Marketing automation is the name given to all the technologies and platforms designed for various marketing departments and business organizations to market their campaigns more effectively on multiple platforms online and offline and perform repetitive tasks with minimal human errors.
The marketing automation industry is increasing rapidly and has become one of the most important digital marketing trends. Marketing automation will continue to rise as 92% of the users said that their main purpose in using this technology is to improve their leads pipeline.
According to recent research, 80% of the marketing automation users have seen an increase in the generated leads using the software for their marketing campaigns and almost 77% of the users saw a rise in their conversion rate.
There are two different types of marketing automation, best of breed and all-in-one. Let’s dig into both types.
Marketing Automation: Best of Breed vs. All-In-One
The world of email technology is changing at a rapid pace. As an online marketer, you have many ways to build an effective email marketing campaign. Having the right technology means increasing the conversion rate rapidly by getting most of the customer’s data.
What is an All-In-One Marketing Automation Solution?
As the name suggests, the all-in-one marketing automation solutions are integrated solutions that help you in each and every marketing strategy. The solutions tools of all-in-one marketing include Social media management, tracking, and website optimization, Reporting and data analysis and integrating digital marketing campaigns with automation.
In short, the availability of each tool and solution at one place creates an illusion that it is more cheap, flexible and cost-effective when in reality, for the CMO, the situation might not be a clean cut.
Drawbacks of All-In-One Marketing Automation Solutions
One of the biggest drawbacks of all-in-one marketing is that although it does help with every conceivable marketing activity and does everything for the marketer struggling in digital marketing the performance of each separate module is better than average.
Some functions of marketing tools integrated into all-in-one solutions might be best but when it comes to testing all tools, some of the tools are poor in performance too.
All-in-one functions and tools have begun their life as the best of breed solutions but as the customers demand expanded and the need for accommodating them rose, the best-of-breed products were converted into all-in-one solutions for the sake of customer satisfaction.
However, when the developer tried to expand them beyond the core product offering, the later modules could not be kept with the same standards as of best of breed products.
In actual, the support for the all-in-one solution and functionality falls behind as compared to the stand-alone single best-of-breed functions or tools.
Moreover, there is a high probability that you might never get to use the tools’ full functionality effectively, even by wasting money on unnecessary integrated tools.
What Is Marketing Automation Best-Of-Breed Solutions?
Best-of-breed solutions are also known as point solutions and they are the exact opposite of all-in-one solutions. They are designed for a single task and perform effectively on that particular task.
Marketing automation best-of-breed solutions might take the face of a dedicated automation marketing platform such as a special social media management console or some form of a customer relationship management platform to store customer details.
Marketing automation best-of-breed is more commonly build and developed around the important and core competencies of the software. It is built upon years of experience.
Then, it is channeled to craft a product which outdoes the integrated product available in all-in-one marketing automation solution.
The best-of-breed solutions tend to create better user experiences for the customers.
Drawbacks of the Best-Of-Breed Solutions
While best-of-breed solutions can be excellent for marketing departments, they can also be a nuisance for financial departments as they prefer more simplicity, one contract, and a single invoice.
Another factor is the price. The business may need to buy several packages to perform additional tasks. This way, the TCO could be very low if you are buying functions individually.
The third drawback is the integration problem. The best-of-breed solutions need to integrate with one another to ensure that the user is getting a full marketing package.
But by assembling a collection of best-of-breed products, you can create a powerful marketing suite that performs each conceivable marketing activity perfectly.
Which Is the Right Marketing Automation Solution for My Company?
There is no specific choice of having a marketing automation solution. The correct choice of marketing platform depends on your specific business needs. But still, if you are looking for honest advice, marketing automation best-of-breed solution is the right choice whenever you need to expand your marketing platform in a specific direction.
You will benefit greatly from a single tool which is great at performing a particular task as it provides you with a greater chance to meet your marketing targets. Also, you do not get to pay for the software that you do not use. Thus, now is the right time to dig deeper into marketing automation and create a streamlined process for your business.
