Marketing automation is the process of a system carrying out automated elements of marketing which would usually be undertaken by a human.

Typically, the automation process is carried out by a software (also referred to as martech)  that has been incorporated into a company’s workflow. The functions of marketing automation technology can vary, however for the most-part, marketing automation includes automations such as triggering emails or sending out social media posts however in some cases businesses use more than one tech supplier in order to achieve all the automated components. There are many benefits of marketing automation, the primary benefit being the ability to streamline and simplify the marketing process.

An important note about marketing automation is that it must comply with data protection laws and regulations, like GDPR. As such, there are certain steps that need to be followed to ensure your marketing workflow, along with your business, remain GDPR-compliant. Examples of these steps include allowing customers to unsubscribe from automated communications easily and being transparent on what customer data is held and how it will be used, as well as how long it will be stored for.