Marketing Automation Report 2022: Analysis

In collaboration with the ZHAW, Pedalix has produced the comprehensive Marketing Automation Report 2022, which was published on February 9. The survey was conducted between August and November 2021.

This year, we have gained exciting insights into B2B marketing and sales automation. 460 companies took part in the study. You can find everything you need to know about marketing automation on almost 60 pages. 

We have summarized the most important results for you in this article - for quick insights at a glance!

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What is the Marketing Automation Report 2022?

A particular focus of the report was on the role of artificial intelligence in marketing and sales automation, the key performance indicators (KPIs) used to measure marketing success, and the differences between companies with varying degrees of digitalization and resource availability.

The results provide valuable insights into the current use and relevance of marketing automation technologies and strategic approaches in digital marketing and sales.

Industry of the Companies

The study participants from the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) represent a wide range of industries, which underlines the broad application of marketing and sales automation tools.

The vast majority of industries belong to the technology and services sectors, but companies from the financial and retail sectors, healthcare, and several other industries also participated in the study. 

This diversity shows that marketing automation is seen as a critical factor for business success across different industries.

Topics of the Study

Digital Marketing & Lead Generation

Relevance of Marketing Technologies:

The relevance of marketing technologies has evolved, with CRM systems, email marketing, and search engine marketing still seen as fundamental.

The survey shows that 87% of companies consider CRM to be the most important technology, followed by email marketing with 86% and search engine marketing with a high priority for 85% of companies. However, marketing automation was also high on the list of priorities - in fourth place.

Goals and Goal Achievement in Online Marketing:

Companies set themselves a variety of goals in the area of digital marketing, with increasing sales figures and transactions being the top goal for 56% of respondents.

Generating new leads and customer loyalty are also of great importance. Despite clear objectives, the Marketing Automation Report 2022 shows that only a third of companies rate their online marketing objectives as "fairly successful", while 47% rate them as only "moderately successful".

Challenges in Lead Generation:

The biggest challenges in the area of lead generation lie in the provision of sufficient resources for content marketing and the systematic maintenance of leads.

62% of companies identify a lack of resources for content marketing as a significant hurdle, which makes the development and distribution of high-quality content more difficult.

Marketing Automation

Definition and Application:

Marketing automation is understood as the use of software to automate marketing processes and make them more efficient.

In practice, companies are increasingly using marketing automation for personalized communication, lead qualification and email marketing campaigns.

Maturity Level and External Support:

The results show that 60% of companies consider marketing automation technologies to be relevant.

It was found that the maturity level of marketing automation is closely linked to the use of external service providers, with companies that involve external expertise tending to have a higher maturity level.

Future Trends and Developments:

Of those surveyed, 57% plan to further expand their marketing automation in the coming years.

This underlines the increasing importance of this technology as a central component of corporate strategy in the area of marketing and sales.

Analytics & AI

Use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

Companies use a variety of KPIs to measure the success of their marketing automation efforts.

The most common KPIs relate to lead generation and conversion rates, with data quality seen as critical to the reliability of the KPIs.

Data Sources and their Quality:

The quality of the data used is a major challenge. Around a third of companies state that they systematically record interactions between leads and customers, which enables precise analysis and adaptation of marketing strategies.

However, many companies do not use their data comprehensively, which indicates deficits in the area of data management and analysis.

Application of Artificial Intelligence:

The integration of AI into marketing automation is on the rise, with technologies such as predictive modeling and forecasting increasingly being used to improve sales and revenue forecasting.

AI is also being used to make customer segmentation more accurate and to personalize marketing efforts more effectively.

Conclusion

The "Marketing Automation Report 2022" makes it clear that marketing and sales automation plays a crucial role in the B2B sector by increasing efficiency and improving the personalization of customer communication, which ultimately has a positive impact on business development. 

Companies report a significant increase in the quality of lead generation and increased conversion rates through the use of these technologies.

However, despite the clear benefits, many companies also face challenges that limit the full use of these technologies.

These include a lack of resources, particularly in content marketing and lead nurturing, budget restrictions that hinder adoption and scaling, and poor data integration between departments.

Future strategies should aim to overcome these barriers in order to realize the full power of marketing and sales automation and gain sustainable competitive advantage, win more customers, and, most importantly, close more sales.