CIO’s guide to marketing automation software

“We are moving more and more towards a place where one-to-one relationships are going to be more the norm, even at mass scale,” said Andy Markowitz, general manager of GE’s performance marketing lab during a panel discussion at CES 2016.

That’s why marketing automation, software and technologies, which let marketers promote on multiple channels and automate repetitive tasks, have become such powerful and promising tools, according to Markowitz.

Yet, a 2015 survey from marketing automation vendor Autopilot found that only 13 percent of respondents said marketing automation was an investment priority. “Forty-four percent of the people who weren’t using marketing automation didn’t even know what it was,” says Autopilot CEO Mike Sharkey.

The fact is, digital marketing is a fast-moving target even for those marketing pros who have embraced it. So how do you choose the right tools for your business?

In this CIO Wrapsheet, we look at how GE seeks one-to-one customer relationships, dig into why some marketing professionals don’t know what marketing automation is, explain the difference between ad tech and marketing tech (it’s not as simple as you think), compare four top marketing automation tools and provide a list of questions to ask vendors before you buy anything.

“We are moving more and more towards a place where one-to-one relationships are going to be more the norm, even at mass scale,” said Andy Markowitz, general manager of GE’s performance marketing lab during a panel discussion at CES 2016.

That’s why marketing automation, software and technologies, which let marketers promote on multiple channels and automate repetitive tasks, have become such powerful and promising tools, according to Markowitz.

Yet, a 2015 survey from marketing automation vendor Autopilot found that only 13 percent of respondents said marketing automation was an investment priority. “Forty-four percent of the people who weren’t using marketing automation didn’t even know what it was,” says Autopilot CEO Mike Sharkey.

The fact is, digital marketing is a fast-moving target even for those marketing pros who have embraced it. So how do you choose the right tools for your business?

In this CIO Wrapsheet, we look at how GE seeks one-to-one customer relationships, dig into why some marketing professionals don’t know what marketing automation is, explain the difference between ad tech and marketing tech (it’s not as simple as you think), compare four top marketing automation tools and provide a list of questions to ask vendors before you buy anything.