Marketing automation has somehow become a buzzword in our industry, from B2B to B2C. But is it really worth investing your time in? Why do 66% of marketers think automation will help them improve the customer experience in their store? And can an automation solution really help you drive customer loyalty at the end of the day? These are the questions that you can get answers to, in our latest roundup, where 41 experts share their thoughts on the future of marketing automation. You can read more in the original post that we have published on antavo.com: https://antavo.com/blog/41-experts-weigh-in-on-the-future-of-marketing-automation-for-customer-loyalty/

1. 43
EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON THE FUTURE
OF MARKETING AUTOMATION
FOR CUSTOMER LOYALTY

2. INTRODUCTION
Marketing automation has become a
buzzword. Not surprisingly. It can deliver a
personalized customer experience while
saving time on marketing activities.
Check out what 41 experts think about
the future of marketing automation.

3. Why invest in
marketing
automation?
1.
Adam Vowles
Head of Digital Marketing,
TWDG.co.uk
“Marketers should focus on the creative
aspect and build the automation into the
process to allow them to focus on
improvements.”

4. Why invest in
marketing
automation?
2.
Tracey Wallace
(@TraceWall)
Managing editor,BigCommerce
“Consumers today require increased
engagement unparalleled on the internet
before.”

5. Why invest in
marketing
automation?
3.
Attila Kecsmar
CEO, Antavo Loyalty Software
“Ecommerce businesses can only keep up
with the competition if they’re able to scale
their business & marketing communication.
That’s why marketing automation is no
longer an option, it's a must.”

6. Considerations
before getting
start with
marketing
automation
4.
Robert Allen
(@Rob_H_Allen)
Editor, Smart Insights
“To be a force for customer loyalty, marketing
automation will have to transform itself from
focusing on how it can help the marketer, to
how it can help the consumer.”

7. Considerations
before getting
start with
marketing
automation
5.
Jay Adams
President and CEO, Makesbridge
“Marketing automation is best known for B2B
contact nurturing, contact management,
timely relevant messaging, and quality
scoring; and these concepts do map closely
to B2C loyalty fundamentals.”

8. Considerations
before getting
start with
marketing
automation
6.
George Anderson
(@216_digital)
Lead Content Writer,
216digital, Inc.
“Ecommerce marketers need to know their
market and know which services will
deliver amazing experiences for their
customers. Marketing automation is not a
one-size-fits-all solution.”

9. Considerations
before getting
start with
marketing
automation
7.
Darren DeMatas
(@DarrenDeMatas)
Selfstartr.com
“Marketing automation is one of those
tactical "shiny objects" can be a real waste
of time when not part of an ecommerce
strategy.”

10. Considerations
before getting
start with
marketing
automation
8.
Pamela Hazelton
(@pamelahazelton)
Ecommerce and Online
Consultant & Developer
“Avoid complete auto-pilot, and never rely
solely on what the service recommends.
You know your target audience better than
software ever will.”

11. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
9.
Ruthie Berber
Co-Marketing, Yotpo
“With automation you can populate the
settings with user’s data points - a
combination of the customer’s gender,
purchase information, birthday and
more - to generate unique and dynamic
marketing content for each customer.”

12. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
10.
Max Robinson
Ace Work Gear
“To inspire customer loyalty, you need to
have a clear understanding of who your
customers are.”

13. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
11.
Jennifer Worsham
(@leadliaison)
Director of Marketing, Lead Liaison
“Marketing automation will continue to evolve
in eCommerce by better understanding
customers. Combining this information into
powerful profiles will help subsequently build
customer loyalty.”

14. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
12.
Jessica Thiele
Marketing Manager, VL Inc.
“Businesses that have automated their
business from marketing downwards are
able to focus on what they do best - running
and growing their businesses.”

15. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
13.
Teya Tuccio-Flick
Partner & VP Marketing,
Whereoware agency
“Marketing automation is the vehicle to
deliver a holistic, personalized e-commerce
experience to customers.”

16. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
14.
Martin Zhel
CEO, Orior Creative
“People don’t want you to send them the
same generic offer as anyone else. Instead,
you should be tracking every action they
take online and use that information to
deliver better campaigns with time.”

17. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
15.
Marcus Miller
(@marcusbowlerhat)
SEO & Digital Marketing Strategist,
Bowlerhat
“The real trick with all marketing is to deliver
a message that your prospect or customer
is glad to receive and that in some way
makes their life easier.”

18. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
16.
Dimira Teneva
Metrilo
“Automation is about being relevant, timely
and “just what I wanted” in a data-driven
and non-intrusive way.”

19. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
17.
Rebecca Stickler
(@becca_stickler)
Content Marketing Specialist,
WebpageFX
“56% of consumers say they would be more
inclined to use a retailer if it offered a
personalized experience.”

20. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
18.
Diane Ellis Scalisi
(@dianeellis)
Ecommerce Strategist,
GrowthAi.com
“Online merchants are leaving money and
loyalty on the table by not connecting the
dots concerning a buyer's intent.”

21. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
19.
Donald Pettit
Sales Team Leader, SalesWarp
“Marketing automation will evolve to
continuously engage customers.”

22. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
20.
John Glynn
(@glynnmania)
Senior account manager,
The James Agency
“Businesses seeing the most success are
collecting the data upfront, putting the data
into action and sending emails to targeted
audiences with content that aligns with their
interests.”

23. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
21.
Jacob Firuta
Content Manager, LiveChat
“Marketing automation will allow you to
create a bond with your customers on a
scale that would be impossible to achieve
with more traditional email marketing
methods.”

24. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
22.
Csaba Zajdo
Ecommerce specialist, Optimonk
“Transactional emails will be a valuable
commodity in the prospect’s inbox, which
will result in higher open rates, while also
maximizing on the opportunity for online
stores to increase their overall
engagement.”

25. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
23.
Joe Sinkwitz
CEO, Intellifluence
“Based on customer data, an eCom analyst
can rapidly build out buyer personas in an
automated fashion and use it within services
to determine peers, targeting those peers
with custom ads that use psychological
wealth signal triggers to result in a higher
engagement rate than non-targeted ads.”

26. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
24.
Joe Sinkwitz
CEO, Intellifluence
“The beauty of automated campaigns is that
they're far less time-intensive than regular
broadcast emails - you can just set them up
and leave them quietly generating revenue in
the background.”

27. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
25.
Fredrik Winberg
Ecommerce owner, Caliroots.com &
Mtmanor.se
“We need to involve all channels in the
marketing automation process. We're talking
about email, SMS, Facebook, Instagram and
display retargeting - everything needs to be
tied together and synchronized.”

28. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
26.
Arielle Hurst
Marketing, Pure Chat
“At the end of every chat conversation you
should have an automated follow up process
that sends a thank you, coupon or extra
reward points.”

29. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
27.
Izaak Crook
Digital Marketing Executive,
AppInstitute
“In the future, I'd like to see more
eCommerce businesses utilise automated
push notifications to boost their mobile
sales - as they are often more effective than
email due to them appearing straight on
customer's phones.”

30. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
28.
Chad Rubin
(@ecommrenegade)
Skubana
“Marketing automation will continuing to
evolve as e-commerce rapidly changes.”

31. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
29.
Scott Schilling
(@ScottSchilling8)
Schilling Sales and Marketing, Inc.
“It is imperative to consistently "touch the
market" to stay top of mind. Customers do
business with those they know, like and
trust.”

32. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
30.
Stacy Caprio
Search Marketing Manager,
SmartBooks Corp, Inc
“To drive loyalty and returning customers,
marketing automation should evolve past
simply segmenting by industry, page visits,
and name personalization, to incorporate
more specific recognitions of customer
personality and rewards.”

33. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
31.
Felipe Cardoso Barbosa
CMO, Route
“Driving customer loyalty is more than just
sending good offers based on past behavior,
is creating a relationship even if it means
contacting people without selling anything.”

34. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
32.
Bret Bonnet
President, Quality Logo Products
“We want to leverage a customer’s shopping
habits and purchasing history to cater to
their individualized experience on our
website.”

35. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
33.
Jess Tiffany
(@tiffanyintl)
President, Marketing and
Networking University
“As a consumer and as a business person I
feel we have an obligation to make each
person's experience better all along the life
cycle, from inquiry to purchase, and to
maintain open dialogue and build
relationships to nurture an ongoing
relationship.”

36. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
34.
Matthew Mercuri
Digital Marketing Specialist,
ERA Environmental Solutions
“Customer loyalty is all about bridging the
gap between sales and customer service.”

37. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
35.
David J. Bradley
(@DBradleyRI)
Digital Marketing Strategy Expert
“There are endless ways to use Smart CTAs,
but the point is to make the experience more
personalized for your audience.”

38. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
36.
Luisana Cartay Febres
(@lucartay)
Content Manager, Photoslurp
“Word of mouth is a great resource for
brands. But behind it there must be a well-
oiled machine of automated processes, that
encourage users to speak and share content
about the product.”

39. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
37.
Ruthie Berber
Co-Marketing, Yotpo
“Customer contribution helps build brand
credibility and can be automated
intelligently.”

40. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
38.
Camille Guillot
Partner Marketing Manager,
Emarsys
“One of the most powerful aspects of
marketing automation is that it has the
ability to empower content and consolidate
it into one unified brand experience.”

41. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
39.
Marco Ritratti
(@marcoritratti)
Email Marketing Manager,
LUISAVIAROMA.COM
“In the future, not only the processes that
compose marketing automation will be
automated, but machine learning will also
drive the creation of the right automation
for every single customer.”

42. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
40.
Eyal Reich
Co-Founder & COO, Storeya
“The ideal system should have AI
capabilities that would know to best
describe and price your products, run your
paid campaigns automatically.”

43. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
41.
Frank Lee
(@franklee84)
Marketing Head, Rebates Zone
“The biggest revolution that can be brought
in automate procedures is the invention of
complex algorithms that, by ignoring the
customer’s perception, faults or lacks the
knowledge to provide them with the best
possible answer.”

44. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
42.
Josh Blanton
CMO, Next Steps
Digital/JeremySaid
“While many systems integrate with
dynamic remarketing platforms such as
AdRoll, a smart AI that dynamically shows
relevant products based on user-activity will
be included with marketing automation
solutions of the future.”

45. What does the
future hold for
marketers in
automation?
43.
Gabor Koncz
(@gkoncz77)
CEO, Automizy
“AI could build a much more consistent and
reliable brand with highly targeted and
personalized contents, offers and
messages. And these are very important
pillars of customer loyalty.”

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