Key Benefits of Sales Automation Trends in 2023

Key Benefits of Sales Automation Trends in 2023

Why is Sales Automation on the rise?

With the growing importance of marketing and sales, every enterprise is trying to stand out in the race. As businesses push for better growth and improved ROIs, the need to revitalize their marketing efforts is only becoming ever so important. The advent of marketing and sales automation is timed to perfection. The increased usage of IoT foretold the growth leaders about this heralding transformation sweeping the marketing industry off its feet. Hence, Sales Automation trends felt like the natural progression in the evolution of Marketing Technologies.

Selected organizations have reported a revenue boost of 451% in acquiring qualified leads by leveraging Sales Automation tools & techniques. At the same time, others are reporting increased engagement and improved sales. On top of that, many have reported that they have achieved 100% marketing and sales alignment.

When you analyze the root cause of all these successes, all roads lead to Sales Automation. Today, over 50% of the C-suite level professionals and decision-makers are prioritizing accelerated growth & operational excellence. Over 80% of the organizations focus on hyper-automation initiatives and investments in achieving sales automation, growing unabated. And on top of that, 56% of the top 500 Fortune Companies are emphasizing building high-performance fusion teams to lead the next wave of hyper-automation.

Marketers are looking to get more done in relatively shorter periods. And automation helps you achieve that by removing redundant manual tasks. No wonder the market will reach a whopping $14k million at a CAGR of 12.3% from 2020 to 2030.(Source: financeonline.com)

sales automation stats

What are the top sales automation trends in 2023? How to implement them?

As of 2022, video content saw an unprecedented rise. Be it product explainer videos or showreels, videos are the most preferred form of content users currently consume. Shorter videos of up to 15 seconds are algorithm-friendly and allow users to consume tons of content in seconds. Businesses that banked on this trend saw a boost in engagement and interaction. Influencer campaigns & collaborations also peaked in 2022. The content remained the perennial king of marketing.
But as of 2023, market demands more. AI is the talk of the decade. And marketing automation is its highlight. Here are the top 10 marketing and sales automation trends that you need to leverage in 2023:

1. Behavioral Analytics:

The increasing prominence of IoT ensures that users leave their digital footprints. Some companies built an empire by just using behavioral analytics. Businesses can gain deeper insights into their target audience by understanding their preferences, interests, pain points, and motivations. These can help companies create personalized communication to attract more leads, help retain customers, provide better value, and have a hyper-customized customer experience. Customer experience has become a key metric for marketers to track and analyze for establishing precise communication that resonates with the audience.

2. Emphasis on Account-based Marketing:

Covid-19 changed how marketers perceived marketing and the strategy they wanted to implement. From customer expansion programs, the pandemic drove decision-makers to focus on customer retention programs. It was mainly done to maintain a stable flow of revenue without disruption. Enter ABM. ABM has enabled sales reps to source and nurture high-value accounts specific to the niche. DemandGen reports that over 70% of businesses are achieving more than they are expected to since the adoption of ABM. Additionally, ABM enablers are reporting 53% of efficient usage of marketing resources, 37% clearer ROI path, 36% more reliable results, and 81% of large enterprises investing more money into ABM. (Source: Businesswire)

Automation is rapidly increasing in ABM programs, and businesses will likely continue it for a while.

3. Understanding customers using first-party data:

Since the digital upturn and rise of search engines, marketers have relied heavily upon third-party cookies to collect data about their audience. But by 2022, Chrome started to steer clear from cookies forcing marketers to find new ways to gather data. In comes the usage of first-party data provided directly by the customers to businesses. Businesses are now relishing full ownership of personal data while ensuring all privacy protocols & terms of use.

Leveraging first-party data proved cost-effective, and turnover was better than expected. The removal of dependency on third-party ensured practical completion with 2.9 times better revenue and 1.5 times more cost saving. Not just this. Collecting personal information can come with many data breaches and the associated policy, guidelines, and regulations. Sales automation has enabled marketing platforms to be more insured against data breaches, including features like multi-layer security protocols, SSO logins, and security badges. Sales Automation has proven to be the most effective in compliance with laws such as GDPR, CCPA etcetera.

4. Ever-Increasing capabilities of AI & ML:

From lead scoring to segmentation, platforms are progressively becoming smarter—all thanks to Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning. AI/ML has become the heart & soul of every technology today. The biggest revelation of 2023 has to be ChatGPT and other AI content generators. Such tools assist marketers with quick research, development, and execution of marketing strategies. Agencies, media houses, and corporations can handle a high client count using custom feed algorithms to boost engagement, interaction, and overall reach using enhanced AI/ML capabilities.

5. Optimizing Mobile Marketing methodologies:

Over 85% of users today are using mobile connectivity. 71% of millennials are willing to share personal data over mobiles in exchange for customized services. (Source: Businesswire)

Not meeting your buyers where they are is a major miss. Today’s sales funnel considers where your buyers are digitally and then optimizes the communication and approach accordingly. For example, push notifications are an excellent way for businesses to engage their audience, complete sales cycles that have gone cold in between, and increase customer interaction. If you are still not convinced, hear this: Global mobile ad spend is estimated to reach $350 billion by the end of this decade. Billion. Yes, you have heard it right, billion.

6. Automating Social Media Management:

The importance of social media for businesses and brands to create presence and awareness is all known. What remains to be discovered is that because social media relies on day-to-day and even hour-to-hour tracking and activity, marketing teams invest a lot of resources and time to do these processes daily—slogging for hours to carry out redundant tasks that take considerable time out of their schedule. But here’s the deal-breaker information you have all been waiting for: A lot of it can be automated. From scheduling to inferring conclusions drawn from analytics, automating social media saves time and produces better results.

7. Implementing precise omnichannel marketing:

Today, consumers are spoiled for choices. Not just for the products they want but the platforms they interact with to make the purchase. Each platform needs a marketing strategy that resonates with its algorithm and trends. It can quickly become a challenge for teams who are looking to expand. Sales automation is becoming better at effectively managing communications across channels without losing the context of the user’s need. By integrating these channels for consistent messaging and experience, sales automation offers businesses a competitive edge.

8. Building Conversational Chatbots:

Every trade, barter, or transaction starts with a good conversation. A timely and quality conversation can give you a sale when there is none. What if you can automate your conversations with your audience, keeping them engaged and informed? This is precisely what automation powered by Natural Language Processing is capable of. AI-built conversational chat flow is significantly increasing website browsing time, customer interaction, and customer retention. It eliminates the need for a dedicated resource for customer support, thereby saving costs for the company. Plus, you never miss out on any inquiries because these chatbots are operational 24×7.

9. Funnel Automation:

Assisting a potential buyer through various stages of a marketing funnel is challenging. Every customer is different. Hence, the touchpoints and the journey. Automation can guide the leads efficiently through multiple stages of the funnel, turning them into valid clients. Marketers can automatically nurture and warm the leads by setting triggers, ushering them to finalize the sales.

10. Adopting Value-based Marketing:

Automation to enhance value-based marketing increases the customer lifecycle. Value-based marketing also improves predictive analysis, segmentation, and content creation. The customers nurtured through value-based marketing have a higher affinity toward word-of-mouth marketing, fetching more businesses in return. Sales automation for value-based marketing also creates a consistent tone & voice for the brand.

Key benefits of Sales Automation Trends in 2023:

Automated sales, also known as sales automation, refers to the use of technology to automate and streamline the sales process. Some key benefits of automated sales include:
1. Increased efficiency: Automation can help sales teams work more efficiently by reducing time spent on repetitive tasks such as data entry, lead management, and follow-up. It helps the team to focus on activities that require immediate attention. You can score leads faster

2. Improved accuracy: Automated sales tools can reduce the risk of human error by automating routine tasks and reducing the need for manual data entry. These tools create consolidated reports that can be pulled in real-time to make data-driven sales decisions.

3. Enhanced customer experience: Automated sales can improve the customer experience by providing more personalized interactions and faster response times. Automation reduces the sales cycles, guides the buyer through various stages, and enables the team to render seamless service with prompt delivery. These ensure enhanced customer experience.

4. Better sales forecasting: Automated sales tools can provide real-time insights into sales performance, enabling sales teams to make more informed decisions and forecasts.

5. Increased productivity: Automated sales tools can help sales teams work smarter and faster, allowing them to focus on high-value tasks such as building relationships and closing deals. Sales automation fosters smoother collaboration, reduces back & forth between teams, monitors changes, and automatically notify teams with the required actions. These, in turn, generates higher revenue and a strong bottom-line.

6. Cost savings: Automating sales processes can help reduce costs associated with staffing, training, and other operational expenses.

Sales Automation in the Future

As robotics, AI & ML keep evolving & merging; Automation is the Future. Sales Automation is enhancing CRMs by the second, achieving supreme personalization, improving decision-making, and increasing the skillset of resources. Sales automation also enables organizations to take time out for other activities, increasing productivity. With continuous updates, and daily optimizations, it is difficult to say how higher automation will push marketing and sales, but this is for sure: Automation will become the essence of future marketing & sales. As new sales automation trends evolve, so will the outcome it generates. And not leveraging it, will surely leave you way behind.

Alok Chakraborty
Alok Chakraborty
With years of experience in the lifestyle, hospitality, and fashion industries, Alok has curated content for Forbes India, JW Marriott, Tech Mahindra, and the University of Berkeley. A die-hard Manchester United fan, an avid reader, and a crime-documentary binger, he merges his passion with his flair for writing. Alok pairs up his research with critical analysis.

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