Implementation of marketing automation : the impact in B2B companies

B2B companies invest in new technologies without being able to capture the value entirely for different reasons. This can result in a waste of investment that instead of providing a solution to the opportunities of the company, it ends up affecting operations as well. Marketing automation is a technology that automates repetitive marketing tasks and provides a solution for lead generation, customer engagement, visualisation of results, among other. It is a relatively new concept that has created noise in the Business-to-Business (B2B) sector due to its capabilities in marketing and sales. With growing challenges to measure the attribution of digital marketing efforts in sales revenue, as well as to prove the value of investment, this technology stands out. By using a qualitative method, this project aims to address “how the implementation of marketing automation impacts B2B companies”. Three main objectives were established: 1. To evaluate the key factors of adoption of an enterprise software for marketing automation, 2. To define the best practices to implement marketing automation, and lastly, 3. To identify the impact of marketing automation. This study describes the concepts around B2B marketing and sales, as well as marketing automation. Data was collected from the roll-out case study of GE Healthcare and their achieved results using marketing automation and the interview with an expert in the field of digital marketing. This provides a better understanding of the adoption and execution of marketing automation. The findings of this project point to a direct relation between the implementation plan of marketing automation, and an increment in sales and shorter sales cycles, performance of marketing and sales team, and improved customer engagement. This project also suggests how by using best practices for implementing this technology, B2B companies can increase their success in this context. This dissertation reinforces literature knowledge by explaining, from a general standpoint, a concept that has not been largely explored by researchers in marketing. It is meant to encourage B2B companies to establish a model and effectively implement a marketing automation solution, as well as to increase the awareness of the opportunities for vendors. The project provides ground for further research in the marketing field, as there are opportunities to explore in more depth about the attribution to marketing automation in sales, performance of operations, and brand management using automation.nhhma