Is marketing automation really about automation or is it about visibility?

Adam:

There are many reasons why organizations buy marketing automation, but the main reason should be (emphasis on should) to improve the overall engagement with your prospects and customers.

Given the change in the buying cycle and that the majority of prospects are looking to engage with sales much further down the buying cycle than before, it is incumbent that organizations build these 1-1 relationships and marketing automation allows you to do this 1-1 engagement in a mass context.

Carlos Hidalgo
The Annuitas Group

I think it's about being as relevant as possible to prospects or customers. The automation part is just what allows you to be timely, and send the right things to the right people.

If you set up thoughtful lead nurturing paths, for each of your personas (at various stages of the buying cycle) then marketing automation is just the technology that gets your content out, there is a lot of strategic thinking that needs to happen before marketing automation, and if you simply "set and forget" then the automation part plays a major role in unsuccessful communication efforts.

It's about making more effective use of marketing resources. Marketers have to use more media for more tasks in the buying cycle. At the same time, buyers expect a more personalized experience. The result is the number of programs marketers must run has grown exponentially. Automation is critical to getting all the work done and (just as important) to measuring results so resources can be directed to the most productive use.

Adam,
I'd have to say that the term "marketing automation" really doesn't do much to accurately describe the industry. The point, as Carlos and Barbra mention is to get the right information to the right buyer at the right time. Much of this is about being able to sense buyer interests, and then the information delivery is "automated" as a human would not be able to deal individually with so many unique interests. However, it's about a buyer's buying process first, and automation second.

This is why you should buy Marketing Automation (in no particular order):

1. Do more with fewer resources
2. Get the right message to the right person at the right time
3. Better manage the funnel
4. Better nurture those not yet ready to buy
5. Better prioritize prospects for your sales team
6. Help to better align sales and marketing

From what I've seen, marketing automation is about just that — automation. It comes in most handy for organizations that are trying to reach customers with limited resources. I think the "visibility" part is a byproduct of automation. By automating processes, companies can become more visible (at least more than without automation).

I agree with the idea that marketing automation is to help organizations becoming more productive with 'limited resources'. What comes first is the organizations' best practices and the marketing automation assists to achieve them in more efficient way.

To Justin's point above, marketing automation on it's own will not enable an organization to achieve most of the items on the list (namely items 2-6). For any organization that is looking to achieve optimal value from their automation solution you need to first define the process by which you will manage all of these areas. Companies who rush into buying technology without the proper lead management process run the risk of automating chaos within their organizations.

Carlos Hidalgo
The Annuitas Group

All great answer here. One added point is that marketing automation is a key enabler for marketing and sales to become better aligned. This is especially true as the economic down turn continues and firms are looking to optimize the sales & marketing cost model. I see MA as foundational to the success and survival of my target audience (B2B software firms).

To me, marketing automation is really about competitive advantage.