IMPACTS OF MARKETING AUTOMATION ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the impact of marketing automation on business performance by primarily focusing on the effect on sales and customer experience along with identifying the barriers that deter the successful implementation of this technology. Marketing automation allows businesses to compete effectively especially in the efforts to attract the customers’ attention. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews. The results reveal that marketing automation places on strategies that can be used to increase consumer collaboration and coordination during the process of product development and enhancing their input and consequently increasing their experience. Marketing automation improves customer experience, saves time by relieving the daily tasks such as posting messages and sending emails, ensures consistency because same activities will generate the same results, leads to optimization of the marketing strategy and also yields a coordinate multi-channel campaign that allows companies to reach the customers with conditional content, smart and relevant segmentation. Despite the numerous benefit that lead to improvement of overall business performance, implementation of marketing automation in organizations encounters different several challenges that are highlighted as follows; lack the prerequisite laid guidelines to enhance the accomplishment of the marketing automation outcomes and inadequate data and inconsistency in the quality of information hinders the applicability of marketing automation in firms.

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Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
15th June 2020. Vol.98. No 11
© 2005 – ongoing JATIT & LLS
ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195
1957
IMPACTS OF MARKETING AUTOMATION ON BUSINESS
PERFORMANCE
1MOHAMMAD AWNI MAHMOUD, 2YAZAN M. ALOMARI, 3USAMA A. BADAWI,
4ABDERRAZAK BEN SALAH, 5MOHAMMAD FAHED TAYFOUR, 6FAHAD A. ALGHAMDI,
7ABDULAH M. ASERI
1-5Lecturer, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Department of Management Information Systems,
College of Applied Studies and Community Services, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
2-3-4-6Assistant Professor, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Department of Management
Information Systems, College of Applied Studies and Community Services, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
6Assistant Professor, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Department of Management Information
Systems, College of Business Administration, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
E-mail: 1maamahmoud@iau.edu.sa, 2ymalomari@iau.edu.sa, 3ubadawi@iau.edu.sa, 4asalah@iau.edu.sa,
5Mftayfour@iau.edu.sa, 6faghamdi@iau.edu.sa, 7amaseri@iau.edu.sa
ABSTRACT
The primary aim of this study is to investigate the impact of marketing automation on business
performance by primarily focusing on the effect on sales and customer experience along with identifying
the barriers that deter the successful implementation of this technology. Marketing automation allows
businesses to compete effectively especially in the efforts to attract the customers’ attention. The data were
collected using semi-structured interviews. The results reveal that marketing automation places on
strategies that can be used to increase consumer collaboration and coordination during the process of
product development and enhancing their input and consequently increasing their experience. Marketing
automation improves customer experience, saves time by relieving the daily tasks such as posting messages
and sending emails, ensures consistency because same activities will generate the same results, leads to
optimization of the marketing strategy and also yields a coordinate multi-channel campaign that allows
companies to reach the customers with conditional content, smart and relevant segmentation. Despite the
numerous benefit that lead to improvement of overall business performance, implementation of marketing
automation in organizations encounters different several challenges that are highlighted as follows; lack the
prerequisite laid guidelines to enhance the accomplishment of the marketing automation outcomes and
inadequate data and inconsistency in the quality of information hinders the applicability of marketing
automation in firms.
Keywords: Marketing, Automation, Performance, Customer Experience, Sales
1. INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background Information
Marketing automation involves the use
of the software to automate selling processes
including customer data integration, customer
segmentation, and campaign management [1].
Some of the marketing automation strategies that
are currently used by businesses include email
marketing, social media marketing, video
marketing, webinar marketing, and mobile
marketing. Effective implementation of
marketing automation helps companies to
accelerate buyers through sales funnel with a
reduced employee involvement which eventually
culminates to reduced costs [1]. Additionally,
automation can potentially help firms to
centralize data, nature leads into customers, track
success for marketing campaigns, and deliver
contact strategy. Marketing automation is
perceived as one of the strategic plan that
enables businesses to reach a significant market
share. However, firms that fail to effectively plan
every aspect of the marketing campaigns might
not benefit from the strategy [2]. Marketing
automation can be employed by both small and

Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
15th June 2020. Vol.98. No 11
© 2005 – ongoing JATIT & LLS
ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195
1958
large corporations to influence buying decisions
among the target customers. Employing the
technology can enable businesses to maximize
productivity as well as optimize company
outreach. Therefore, understanding how crucial
automation is to the organization can enable
businesses to improve their competitive
landscape.
1.2 Problem Statement
A study by Murphy established that
businesses are currently expected to implement,
acquire, and update marketing automation
system to maintain their competitiveness [3].
While implementing this, the management needs
to consider several factors including availability
of expertise to help in creating customer centric
content. Marketing automation is increasingly
becoming a crucial aspect in every organization
as businesses continue to significantly invest the
technology [3]. Despite the growing marketing
automation by corporation as an operational
strategy, there is a gap in knowledge regarding
implementation challenges experienced by firms
[4]. In light of this, Jena reiterated on the need
for future scholars to extend knowledge through
research on implementation of marketing
communication by both small and large
corporations. As businesses continue to leverage
on technology to reduce costs and increase
operational efficiency, there is insufficient
knowledge marketing automation is effective in
generating high quality sales and the overall
performance of the firm. The existing literature
has also failed to highlight outcomes among
companies that have successfully implemented
the technology [5]. Therefore, this study intends
to bridge the gap by focusing on the effects on
marketing automation on business performance.
1.3 Research Aim and Objectives
The study aims to examine the impacts
of marketing automation on business
performance. Although some of the existing
literature [1], [3] and [4] found that marketing
automation enhances customer experience, there
is a gap in knowledge regarding the
implementation challenges and the future
prospects of the approach. Therefore, the
research was guided by the following objectives:
1. To examine the challenges experienced
by firms while implementing marketing
automation.
2. To examine the impacts of marketing
automation on sales leads?
3. To explore the future of marketing
automation on selling practices and
organizational performance.
1.4 Research Questions
i. What are the potential barriers that
hinder companies from implementing
marketing automation?
ii. How does marketing automation affect
customer experience?
iii. How does the marketing automation
impact sales of the business?
iv. Is marketing automation effective in
improving business performance?
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1Marketing Automation, its impact on Sales
and Performance of a Company
Paradigm tilts in consumption, creation
of information, collaboration and communication
have led to exponential growth and disruptive
nature of big data in businesses which cannot be
ignored [6] [7]. Kumar and Sharmam noted that
the potential of big data to drive different
business insights cannot be overlooked either
[8]. Firms should understand and utilize digital
innovations such as automated marketing
processed to stay competitively relevant.
Perceived as utilization of software to digitize
marketing processes like consumer
segmentation, marketing management and
customer data integration marketing automation
emanates from business to business (B2B)
environment as well as the root if automatic
customization of promotion functions[9] [10]. If
implemented correctly, marketing automation
can assist a company to focus on its clients and
accelerate product sales through sales funnels
using lower budgets and far less human
personnel. Nevertheless, marketing automation
software can help organizations to centralize
consumer information, nurture lead into potential
consumers, deliver more relevant contact
strategy for relating with customers and ease the
tracking process of marketing campaigns [9].
However, organizations need to be aware that
today’s customers are more astute.
Consequently, improving sales and
organizational performance through marketing

Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
15th June 2020. Vol.98. No 11
© 2005 – ongoing JATIT & LLS
ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195
1959
automation requires strategic planning,
continuous testing and learning, relevant, timely
and targeted messaging direct mail marketing
and exploitation of digital print technology [11].
Similarly, organizations should be very clear
why they intend to digitize their marketing
practices before implementing marketing
automation. Once a company has clear marketing
automation objectives, it can implement
marketing automations to achieve high degrees
of timeliness and efficacy that cannot be met by
human interventions no matter the
responsiveness of its client-facing teams and
marketing staff.
Automating marketing processes
enables swift responses to competition threats,
increases organizations’ access to consumers’
journey, provides crucial insights for tailoring
future consumer experiences and created
personalized consumer experiences [12]. Even
though marketing automation is still in its early
years of implementation, the concept is on a path
to be the solution in a field that defines gross
product sales and overall organizational
performance. Despite the existence of these
consensuses, literature still lags in linking
successful implementation of marketing
automation with marketing
accountability.Contrastingly, Redding argued
that automated marketing aligns marketing and
sales in business-to-business organizations
besides creating a more consumer-focused
business if installed properly in organizations
[13]. However, [13] recommended that there is
scarce empirical evidence in literature to support
these allegations and perhaps, this is a research
gap that needs to be addressed.
Marketing automation translates to
increased marketing timeliness and efficacy that
are reachable through greater control of
marketing costs as well as replication of
marketing functions [12]. On the other hand,
automated marketing processes develop
consumer leads, hence attracting more potential
consumers. Eventually, most consumers turn into
loyal customers and boost organizations’ level of
product and service sales. Another benefit of
automated marketing approach is better business
efficacy through limited utilization of human
resources. Marketing automation leads to greater
marketing productivity whereby organizations
employ a small number of marketing staff to
simultaneously run thousands of digital
marketing campaigns. Thanks to existence of
technology that can implement, track and score
digital communication and marketing services,
efficacy in business process is almost certain and
marketing departments can experience the
benefits of automation such as marketing
effectiveness [14]. However, automating
marketing processes should not be viewed by
marketing departments as a be-all, end all
strategy that will replace marketing intelligence,
address decades of strict marketing processes,
and create sound advertising, skillful marketing
staff and effective marketingstrategies by itself.
Contrastingly, organizations should be market-
driven in terms of marketing decision making
processes and strategic in gathering accurate data
on consumers, marketplaces and business
environments [15].
Despite positive influences of
automating marketing practices, scholars have
equally disclosed negative impacts associated
with digitizing product or service promotion
functions [16]. The expansion and redesign of
business blueprints driven by technological
inventions has exponentially increased the
quality, quantity and forms of business
information collected by companies [17].
Regardless of the type of information, the
quantity of big data at organizations’ disposal
will be meaningless as they evolve with time,
hence being a foundation for business
competition, innovation, business expansion as
well as customer surplus [18]. Therefore, making
marketing decisions is no longer easy because of
complex variables and big data which are too
much for human beings to handle [19].
Marketing automation has increased the
scrutiny of marketing accountability in different
in different sectors around the world. In light of
this, accountability in the marketing profession is
no longer an optional process [20]. Marketing
managers face intense pressure to demonstrate
marketing results and legitimize their
responsibilities in organizations as important
value creators [21] [19]. Moreover, marketers
encounter challenges in finding correct metrics
systems that precisely assess the financial
performance of their companies in terms of
marketing objectives [22] [23]. In the context of
contemporary marketing paradigm that is
overshadowed by technological advancements
and explosion of big data in automated
marketing processes have forced marketers to
recognize this transformation and adapt their
roles and skills towards better organizational

Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
15th June 2020. Vol.98. No 11
© 2005 – ongoing JATIT & LLS
ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195
1960
performance and data driven-marketing actions
[24]. This initiative is important in improving
organizational performance, increasing product
or service sales and staying ahead of business
competitors.
2.2 Challenges faced by companies while
implementing marketing automation
Marketing automation in organisations
provides an opportunity of initiating strategies
aimed at increasing the revenues, maximising on
the company revenues while enhancing the
market efficiencies through the adoption of
various technologies [25]. While organisations
attempt to increase value in their digital
promotional mechanisms, there are inherent
challenges that impact on their success. The
failure to undertake an appropriate market
research as a way of implementing the
appropriate mix of marketing automation
techniques makes it difficult for firms to
experience success [26]. Through an insight into
the antecedents of success because of market
automation, the study highlights that the failure
to undertake appropriate scoping could
negatively impact on the organisational success
in pursuing marketing automation. Many
institutions in developing the marketing
automation overlook the best practice approaches
in undertaking the data driven initiatives of
customer problems [27]. The study points that
many organisations fail to realise the dynamic
consumer environment while poses a challenge
towards effectively realizing their initiatives of
marketing automations. Moreover, poor lead
management practices from the organisational
top management negatively impacts on the
marketing automation practices with a decline in
the potential sales revenues within the company
[28]. Therefore, the lack of a clear vision and
leadership prospects negatively impacts on the
implementation of marketing automation
practices and procedures.
While technology is critical for the
success of business entities, the top management
together with an appropriate mix of human
resource training and perspectives are critical in
achieving marketing automation success [29].
Nonetheless, firms fail to accord appropriate
training to their staff and human resource
personnel in aligning their operations with the
goals of marketing automation approaches and
techniques. Many executive leaders failed to
realise the potential of human intelligence
through the implementation of marketing
automation procedures [30]. Failure to
effectively integrate the employees towards
embracing the marketing automation concepts
and practices resulted in the challenges of
realising organisational success. Many
companies look at marketing automation as cost
saving measures thereby neglecting the input of
employees for the organisational progress which
resulted in ineffective outcomes [31]. The
breakdown in communication and coordination
among employees in applying the marketing
automation in companies results in unintended
cost implications. Further, a common pitfall
while executing marketing automation is lack of
personalisation of the digital content for the
company wide practices [32]. While noting the
failure of the top management in synchronising
the operational perspectives, the research
emphasised that the failure to develop more
content specific information for narrower
segments resulted in poor outcomes.
The challenge of organisational design
involves the determination of the cross-
functional coordination across departments [33].
While the operations within a company are
intertwined, the study noted the lack of clarity
during the process of marketing automation as
part of an inherent problem in developing the
critical performance indicators across various
departments. The marketing uncertainties and
differential perspective of leaders towards
embracing diverse aspects of the marketing
automation processes in companies generates
challenges for their efficacy of the underlying
issues [34]. While company leaders may
endeavour to institute various approaches
towards achieving success, the intrinsic aspects
of reasoning shapes their resolution towards the
incorporation of different perspectives and
ideologies relating to marketing automation
strategies. The marketing automation
necessitates the collection of customer
information and data for processing and
consequently usage during the automation
process [26]. Nonetheless, the data quality and
efficacy towards its utilisation in promoting the
best practices poses an operational challenge
[35]. The study highlighted the negative impact
in failing to effectively capture the correct
consumer data as a pitfall for implementing the
marketing mix and approaches across
companywide initiatives. The big data prospects
for automation and effective communication is a

Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
15th June 2020. Vol.98. No 11
© 2005 – ongoing JATIT & LLS
ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195
1961
challenge for companies in realising proper
access management and usage across the
institutions [36].
2.3 Research Gap
As marketing automation continues to
be an essential aspect in today’s business
environment, more studies have focused on it by
identifying the impact it has on the performance
of organizations and identification of various
challenges that hinder successful
implementation. Little studies have researched
on how successfully the marketing automation
can be implemented by both small and large
organizations. Businesses need to understand
how they can successfully leverage technology
to realize reduced costs and increased business
efficiency and how marketing automation can
lead to significant improvements of the firm’s
performance.
3.0 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design
A qualitative research method was used
in this study to identify the impact of market
automation on business performance. The
researcher was able to systematically collect,
organise, describe and interpret the visual or
textual data that was useful in meaning-making.
Qualitative method is commonly used in studies
related to marketing to elicit the experiences,
opinions and perceptions of the participants
regarding the study phenomenon [37]. The main
advantages for selecting this technique include
the increased possibilities to simplify and
manage data without any negative impacts on
context and complexity, provides deeper insights
that are useful to the industry and also allows
creativity to be the driving force [38]. In this
study, a narrative qualitative design was used to
give detailed explanations of the responses
provided which were detail-oriented, flexible and
offered predictive qualities. The research was
subjective and as a result, an inductive research
philosophy was considered in the analysis of the
data. Abstractions and concepts were built
through inductive reasoning based on
observations and measures that helped in
detecting regularities, themes and patterns used
in the formulation of theories and making
informed conclusions.
3.2 Sampling Method
The participant selection criteria were
based on purposeful sampling. The sample
consisted of 5 individuals who included business
owners and customers. The inclusion criteria for
the sample comprised of people that understand
the concept of market automation, theory
organisation have implemented different
strategies of marketing automation and
customers who have felt the impact of the new
technologies in their lives. The primary strengths
of purposive samples include the easiness to
make generalisations regarding the sample and
there are also increased opportunities of
squeezing detailed information from the
participants [39].The primary qualities that were
considered include the level of understanding
about automation, at least have an undergraduate
degree, willingness to take part in the research,
and availability. However, other aspects such as
age, gender, and technical aspects were not
considered. Therefore, consideration of these
aspects enhanced generalisation of the findings.
The participants were provided with an
ethical consent form that described the
importance of the study, potential risks, their
roles, and the reasons why they were selected.
Sampling issues were catered through ensuring
all the selected individuals possessed the primary
qualities identified for eligibility. Response
issues were addressed by explaining to the
participants about the nature of information that
was expected. The participants were provided
with adequate time to express their opinion or
seek clarification which indeed helped in
addressing issues associated with biases.
Measurement issues were addressed by ensuring
only reliable and valid data were collected. For
instance, the participants were requested to
clarify some of the information to align with the
research question and objectives.
3.3 Data Collection Techniques
The qualitative data was collected
through semi-structured interviews which were
carried out in the selected business premises.
Before collecting the data, a pilot study was
conducted to ensure the interview questions were
understood. The questions were also reviewed to
ensure they accurately align with the research
questions and objectives.

Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
15th June 2020. Vol.98. No 11
© 2005 – ongoing JATIT & LLS
ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195
1962
Five non-evaluating interview questions
were answered by each respondent and the
interview session took approximately 20
minutes. Semi-structured interviews encourage
two-way communication provides qualitative
data that is used in comparing previousand future
data, allows participants to open about sensitive
issues and allows the informants freedom of
expressing their views [40]. Therefore, semi-
structured lead to accurate and reliable data that
can provide answers to the research questions.
An audio tape was used to record the interviews
that were conducted face-to-face. Afterwards the
data was transcribed. Although before the
interview was conducted the participants were
given several documents including the informed
consent form that notified them of the research
and its purpose, debrief forms, interview
schedule, distress protocol and also, the
information sheet.
3.4 Data Analysis
To analyse the qualitative data collected
from the semi-structured interviews, a thematic
approach was used. The thematic method was
suitable due to flexibility which allows
interpretation of the data based on the
researchers experience and knowledge regarding
the research phenomenon. Additionally, the
thematic method is not tied to specific
framework and procedures, which enables it to
be applied in qualitative studies. The approach
sought to identify, analyse, and interpret patterns
of meaning ideas and topics and henceforth led
to generation of themes that were useful in the
discussion chapter. The main steps that were
followed during the analysis of data include
reading of the interview transcripts,
identification of codes, and identification of
common patterns and themes. Moreover, the
themes were reviewed and redefined to ensure
they accurately answered the research question.
The final report was prepared where name of the
participants were anonymised to enhance
confidentiality. These processes allowed
identification of any anomaly that could
potentially affect the result.
The researcher assigned preliminary
codes to the data which helped in the process of
describing the content. Themes are examined
within data, and the approach puts significant
emphasis on theoretically informed interpretation
of meaning as well as organisation and rich
description of data [41].
3.5 Ethical Considerations
The researcher adhered to various
ethical principles before, during, and after the
data collection. Fundamentally, adherence to
ethical principles is fundamental in enhancing
the credibility and reliability of the results. The
principle of confidentiality and anonymity were
adhered to through ensuring personal
information of the participants was not shared or
accessed by third parties. For instance, name or
personal details for the participants which could
lead to their identification were only known to
the researcher. Name of the participants was also
anonymised to enhance confidentiality. After
analysis and interpretation of the results, the
primary data were destroyed to prevent
accessibility by un-authorised people.
Secondary, the participants were required to fill a
consent form that detailed the importance of the
study, reasons why they were requested to take
part in the research, potential risks, and their role
in the research. Individuals were also informed
about their rights such as withdrawing from the
research at any point without providing the
reasons for their actions.
4.0 RESULTS
This chapter provides the analysis of the
interview transcripts using the thematic method.
The main themes and patterns identified from the
data includes barriers, effects of marketing
automation on customer experience, effects of
marketing automation on sales and impacts of
marketing automation on business performance.
Theme 1. Barriers in Implementing
Marketing Automation
Table 1. Summary of the Responses
Participant Responses
R1and 2 Integration issues
R5 Inconsistency of the
information
R3and R4 Not sure
Source: (Authors Illustration)
The results can be summarized as
shown in graph 2.

Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
15
th
June 2020. Vol.98. No 11
© 2005 – ongoing JATIT & LLS
ISSN:
1992-8645
www.jatit.org E-ISSN:
1817-3195
1963
Figure 2. Challenges Associated With
Automation
Firms experience various challenges
that hinder the effective implementation of
marketing automation. In light of this R1 and R2
stated that firms fail to outline an applicable
marketing strategy that makes it difficult to
realize positive outcomes.
R1 “In most cases, firms lack the
prerequisite laid guidelines to enhance
the accomplishment of the marketing
automation outcomes with a focus on
embedding unrealistic technological
perspectives in the organization”.
Firms need to highlight clear objectives
during the execution of diverse marketing
automation strategies across the organizational
departments. The implementation of marketing
automation takes a relatively longer period to
implement due to the need to embed the
automation system across the organization. The
setting up of the system takes a long period
between weeks and months and firms may fail to
realize profits during the initiation period
forfeiting their normal operations.
According to R5, inadequate data and
inconsistency in the quality of information
hinders the applicability of marketing
automation in firms.
“Since marketing automation relies on
the appropriate determination of the
customer and market information,
insufficient data hampers the execution
of the most effective strategy for
improving the promotion and
publicizing of the company’s brand
across the marketplace”.
Poor data capturing, aggregation and
standardization hampers the operationalization of
marketing automation in firms. Consequently,
the initial cost of marketing automation is
relatively high during the acquisition of the
marketing software. While realizing the
additional costs incurred during the software
execution, many firms and organizations seek to
pursue the use of alternative marketing
approaches.
Theme 2: Effect of Marketing Automation on
Customer Experience
Marketing automation plays a critical
role in enhancing the customer experience with
the potential of maintaining the customer loyalty.
R3 claimed that marketing automation improve
the customer relationships with the software
focusing on generating repeated responses and
custom specific information in attracting more
businesses.
R3 “Through the continuous and
repetitive customized information that
focuses on bringing the gap between the
company’s brand and its prospective
consumers”
Marketing automation emphasizes on
increasing the consumer collaboration and
coordination during the process of product
development and enhancing their input and
consequently increasing their experience.
Therefore, marketing automation increases
effective communication focused on the
personalization of information and consequently
increasing the consumer perceptions of the
particular brands.
Marketing automation is significant in
promoting the customer experience as it focuses
on recommending related products to consumers
across the marketplace thereby increasing their
perception and market awareness.
R4 “Marketing automation potentially
increases customer experience and
awareness about products and services”
The marketing automation develops an
insight for consumer experience while increasing
their attachment to a particular brand product.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Challenges
Challenges

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© 2005 – ongoing JATIT & LLS
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Accordingly, marketing automation plays a
critical role in the customer satisfaction through
the provision of relevant information and
channels for voicing their complaints and
compliments. Therefore, the strategy will
increase the ability of firms to offer excellent
customer service beforehand.
Theme 3: Effects of Automation on Sales
Table 2. Summary Of Participant Response
Participant Response
R1 Unsure about the accurate
impact of automation on sales
R2 Automation will lead to
improved sales.
R3 Increase sales and the overall
performance of the company
R4 Integration challenges will
deter its effectiveness in
promoting sales
R5 Stated the impact will depend
on the level of integration in
the organization
Source: (Authors Illustration)
The results can be summarized as
shown in the following graph:
Figure 1. Effects Of Automation On Sales
The findings indicate that automation
can inherently enhance performance of the firm
because of the increased sales (figure 1).
Marketing automation enhances the
potential for increases the sales volumes and
turnover in firms. R2 and R3 stated that the
marketing automation endeavors to utilize
diverse channels as a means of coordinating their
approach in reaching to the existing and potential
customers.
R2 “The marketing automation
enhances the means of capturing the
customer attention by harmonizing their
information and consolidating their
campaign management approaches. R3,
the marketing approaches attempts to
target and customize information for
consumers thereby increasing their
indulgence and consequently making
purchases.”
Marketing automation focuses on
utilizing the harnessed information for
segmenting customers and ensuring they receive
appropriate information relating to their needs
and potential for making purchases. As a
consequence, it is possible for consumers to
make direct link and communication with a firm
relating to the available brand products. The
application of marketing communication
facilitates two-way communication between the
business and customers which eventually
enhances customer loyalty. Effective
communication will enable consumers to give
feedback about the products and services offered
by the company. With such collaboration, the
business will manage to formulate marketing and
operational strategies with the potential to attract
and positively influence consumer purchasing
decisions.
According to R5, the marketing
automation ensures that consumers can make
repeat purchases for their specific products as
they are continuously updated with the
appropriate information relating to availability of
products from the firm.
R5, “Through the marketing automation
software it is possible to provide
consumers with information that would
increase their awareness, evaluation
and potential purchase for a given
product.
Repeat purchases are associated with a
wide range of factors including the quality of the
products or services offered by the company,
price of the products, and effectiveness of the
marketing strategies. In this case, marketing
automation potentially enable the business to
share real-time information regarding products
and services. As a consequence, consumers use
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Effects of automation on sales
Response

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1965
the information to make purchasing decisions.
Additionally, the findings revealed that the
marketing automation increases the potential of
reducing the costs of hiring marketers and costs
involved in making personal sales with the
ability of initiating and convincing consumers to
make the online purchases.
Theme 4: Marketing Automation and
Business Performance
Table 3. Summary Of Participants’
Response
Participant Response
R1 and R3 Increases customer attraction and
marketing efficiency which
results in outstanding
performance of the company.
R2,4, and 5 Neutral
The finding regarding impacts of
marketing automation on business performance
can be summarized as shown in figure 1.3.
Figure 3. Impacts Of Automation On
Business Performance
Marketing automation is increasingly
gaining widespread usage among many firms
who seek to increase their productivity. R1
revealed that the automation increases the
lifecycle campaigns in advancing the critical
customer retention initiatives for the specific
brand products.
R1, “while realizing the need for
increasing customer attraction,
retention and engagements, marketing
automation increase the chance of
reaching out to consumers and
consequently increasing sales”.
Accordingly, marketing automation
processes enhances the ability of firms to
increase their market share by attracting more
customer leads and profit margins. In light of
this, the findings revealed that marketing
automation promotes the coordination of
multiple social media campaigns thereby
increasing the chance of reaching diverse and
spatially located consumers across the global
marketplace.With the tremendous development
of the internet, most consumers are shifting to
purchasing products and services through online
platforms because of convenience, access to
quality products and services, and cost
effectiveness. Marketing automation will
fundamentally enable customers to access real
time information regarding the products and
services offered by the company. Consumers
will also leverage on this technology to access
information about products and services offered
by competitors before making purchasing
decisions. Eventually, the business can use the
opportunity to influence consumer buying
decisions hence contributing to increased sales
and overall performance.
The automation of marketing strategies
increases conditional content development and
more personalized marketing content for
consumers assisting them achieve their business
objectives within a short period. R3 stated that
there are possibilities to test various approaches
and their efficacy across the markets in
determining the most appropriate for their
development.
R3, “Marketing automation increase
the ability to undertake tests on target
markets, optimize their marketing
contents and initiatives and
consequently redesigning the
approaches to match the consumer
demands and existing market needs”.
Marketing is a crucial strategy used by
many firms to enhance their competitiveness.
For instance, digital strategies enable businesses
to reach many customers across the globe.
Essentially, embracing marketing automation
will allow firms to match consumer needs.
Additionally, businesses will save resources
while focusing on rolling out their marketing
optimization strategies and consequently
maximizing on their potential outputs.Therefore,
automated feedbacks not only mitigate
organizational marketing politics and tough
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Impact of automation of business
performance
Impactof
automationof
business
performance

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conversations, but enhance marketing staff and
department accountability to ascertain that
marketing performance meets marketing goals.
5.0 DISCUSSION
The firms usually have to sustain the
cost of training their employees in equipping
them with the prerequisite skills for embracing
the marketing automation approaches. With the
high costs of executing marketing automation
and costs of training employees to enhance their
technical skillsets, firms fail to initiate the
process of technological mechanisation of their
marketing. Similarly, firms fail to set up the right
processes for the execution of the automation of
marketing initiatives hindering its successful
implementation [6]. Moreover, lack of
understanding of operational functioning of the
software involved in marketing automation
makes it a challenging venture for firms. While
firms may desire the automated systems to
undertake decisions on behalf of the
organisation, it becomes relatively difficult to
realize its benefits as it has the potential to
capture specific aspects of consumer behaviour
leaving the critical decision making to firms
[27]. Therefore, the failure to analyse the
performance metrics and indicators as part of the
progressive initiation of change hinders the
fulfilment of its indented initiatives.
Marketing automation promotes the
aspect of reengagement with customers while
also encouraging repeat purchases from loyal
consumers. Marketing automation focuses on
increasing the consumer interaction and
engagement beyond the initial purchases [18, 12,
31]. It is evident that consumer loyalty depends
on the first interaction and continuous
perspective of generating and stimulating their
interest in the brand products and similar
products. Marketing automation enhances the
concept of upselling which involves convincing
consumers to make comparative purchases along
their initial products and cross-selling involving
making suggestions of complimentary products
to consumers. Moreover, the marketing
automation enhances an opportunity for
streamlining the consumer experiences through
the messaging applications and chat platforms
across the social media platforms [23]. The
technologies of bots and messaging increases the
potential for assessing inquiries and evaluating
the consumer needs across the online platforms.
Thus, it is possible to collect consumer feedback
through real-time reporting of their needs and
ensuring the marketing contents are customized
to match their needs. Across organizations, the
automation of marketing processes provides an
opportunity for guaranteeing consumer
contentment since the online information reduces
the consumer anxiety as opposed to tasking
marketing personnel to undertake the marketing
on behalf of the company. Therefore, marketing
automation increases the consumer pleasure
towards realizing positive improvement.
Although the results imply that marketing
automation is crucial in enhancing performance
of the company, there is insufficient information
regarding measures that firms need to embrace to
enhance efficient integration of the technology.
Marketing automation can promote the
determination and nurturing of the leads in
making the initial and subsequent sales. The
marketing automated techniques increase the
firm’s initiatives of identifying a subset of
consumers whom they can use to convince the
other consumers through various platforms in
consequently making sales in the target markets
[9]. Marketing automation increases the
customer lifetime value through the continuous
process of acting as the lead for the specific sales
for firms. For instance, the aspects such as cross-
sells and upsells provide a means of developing
customer follow ups and prioritization of the
need for focusing on certain markets for higher
rates of returns on investments. The techniques
increase the firm’s sales cycle as it is possible to
reach many consumers over a short period and
consequently result in higher sales [17]. The
marketing automation increases the effectiveness
of the sales teams as they have to work within
the allocated resources for increasing their sales
initiatives. The marketing automation ensures the
marketing team can refine their processes and
strategies in achieving higher sales across the
marketplace. As such, the marketing teams have
an opportunity of scheduling their social media
campaigns and posts early thereby focusing on
increasing the prospective initiatives of reducing
the lead conversion time. Since most studies [9]
and [27] focused on the processes of integrating
marketing processes with automation, this result
emphasizes its ultimate impact on sales.
The processes of marketing automation
improve the initiatives aimed at generating
higher revenues for the firm through the
conversion of leads into sales and consequently
the business performance. The company can

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1967
predict the consumer behavior in the markets
with the automation highlighting the necessity to
either change the existing strategy or redesigning
the marketing situations [15, 24]. Therefore, the
study implies that organizations need to embrace
automation to achieve or remain competitive in
the turbulent business environment.
The marketing automation ensures that
the executives and marketers have the potential
for improving their business productivity and
overall performance. Marketing automation
enhances the potential for tracking and
measuring the success rates of the marketing
campaigns. Business can develop new marketing
insights aimed at edging out their competitors
and taking over the market share thereby
improving their business performance. The
creation of dynamic content allows for the
measurement of the critical aspects of the
marketing campaigns and determining their
efficacy across different markets [28]. The
promotion of relationship marketing is a critical
initiative towards increasing performance as it
offers a means of advancing follow ups for the
prospective consumers in the market. Therefore,
marketing automation plays a critical role in
reinforcing the consumer relationship resulting
in higher returns on investments and
performance within the target markets.
Therefore, this finding can help management to
develop effective marketing strategies that can
inherently aid firms to succeed.
6.0 CONCLUSION
6.1 Conclusion
The research examined the potential
effects of marketing automation on business
performance. To achieve this, the main
objectives includes understanding the challenges
that might hinder automation, effects of
marketing automation on sales leads, and
evaluating the future of marketing automation on
selling practices and overall organizational
performance. In modern era of rapid
technological innovations where consumers are
tech-savvy and internet-addicted, marketing
automation is the way to go because of different
reasons. One of the company-wide benefits for
implementing marketing automation is reduction
of staffing expenditure. When an organization
uses marketing automation software, a single
worker can effectively compete with a sales and
marketing department made of 50 or more
personnel. The situation is made possible by
ability of marketing automation software to
efficiently multitask with zero errors unlike
error-prone human-beings. For instance,
automated marketing software enables
organizations to conduct different automated
mail marketing campaigns whereby millions of
personalized marketing mails can be sent to
consumers on autopilots. Apart from marketing
efficiency, marketing automation generates extra
revenues for organizations. Therefore,
automation of customer flow-ups, up-sells and
cross-sells increases consumer lifetime value.
Combining these initiatives with effective
prioritization and better lead marketing
management translates to better returns on
investment from sales activities.Marketing
automation enhances marketing accountability of
sales and marketing teams. When marketing
processes are automated, an organization can
easily identify areas of concern in its marketing
department, thanks to clearly outlined marketing
procedures and better oversight reporting of
marketing activities. If marketing activities are
capturing thousands of potential sales leads but
none of these potential leads, or few of them end
up as actual sales, marketing automation
software will send instant and accurate responses
or feedbacks for enhancing nurturing campaigns
to marketing managers.
6.2 Recommendations for Practice
The findings revealed that marketing
automation will improve sales and the overall
performance of the company. In light of this,
management should use the results in developing
an implementation strategy to enhance effective
integration of marketing automation into their
practices. Firms can accurately identify potential
challenges that might hinder integration of their
practices with emerging technologies such as
marketing automation. Due to the ever-changing
consumer needs and the increasing competition
in the market, business should embrace
marketing automation to proactively respond to
market trends as well as meet consumer
expectations. Integrating marketing automation
will enable businesses to favorably compete with
other firms across the world. Technology has
enabled customers to access information
regarding products and services offered by
different firms. By adopting marketing
communication, firms will timely respond to
customer needs because of the effective

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communication. Therefore, companies are
imperatively required to consistently invest in
modern technologies to reduce operational costs,
maximize returns, and deliver quality products
and services to the customers. Moreover,
marketing automation translates to more
creativity and repetition.
6.3 Recommendations for Future Studies
The study majorly focused on the impacts of
embracing marketing on sales and performance
of the company. However, future scholars need
to examine the disadvantages associated with
marketing automation to increase the scope of
understanding among managers. Researchers
should also increase the study population to
enhance generalization of the findings across
different groups or organizations.
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