The definition of Marketing Automation

According to Wikipeidia, “Marketing Automation refers to software platforms and technologies designed for marketing departments and organizations to more effectively market on multiple channels online and automate repetitive tasks“. We further define them as follows:

Software platforms and technolgies: 
Act-On, Neolane, CallidusCloud, Click Dimensions, eTrigue, Hubspot, Unica, Marketo, Net-Results, Oracle Eloqua, Pardot, Right On Interactive, Salesfusion, Silverpop, Sitecore, Aprimo and more.

Multiple Channels online: 
Search Engines / Directories- Google, Yahoo , Bing
Content Sites – WordPress, Blogger, vimeo, YouTube, SlideShare
Reviews & Recommendations – Tripadvisors, Yelp
Social – Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Instagram, Pininterest

It is clear from the definition that Marketing Automation is not simply a useful tool, but an important requirement for any marketing departments to be successful. As if planning is not complicated enough, marketeers have to expand their marketing strategies to include (more often than not) online channels. Not only do they have to initiate these campaigns online, they have to monitor their effectiveness and review them continuously. This is almost close to impossible for most marketeers, given their current resources. Thus, it is critical for marketeers to expand their capabilities by adopting effective marketing automation solutions.