Increasing efficiency and lowering costs – these are the central challenges for marketing and sales teams in an increasingly digital and competitive environment. Marketing and sales automation offer enormous potential: they automate repetitive tasks, manage both external and internal communication, optimize processes, and thus help significantly reduce operational costs without neglecting customer engagement.
But what exactly is marketing and sales automation? Who benefits from it? And what pitfalls should be considered when implementing it?
In this article, you will learn how modern automation solutions can sustainably reduce your costs and optimize your marketing and sales efforts.
Contents
- What is Marketing and Sales Automation?
- How Does Marketing and Sales Automation Reduce Your Operating Costs?
- Who Benefits from Marketing and Sales Automation?
- What Should Be Considered During Implementation?
- Conclusion
What is marketing and sales automation?
"The Institute for Sales and Marketing Automation defines marketing and sales automation as the IT-supported execution of recurring […] tasks with the goal of increasing the efficiency of […] processes and the effectiveness of marketing and sales decisions in these areas." (ISFMA)
Marketing automation refers to the use of software solutions to automate marketing processes – from lead generation and campaign management to personalized customer communication across various channels. Sales automation builds on this by automating tasks in sales such as lead qualification, follow-ups, or proposal management.
The goal is to minimize manual work, standardize processes, and enable personalized communication. This allows marketing and sales resources to be used more efficiently.
Source: Digital Business. Strategies, Business Models, and Technologies. (2024)
How does marketing and sales automation reduce your operating costs?
Effective marketing and sales automation is now a crucial lever for reducing operational costs. The right automation ensures that leads are not only handled faster but also better qualified and converted – thus increasing revenue per euro spent.
How to boost your success
Automated marketing campaigns
This type of automation not only saves time but also increases the reach and efficiency of marketing efforts. Emails or social media posts can be automatically sent to the target audience at the optimal time. This saves you manual effort while delivering better results.
Example: A potential customer downloads a whitepaper on your website – the starting point for an automated marketing campaign. Later that same day, the person receives a personalized email with additional blog articles on the topic. Three days later, a case study is sent via email, showing how a similar company successfully worked with your solution. After one week, it is checked whether the lead interacted with the content: If there is high engagement, they are automatically assigned to a new campaign, such as an invitation to a webinar or an industry guide. For inactive leads, a reactivation sequence is triggered instead.
Automated cross- and upselling campaigns
By automating cross- and upselling efforts, companies can engage existing customers more efficiently and increase revenue per customer. Automated systems recognize patterns and suggest products or services that match the customer's needs.
Example: After purchasing a laptop in an online store, the customer automatically receives an email with relevant accessory recommendations, such as a bag or an external monitor. If the customer makes another purchase, the product recommendations adjust to their usage behavior – all managed by automated rules in the background.
Automated lead generation and lead qualification
Instead of manually tracking leads, you can entrust the initial qualification to a suitable marketing automation tool. Only the most promising leads, those that meet the right criteria, are passed on to the sales team. This way, the sales team can focus on the best opportunities and achieve better conversion rates.
Example: A visitor downloads a whitepaper and is automatically captured as a lead. A scoring system evaluates their behavior – e.g., page visits, industry, or company size. If the lead reaches a defined threshold, it is automatically passed on to sales. This allows your team to spend more time on other tasks.
Automated advancement of qualified leads
Once qualified, leads are automatically advanced in the sales process and prioritized through scoring systems. This ensures that no valuable opportunities are overlooked and that sales teams can use their resources efficiently.
Example: A qualified lead attends a webinar – automatically triggering an email sequence with in-depth content, such as case studies or product demos. At the same time, their lead score increases. If it reaches the next threshold, a sales meeting is suggested. This way, the lead progresses systematically – without any manual follow-up.
How to optimize internal processes
Automated task management across marketing and sales
Marketing and sales teams can manage their tasks more efficiently by automating repetitive tasks such as sending follow-up emails or assigning leads. This reduces manual effort and increases productivity.
Example: When a lead downloads a product datasheet, a follow-up is automatically created in the CRM – including the responsible person, deadline, and email template. At the same time, the lead status is updated. This allows marketing and sales to work seamlessly together without the need for manual task assignment.
Automated pipeline management
With automation, you can continuously track leads and opportunities, effectively managing the entire sales pipeline. This means fewer manual entries and a clear overview of the current state of business processes.
Example: When a lead moves to a new phase, such as from initial contact to proposal creation, the pipeline status is automatically updated. The system generates relevant tasks, informs the team, and adjusts the revenue forecast. This ensures that the sales process is always up to date.
Scalability and optimized forecasting
Automation allows your company to manage processes on a large scale without the need for additional resources. Automated systems can help make accurate predictions and optimize the forecasting process.
Example: As soon as new opportunities arise or the status of existing deals changes, the data is automatically integrated into the forecasting model. The system detects trends, calculates realistic revenue forecasts, and provides them to management in real-time – even with hundreds of leads simultaneously, without the need for Excel spreadsheets.
Automated reporting and real-time dashboards
With automated reporting tools, teams receive valuable data and insights in real-time, helping them make informed decisions. These dashboards allow you to monitor KPIs, identify bottlenecks, and improve the adaptability and responsiveness of your business.
Example: A sales manager opens the dashboard in the morning and sees at a glance: new leads for the week, conversion rates per campaign, and the current pipeline value – all automatically updated. Instead of manually creating reports, the team can focus entirely on analysis and optimization.
Who benefits from marketing and sales automation?
Marketing and sales automation is not only relevant for large companies but also for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that want to make their processes more efficient. The flexibility and scalability of automation solutions allow businesses of all sizes to benefit from these advantages.
Small and medium-sized enterprises – Out-of-the-box solutions for quick success
SMEs particularly benefit from easily integrable and cost-effective solutions. These tools are easier to implement and usually require minimal adjustments. Due to their simple deployment, SMEs can see results quickly without having to invest extensive IT resources.
Well-known tools like HubSpot and ActiveCampaign offer user-friendly interfaces and comprehensive features for marketing and sales automation, including email marketing, lead management, and CRM functionalities. These solutions are especially suitable for businesses looking to optimize their marketing and sales processsaes without developing complex structures.
Large enterprises – Customizable tools for maximum flexibility
Large companies, on the other hand, often require more complex platforms that allow deeper integration with existing IT systems like CRM and ERP systems. These platforms offer advanced features and allow for customization to meet the specific needs of the business.
Solutions like Salesforce provide powerful automation features that seamlessly integrate into existing infrastructure. They offer detailed segmentation, advanced lead scoring, and personalized customer engagement across multiple channels. The ability to process large volumes of data and provide comprehensive analytics is particularly valuable for companies with complex marketing and sales processes.
What should be considered during implementation?
The successful implementation of marketing and sales automation is more than just technology – it requires a holistic strategy:
- Clearly define goals: Which processes should be automated? Which KPIs are important?
- Ensure data quality: Automation is only as good as your data foundation – CRM integration and data maintenance are crucial.
- Involve employees: Training and change management increase acceptance.
- Start with pilot projects: A gradual rollout minimizes risks.
- Comply with legal requirements: Data protection (GDPR) and compliance must be adhered to.
Recent studies show that companies that adopt a structured approach to implementing automation software can significantly increase their success rate (Harvard Business Review 2025).
Conclusion: The right tools for less effort and better results
Marketing and sales automation will be a key to cost reduction and efficiency improvement in marketing and sales by 2025. Selecting the right tools, combined with a clear implementation plan and a focus on data quality, determines success. Companies that leverage these potentials enhance their competitiveness through automated, personalized customer engagement at significantly lower operating costs.
Need support with sales and marketing automation? We’re here to help! Simply request a non-binding initial consultation via this link. Our contact person will get back to you within 24 hours on weekdays.
