you in constant contact with your prospect and customer base, increasing their trust in you while boosting your conversion rates. If you’ve had difficulty closing with your prospects, it may mean that you need to automate your marketing efforts.

8. 36% of marketers state that marketing automation systems help them get more out of their marketing efforts by taking repetitive tasks out of their hands.

There is a common misconception that when an MAS is utilized, it will entirely replace a company’s existing marketing department. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Marketing automation systems are designed to augment your existing efforts, and because they can take repetitive, unskilled tasks out of your marketers’ hands, it frees them up to do higher-level work. No longer will they have to be concerned with monitoring every customer and prospect in every section of your sales funnel. Instead, the MAS will keep tabs on this for them, so that they can dig deeper into your market and brainstorm new ways to connect with your audience.

9. Most importantly, 63% of companies that outgrow their competition use marketing automation.

All of these stats add up to giving you an undeniable advantage over the companies in your industry that are handling their marketing the old-fashioned way. An MAS doesn’t just let you get more out of your leads and customers, it also lets you get more out of your employees – and that adds up to explosive growth.

To put this in perspective, 60% of companies that earn more than $500 million a year use marketing automation – versus only 3% making less than $5 million. It’s clearly a strategy that the biggest players have recognized will benefit them tremendously in the long run. As you’ve seen in the above statistics, an MAS will help your business not only grow revenue, but also cut costs.

Moreover, you don’t have to blow up your company’s marketing budget to get started using an MAS. Whether you’re looking for all the bells, whistles, and every in between offered by a more expensive, enterprise-level MAS solution, or you simply want a high-quality yet cost-effective SMB-level MAS solution to supercharge your marketing efforts, there are plenty of options available.

Make The Change, See The Results

If you haven’t already done so, it’s time you brought your company’s marketing efforts up to speed with the current marketing landscape by choosing an marketing automation system that best suits the needs of your business.

After all, if there’s one thing that these statistics should have made clear to you: when used properly, marketing automation systems get impressive results.

Which of the nine stats stands out most to you? Leave us a comment below.