Italy: Marketing automation platforms are gaining ground.

[nusratjahan]

Growing digital channels, real-time communication, and increasing automation: these are the three key findings of the research "Marketing Automation: Current State and Future Scenarios ," conducted by IULM University and coordinated by Professor Daniela Corsar, presented by Selligent Marketing Cloud, a cloud-based platform for omnichannel marketing, in collaboration with DI.GI. International.

Gian Musolino, Selligent - Marketing Automation"The results of this research confirm that companies are increasingly aware of the importance of investing in creating a shop relational approach to brand-customer interactions. This aspect was already central, but it becomes even more so in the post-Covid-19 market, where uncertainty and lack of trust prevail ," commented Gian Musolino, Country Manager of Selligent Marketing Cloud . "In this context, marketing automation platforms like ours play a fundamental role because they not only improve the customer experience but also create internal efficiency."

The study, conducted through a questionnaire administered to 200 professionals and managers in marketing, digital, communications, and sales, aimed to analyze the role of marketing automation in Italian companies, to better understand the current situation and outline potential application perspectives in customer experience management.

As mentioned, three aspects stand out most clearly.
Companies' dominance of digital channels: social media, and Facebook in particular, used by 77% of the sample, represents an increasingly important channel for marketing and sales activities, to the detriment of the company website (68%) and newsletters (63%). The majority of companies encourage the use of social media and have been perceived by industry insiders as a way to improve customer relations. Confirming the increasingly close connection between social media and sales, one in two salespeople develops content for social media together with their marketing colleagues.

Communication is increasingly real-time: professionals report that customers frequently use instant messaging (66%) and voice messaging (47%) to interact with companies. At the same time, brands are increasingly using AI (50%), analytics (53%), and chatbots (41%) for marketing, sales, and customer support.