69 Compelling Marketing Automation Statistics in 2024: Market Share & Data Analysis

One great way to alleviate many company challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the Great Resignation is to introduce emerging technologies such as marketing automation software. With marketing automation, companies can work with limited resources and manpower by simplifying tasks, streamlining operations, boosting productivity, enhancing lead generation, and increasing revenue. It is important that companies today pay attention to the data surrounding this integral part of marketing technology as it can determine whether or not they will survive today’s world crises.

In this article, get to know the latest marketing automation statistics. Learn how companies are adopting and using this technology, why you should consider it for your own business, and what challenges you may encounter when implementing it.

1. Marketing Automation Adoption Statistics

Marketing automation is part of a much larger $344.8 billion worth market that is marketing technology, which also happens to take up the second largest percentage of organizations’ marketing budgets (Martech Alliance, 2021). Over the next 12 months, 61% of organizations are planning to even increase spending on marketing technology (Martech Alliance, 2021). This makes it more likely for more marketing automation platforms to be integrated into more organizations’ marketing software suites.

• The latest marketing automation statistics show that the global market is projected to grow from $4,438.7 million in 2020 to $14,180.6 million in 2030 (Research and Markets, 2021).
• The global marketing automation software market, on the other hand, is projected to grow from $3.60 billion in 2020 to $11.46 billion in 2027 (Motor Intelligence, 2021).
• Three vendors account for more than 50% of the marketing automation market share: HubSpot (33.74%), ActiveCampaign (10.04%), and Adobe (7.5%) (Datanyze, 2022).
• 86.1% of marketing and communications professionals are familiar with the concept of marketing automation (Liana Technologies, 2020).
• In 2021, 76% of companies report using automation and 26% of companies that are not yet using automation are planning to use it (HubSpot, 2021).
• 81% of marketing organizations use marketing automation (Salesforce Research, 2021).
• 19% of content marketing teams use marketing automation platforms (Semrush, 2022).
• 77% of chief marketing officers turned to AI technologies to automate redundant tasks (Deloitte Global Marketing Trends C-suite Survey, 2021).
• 37% of sales and marketing professionals and executive members agree that marketing automation will become more important (ZHAW School of Management and Law, 2021).
• 42% of sales and marketing professionals said marketing automation will become part of their overall company’s digital strategy (ZHAW School of Management and Law, 2021).
• 69% of marketers say their overall customer journey is partially or mostly automated and 9% say theirs is fully automated (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• 31% of marketing professionals said they will be purchasing a marketing automation solution in the year ahead (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• Price is the most important factor to consider when choosing a marketing automation solution, according to 58% of marketers (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• Ease of use is the second most important factor to consider when choosing a marketing automation solution, according to 54% of marketers (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• Other important factors to consider include customer service (27%), customization options (24%), integration capabilities (22%), breadth of features (21%), depth of features (19%), data visualization/analytics (13%), streamlined onboarding/training (11%), and data consolidation capabilities (10%) (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).

2. Data on Marketing Automation Usage Statistics

Companies are adopting automation in many business areas, but more so in marketing than in others. Today, email marketing software, social media management software, and content marketing software, among others, are packed with automation features that not only make relevant tasks easier but also help generate better results.

• Marketing is the largest business area that leverages automation technologies (HubSpot, 2021).
• Marketers use automation 76% more than sales (HubSpot, 2021).
• Marketers use automation 131% more than finance (HubSpot, 2021).
• 58% of marketers use automation for task management (HubSpot, 2021).
• 31% of marketers use chatbots (HubSpot, 2021).
• 64% of marketers say their marketing measurement and attribution are automated (Salesforce Research, 2021).
• 32% of marketing professionals are combining AI and marketing automation for paid advertising and personalizing messages and offers (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• 22% of marketing professionals are using AI and marketing automation for product/content recommendations and personalizing email subject lines (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• Other uses of combined AI and marketing automation are predictive analytics (18%), account identification (18%), chatbots (16%), campaign send/deployment timing (16%), and segmentation (12%) (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• More marketers are using automation for SMS marketing, from 18% in 2021 to 25% in 2022 (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• Push notifications are becoming a more popular use of automation, from 16% of marketers using them in 2021 to 20% in 2022 (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).

Email Marketing

• Compared to 40% of marketers in 2021, 55% are now using automation for email marketing (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• Expanding email automation is a priority for 59% of marketers (Litmus, 2021).
• Email automation campaign is the fourth most popular email marketing tactic among companies (HubSpot, 2021).
• The top three most used email marketing automation techniques are initial welcome sequence or autoresponders (69%), nurturing emails based on content browsed or downloaded (46%), and up-sell or cross-sell emails to existing customers (SpotlerUK, 2020).
• 82% of marketers use automation to create triggered emails (Litmus, 2021).
• 67% of marketers use automation for drip or nurture campaigns (Litmus, 2021).
• 56% of marketers use automation for segmentation purposes (Litmus, 2021).
• 45% of marketers use automation for A/B testing (Litmus, 2021).
• The top three most popular automated email types are welcome series (83%), onboarding or post-purchase emails (68%), and subscriber re-engagement (40%) (Litmus, 2021).
• Email marketers also use automation for cart or browser abandonment emails (38%), customer reactivation of win back (35%), birthday, anniversary, or other milestones (34%), rating, review, or net promoter score (28%), replenishment or subscription service reminder (23%), and back-in-stock or waitlist (10% (Litmus, 2021).
• Marketing automation drives a 173% higher open rate for newsletters and sales mailings (SALES Manago, 2020).
• Marketing automation results in 223% higher click-through rates for newsletters and sales mailings (SALES Manago, 2020).
• Compared to mass campaigns, personalized automatic campaigns results in 500% higher conversion (SALES Manago, 2020).

Social Media Marketing

• Social media management is the second largest area where marketing automation is used (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• From 39% of marketers in 2021, 44% are now using automation for social media management (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• 44% of marketers are using marketing automation for social media management in 2022, compared to only 39% in 2021 (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).

Content Marketing

• The number of marketers using automation for content management has grown from 22% in 2021 to 29% in 2022 (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• 48% of marketers automate content (HubSpot, 2021).
• “Content marketing automation” is the 12th most expensive keyword in the content marketing industry (Semrush, 2022).

3. Reasons for Using Marketing Automation Statistics

Marketing automation is such a competitive industry in itself that it is easy to get lost if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. Luckily, there have already been studies on what marketers use this technology for so you are guided on what functions will serve you best. You can go over our list of affordable marketing automation software with the following data points in mind. And, if these are not enough, you can also read our article on what marketing automation should include for your online business.

• High-performing marketers are 1.5x more likely to use marketing automation/account-based marketing platforms (Salesforce Research, 2020).
• The top three reasons for implementing marketing automation are the following: streamlining marketing and sales efforts (35%), improving customer engagement (34%), and improving customer experience (34%) (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2021).
• Other reasons for implementing marketing automation include minimizing manual tasks (30%), increasing the number of leads captured (28%), optimizing workflows (25%), improving lead quality (34%), integrating/centralizing data (21%), improving marketing attribution (17%), and improving multi-channel touch (10%) (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2021).
• For 55% of sales and marketing professionals and executive members, the most important feature of marketing automation software is integration with existing systems like CMS, CRM, and ERP (ZHAW School of Management and Law, 2021).
• The second most important function of marketing automation software for sales and marketing professionals is lead qualification and scoring (ZHAW School of Management and Law, 2021).
• 35% of sales and marketing professionals use marketing automation software for content creation and email outreach services (ZHAW School of Management and Law, 2021).
• More than 6 in 10 sales and communications professionals said the main benefit of marketing automation is improved targeting of messages (Liana Technologies, 2020).
• 43% of marketers say that improving customer experience is the number one advantage of leveraging marketing automation (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• 86% of marketing professionals report either being somewhat or very successful in achieving important marketing objectives through automation (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).

4. Perceived Advantages and ROI of Marketing Automation

As a manager or business owner who aims to ensure the efficiency of marketing campaigns, you won’t just take our word on the benefits of marketing automation. There are tons of articles out there that will convince you to invest in a marketing automation tool. Is it really worth it? Read the statistical data we collated below to know more about its results and ROI.

• The top three main advantages of marketing automation according to sales and marketing professionals and executive members are the following: time savings of repetitive tasks (49%), personalized communication (49%), and improved efficiency/ROI (45%) (ZHAW School of Management and Law, 2021)
• 7 in 10 marketers say that measuring the success of marketing automation is either somewhat or very easy (Ascend2 and Research Partners, 2022).
• Automation contributes to a 14.2% rise in sales productivity, as well as a 12.2% drop in marketing expenses (Oracle, 2021).
• 8 in 10 marketing automation users see an increase in the number of leads (Oracle, 2021).
• 77% of marketing automation users witness an increase in the number of conversions (Oracle, 2021).
• Users of marketing automation software can benefit from a 451% increase in qualified leads (Oracle, 2021).
• Marketing automation can reduce administrative overhead to a 3.4% savings on average (Marketo, n.d.).
• Marketing automation drives 28% better sales productivity and 33% higher revenue growth compared to companies without lead scoring (Marketo, n.d.).
• With marketing automation, you can increase sales leads by 50% and decrease cost per lead by 33% (Marketo, n.d.).
• 65% of marketers said their automation strategy is very or extremely effective (HubSpot, 2021).

5. Marketing Automation Challenges Statistics

A marketing automation tool can only generate desired results with a good marketer who knows how to use it. It can also only work for a company that puts implementing it as a priority in its marketing agenda and allocates enough budget for a robust solution. By now, you already know that marketing automation is worth it. In this section, you’ll learn some of the challenges you will face before getting the best out of this technology.

• 33% of companies are experiencing challenges in introducing marketing automation due to a lack of internal expertise (ZHAW School of Management and Law, 2021).
• In a parallel survey, 48.6% of marketing and communications professionals said the main challenge in marketing automation for them is a lack of expertise as well (Liana Technologies, 2020).
• Another study shows that for 67% of businesses, the main challenge to adopting marketing automation is integrating data from different sources and systems (SpotlerUK, 2020).
• 24% of companies struggle with the insufficient quality of data for marketing automation (ZHAW School of Management and Law, 2021).
• Another common barrier to implementing marketing automation is the lack of priority in the company (24%) (ZHAW School of Management and Law, 2021).

The Future of Marketing Automation

Current marketing automation statistics demonstrate the value and continued rise of marketing automation technology. As companies strive to keep up with digital transformation trends, more are also expected to wake up to the benefits and positive results that come with leveraging automation, not just in marketing, but in other business areas.

Right now, studies are pointing us to the barriers to implementing marketing automation as well. And so, companies have a head start on determining and preventing issues before they arise. It seems they need to develop employee knowledge along with their marketing technology. They also need to see to it that marketing automation becomes a priority in their goals, lest competitors can gain an advantage in this area before they do.

In general, marketing automation has a bright future ahead. Companies should consider trying out leading marketing automation platforms and learning how these can boost their marketing efforts.

References:

1. Aioma and the Institute of Marketing Management (2021). Marketing Automation Report 2021: Lead Generation and Lead Qualification Through Data-Driven Marketing in B2B. ZHAW School of Management and Law.
2. Ascend2 and Research Partners (2022). The State of Marketing Automation in 2022. Ascend2 and Research Partners.
3. Chaffey, D. & Story, J. (2020). The State of Marketing Automation in 2020. SpotlerUK.
4. Datanyze (2022). Marketing Automation Software Market Share. Datanyze.
5. Deloitte Insights (2021). 2021 Global Marketing Trends. Deloitte Insights.
6. HubSpot (2021). Not Another State of Marketing Report. HubSpot.
7. Liana Technologies (2020). The Benefits and Challenges of Marketing Automation. Liana Technologies.
8. Motor Intelligence (2021). Marketing Automation Software Market – Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022-2027). Motor Intelligence.
9. Oracle (2022). Essential Strategies for Marketing Automation. Oracle.
10. Research and Markets (2021). Marketing Automation Market Research Report – Global Industry Analysis and Growth Forecast to 2030. Research and Markets.
11. Salesforce Research (2021). State of Marketing, Seventh Edition. Salesforce.com, Inc.
12. Salesforce Research (2020). State of Marketing, Sixth Edition. Salesforce.com, Inc.
13. SALES Manago (2020). The Complete Guide to Marketing Automation in Ecommerce. SALES Manago.
14. Semrush (2021). The State of Content Marketing: 2022 Global Report. Semrush.

By Louie Andre

B2B & SaaS market analyst and senior writer for FinancesOnline. He is most interested in project management solutions, believing all businesses are a work in progress. From pitch deck to exit strategy, he is no stranger to project business hiccups and essentials. He has been involved in a few internet startups including a digital route planner for a triple A affiliate. His advice to vendors and users alike? "Think of benefits, not features."