Marketing Automation – Which Processes to Implement First

You want to check which leads from last week are ready for a sales call. You ask the colleague who maintains the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is waiting on an export from the CRM. The CRM is waiting on an update from the campaign. Meanwhile, your competitor is sending a personalized message at 2 a.m. – automatically, in response to a user spending five minutes on the pricing page. Marketing automation – also known as marketing automation – puts an end to this way of working. The system tracks contact behavior on its own, segments contacts, triggers the right messages at the right time, and measures every step without manual work. In this article we show which marketing automation processes to implement first, which tools to use, and how marketing automation connects to broader business process automation in a company.

What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation means replacing manual, repetitive marketing activities with a system that responds to user behavior in real time. Instead of manually sending messages, segmenting contact lists, or creating ad campaigns for each group separately, the system does it automatically, following defined rules and based on data about what contacts actually do: which pages they visit, which emails they open, what they download, and when they're ready for a conversation with a salesperson.

It's worth distinguishing marketing automation from a simple bulk email tool. Bulk mailing is one message for everyone. Marketing automation is hundreds of different communication paths triggered individually – in response to a specific action by a specific person. Someone downloaded an ebook? They get an educational series. Someone visited the pricing page three times in a week? The system notifies the salesperson and simultaneously sends the contact a message with an offer. No one has to watch it manually.

In practice, marketing automation rests on three layers: data collection (tracking behavior on the website, in emails, in ads, and on social media), segmentation and scoring (grouping contacts by profile and behavior, scoring purchase readiness), and automated communication (triggering the right email campaigns, SMS messages, push notifications, chatbots, and ads based on data from the previous layers). The better the data, the more accurate and effective the automation of marketing activities becomes.

Which marketing processes to implement first?

Not all marketing automation processes deliver the same return on investment. Companies that implement marketing automation successfully usually start with areas where time savings and conversion growth show up fastest. Here are five processes that deliver results first:

1. Email marketing automation and lead nurturing

Email marketing automation is the foundation of every marketing automation deployment. It's about more than just a newsletter – it's building automated sequences that guide a potential customer through the sales funnel step by step, without human involvement at every stage.

A classic lead nurturing flow looks like this: a new contact downloads material from your website → automatically receives a welcome email → after two days – the first educational question → after a week – an industry case study → after two weeks – an invitation to a webinar or a free consultation. Each step triggers without manual intervention, and the sequence adapts based on whether the contact opened previous messages and what they clicked. Tools such as GetResponse, ActiveCampaign, or HubSpot let you build such sequences even without technical experience.

For many companies, email campaign automation shortens the time needed to prepare a monthly communication cycle from several working days to a few hours of upfront setup – after which the system runs on its own, for months.

2. User segmentation and lead scoring

User segmentation is the division of the contact database into groups based on criteria that matter to your sales process: industry, job title, company size, on-site behavior, funnel stage. Segmentation automation means a contact is dynamically assigned to the right segment based on current data – without manual tagging.

Lead scoring automation is a layer on top of segmentation: every contact action (opening an email: +2 points, visiting the pricing page: +10 points, downloading a technical spec sheet: +5 points, opening an offer: +20 points) adds up to a purchase-readiness score. When a contact crosses a set threshold, the salesperson gets a notification. This eliminates one of the biggest problems in B2B: salespeople don't call everyone in turn – they call the ones who genuinely signal readiness. Lead management stops being guesswork and becomes a data-driven process.

3. Ad campaign automation and retargeting

Ad campaign automation and retargeting is an area where marketing automation meets paid advertising. The system automatically creates audience groups based on on-site behavior (who viewed a specific subpage, who abandoned a form, who entered the funnel from an ebook) and runs different ad messages for each group on Google, Meta, or LinkedIn.

Ad campaign creation automation and budget management rules (automatically pausing low-ROAS campaigns, automatically scaling high-return ones) reduce campaign work time by 30–50%, while eliminating errors caused by manual monitoring. A marketing automation tool knows that a given contact has opened three emails from the educational series – and shows them a different banner than a completely new person visiting the site for the first time.

4. Chatbots and customer communication automation

A chatbot on the website is one of the fastest to deploy and most visible elements of marketing automation. A well-designed chatbot takes over the first line of communication: it answers FAQ questions, qualifies leads (asking about industry, budget, and timeline), books meetings with a salesperson, and collects contact data – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no response time at all.

Customer communication automation and notifications after a form submission, after placing an order, after finishing a chatbot conversation, or after reaching out through a contact form – this is post-sale communication automation, which builds the customer experience in places where manual responses would be impossible or too costly. AI agents go a step further – they don't just answer questions from a script, they interpret user intent and hold a natural conversation, capable of closing simple transactions without human involvement.

5. Abandoned carts, cross-selling, and post-sale communication

Abandoned cart analysis automation is one of the fastest-paying-back implementations for e-commerce. A contact added a product to the cart but didn't complete the purchase? The system automatically sends a reminder sequence – an email after an hour, a discount email after a day, an SMS after three days. According to industry data, this effectively recovers 5–15% of abandoned transactions. Tools such as Klaviyo were built with exactly this scenario in mind.

Cross-selling automation, product recommendation automation, and purchase reminder automation are another layer: after purchasing product A, the system automatically suggests product B, which 40% of A buyers go on to purchase. No manual work, no forgetting, no "maybe someone will get to it this week." Marketing automation in e-commerce is a direct revenue generator, not just a time-saving tool.

Marketing automation tools – comparison

The choice of marketing automation tools depends on the business model (B2B vs. B2C/e-commerce), the size of the contact database, integration needs, and budget. Here's a comparison of the most popular platforms:

Tool	Best for	Key features	Price (from)
GetResponse	SMBs, e-commerce, Polish market	Email, landing pages, webinars, sequence automation	approx. €20/month
SALESmanago	Medium and large companies, e-commerce	CDP, AI personalization, lead scoring, omnichannel	from approx. PLN 1,500/month
HubSpot	B2B, companies wanting a full CRM	Marketing Hub, CRM, sales pipeline, reporting	from 0 (free tier)
ActiveCampaign	SMBs needing advanced workflows	Email automations, CRM, split testing	from approx. $15/month
Klaviyo	E-commerce (Shopify, WooCommerce)	Email, SMS, segmentation, abandoned carts	from $20/month
Make / Zapier	Any company that needs integration	Connecting tools, automated data flows between systems	from $10/month

It's worth noting that tools such as GetResponse or ActiveCampaign work great as standalone platforms, but their full potential shows only once they're connected to a CRM, an e-commerce system, and analytics. HubSpot is attractive thanks to its free tier, but costs rise sharply with larger databases and advanced features. SALESmanago is a choice for companies that want enterprise-level personalization and have the data to drive it. For e-commerce running on Shopify or WooCommerce, Klaviyo stands out for the depth of its integration with transactional data.

Regardless of the chosen platform, the integration element is key: the marketing automation tool has to talk to the CRM, the analytics system, and – if it's e-commerce – the store platform. This is where a well-designed systems integration determines whether marketing automation runs smoothly as part of the ecosystem, or stays a data island isolated from the rest of the company.

Marketing automation vs. company process automation – how do you connect them?

Marketing automation is most often deployed as a tool for the marketing department, separate from the rest of the company's systems. This approach works, but it has a ceiling: leads collected by the marketing platform often end up in the CRM manually or with a delay, campaign-performance reporting requires combining data from several places, and the sales department still doesn't know what marketing actually did with the leads this month.

Mature marketing automation implementations look different: the marketing automation platform is one element of a larger system in which data flows automatically. A lead goes through the nurturing path and crosses the scoring threshold → it automatically lands in the CRM pipeline with a full activity history → the salesperson gets a notification → after the deal closes, the data flows back to the marketing automation platform, so segmentation is more accurate the following year. None of these steps requires manual work.

A key element of this ecosystem is business process automation, which ties marketing, sales, and customer service into a single, coherent flow. Where the marketing automation platform doesn't have a ready-made integration with an ERP system, a legacy CRM database, or specialized industry software, RPA process robotization steps in – a software robot logs into the system, retrieves or enters data, and passes it on, exactly the way an employee would, but without breaks or errors.

An important part of mature marketing automation is also measurability. How does the CFO know the campaigns pay off? Data from the marketing automation platform has to make it into management reports – together with sales, financial, and operational data. If every report is still built manually, the time savings achieved in marketing end up "leaking out" through hours of analytical work. Reporting automation closes that loop: the system collects data from all sources on its own – including the marketing automation platform – and delivers a finished report where it needs to go, with no manual work at any stage.

How do you measure the effects of marketing automation?

One of the most common problems after implementing marketing automation is that companies find it hard to assess whether the investment really paid off. This usually stems from a lack of clearly defined metrics before the rollout. It's worth measuring results on several levels:

Email marketing and lead nurturing metrics

Email marketing automation is relatively simple to measure: open rate, CTR (click-through rate), post-click conversion rate, unsubscribe rate. In lead nurturing, business metrics matter more: how many contacts from the nurturing sequence became MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads), how many MQLs progressed to SQLs (Sales Qualified Leads), how many SQLs closed as deals. This shows whether marketing automation is actually feeding the sales pipeline.

Ad campaign and retargeting metrics

Ad campaign automation and retargeting are measured by CPL (cost per lead), CPA (cost per acquisition), ROAS (return on ad spend), and – most important in B2B – pipeline influenced: what percentage of closed deals had contact with an automated remarketing campaign somewhere in their history. This last metric requires combining data from the ad platform, the CRM, and the invoicing system – which is exactly why systems integration is a precondition for meaningful marketing automation reporting.

Chatbot and automated communication metrics

For chatbots, what's measured is the conversation-to-lead conversion rate (how many conversations end with the visitor leaving contact details), contact scoring after going through the chatbot path, and the speed of first-contact handling (time-to-first-response). A good chatbot should handle 60–80% of standard queries without escalating to a human.

ROI of the whole marketing automation implementation

The total return on investment in marketing automation is calculated as the difference between revenue generated by contacts in automated paths and the cost of the platform, implementation, and maintenance. According to industry data, mature marketing automation implementations achieve a 4–8x return on investment, but only after 6–12 months from rollout, once the databases are well-built and the sequences optimized. The first measurable effects – time savings and higher open rates – are visible within the first few weeks.

How much does a marketing automation implementation cost?

The cost of a marketing automation implementation depends on several variables: the chosen platform, the quality and size of the database, the number of integrations with other systems, and whether the company implements it in-house or with a partner.

Marketing automation tools start with free or very cheap starter plans (HubSpot free up to a certain limit, GetResponse from a few dozen euros a month, ActiveCampaign from $15). Cost grows with the number of contacts, the number of features, and the scale of personalization. Enterprise platforms like SALESmanago represent an investment of several thousand zloty a month, but they're aimed at companies with a large database and complex segmentation requirements.

On top of the tool's cost comes the implementation cost: platform configuration, database import and cleanup, integration with CRM and other systems, building nurturing sequences and templates. Simple implementations – one platform, a few sequences, existing integrations – are a project measured in weeks. A full implementation with CRM, ERP integration, and custom flows is a project measured in months. The biggest hidden cost item is data cleanup: a database with chaotic tags and duplicates can take several weeks to sort out before marketing automation starts working on it in any meaningful way.

If you want to know how much a marketing automation implementation would cost in your company, and which process is worth starting with, we invite you to a free consultation – we'll assess the scope and estimate a realistic return on investment.

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FAQ – Frequently asked questions about marketing automation

What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation (also called marketing automation) means replacing manual, repetitive marketing activities – database segmentation, sending emails, launching retargeting campaigns, reacting to user behavior – with a system that carries them out automatically based on data and defined rules. The system tracks contact behavior (which pages they visit, what they click, what they download), assigns them profiles and purchase-readiness scores, and then triggers the right messages at the right time – without human involvement at every stage. The result: marketing runs 24/7, is personalized, and is measurable.

Which marketing processes are worth automating first?

Companies that achieve the fastest return from a marketing automation implementation usually start with: (1) email marketing automation and lead nurturing – automated welcome and educational sequences guiding leads through the funnel; (2) user segmentation and lead scoring – automatically grouping contacts and scoring their purchase readiness; (3) retargeting campaign automation – dynamic audience groups based on on-site behavior; (4) chatbots for first-contact handling and lead qualification; (5) abandoned cart automation – especially valuable for e-commerce. The order should depend on where in your company the biggest time loss or conversion potential is.

What are the most popular marketing automation tools?

The most popular marketing automation tools are: HubSpot (a full B2B platform with a free tier and built-in CRM), GetResponse (a Polish tool, great for SMBs and e-commerce), ActiveCampaign (advanced email automations with CRM), SALESmanago (a Polish enterprise tool with AI and CDP), Klaviyo (e-commerce, deep integration with Shopify and WooCommerce). Make or Zapier are often used to integrate tools and connect them into workflows. The choice of tool should depend on the business model (B2B vs. e-commerce), the size of the contact database, and the need to integrate with existing systems.

How does marketing automation work step by step?

Marketing automation works in four steps. Step 1 – data collection: the system tracks user behavior on the website (pixels, forms, emails) and builds contact profiles. Step 2 – segmentation and scoring: contacts are grouped by profile and behavior, and the system assigns them purchase-readiness points (lead scoring). Step 3 – triggering messages: once a threshold is crossed or a condition is met, the system automatically sends an email, an SMS, a push notification, launches a chatbot, or creates a task for a salesperson. Step 4 – measurement and optimization: the system measures the results of every automation (open rate, conversion, revenue) and lets you test variants. Every step runs automatically, but requires a one-time setup of rules, sequences, and integrations.

How do you measure the effects of marketing automation?

The effects of marketing automation are measured on several levels: (1) email marketing metrics – open rate, CTR, conversion from email to lead and to customer; (2) sales funnel metrics – number of MQLs, SQLs, and closed deals from marketing automation channels; (3) campaign ROI – CPL, CPA, ROAS, revenue attributed to automated paths; (4) chatbot metrics – conversation-to-lead conversion rate, % of queries handled automatically. The key condition for meaningful measurement is integrating the marketing automation platform with the CRM and reporting system – so that marketing data meets sales data in one view.

How much do marketing automation tools cost?

Marketing automation tools are available at very different price points: HubSpot offers a free plan with basic features, ActiveCampaign and GetResponse start at $15–20/month for small databases, Klaviyo from $20/month for e-commerce. Enterprise platforms like SALESmanago cost several thousand zloty a month. On top of the tool's cost comes the implementation cost: configuration, integrations, building sequences, and database cleanup – from a few weeks for simple projects to several months for complex implementations involving multiple systems. The total investment should be compared against measurable gains: time saved by the team, higher lead conversion, and revenue generated by automated paths.

How does marketing automation connect to company process automation?

Marketing automation is most effective when it operates as part of a larger ecosystem: leads from the marketing automation platform flow automatically into the CRM, CRM data feeds segmentation in the marketing automation platform, campaign results land in the reporting system together with financial and sales data. Each of these integrations can be built via API or – where there's no API – through process robotization (RPA). The result is that marketing, sales, and reporting stop being separate islands and become one coherent flow of data and processes. That's exactly the difference between "a tool for sending emails" and mature automation of marketing activities built into a company's operational strategy.

Marketing automation – where to start?

Manual work in marketing – manual segmentation, manually sending campaigns, manually tracking which lead is ready for a conversation – costs more than it looks at first glance: both in work hours and in leads that "fall out" of the funnel because no one reacted in time. Marketing automation doesn't require a revolution – a well-chosen first process is enough to see how much time and conversion can be recovered.

At OmniTask, we help companies build coherent automation ecosystems in which marketing automation works together with business process automation, CRM, ERP systems, and reporting. We start every project by analyzing current processes and estimating a realistic return on investment – instead of selling a tool that will sit unused six months later.

Want to know which marketing automation process is worth implementing first in your company, and what it really costs? Get in touch with us – we'll carry out a free analysis and point out the areas with the greatest potential.

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Sources

1. HubSpot, State of Marketing Report 2024, HubSpot Research 2024. Available: hubspot.com

2. Salesforce, State of Marketing – 8th Edition, Salesforce Research 2024. Available: salesforce.com

3. Email Monday, The Ultimate Marketing Automation Statistics Overview, Email Monday 2024. Available: emailmonday.com

4. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms, Gartner Research 2023. Available: gartner.com

5. Forrester, The Forrester Wave: B2B Marketing Automation Platforms, Q3 2023, Forrester Research 2023. Available: forrester.com