34 (Tweetable) Marketing Automation Statistics that Every B2B Marketer Should See

Can you imagine making a major B2B purchase without ever speaking to a sales rep?  Better yet, can you imagine your customers doing the same?  Today, that sounds pretty far-fetched, but in reality, it’s not very far off.  According to Gartner Research, by 2020, customers will manage 85% of their business relationships without talking to a human.

The fact that we’re even talking about removing the human-to-human element from business relationships is a testament to the power and sophistication of today’s marketing automation systems.  By integrating with other marketing systems – from websites and social media to CRM software – marketing automation is able to apply in-depth contextual data to marketing communications, making for more targeted and relevant messaging.

Despite the many benefits of marketing automation, it has failed to gain widespread adoption outside of large, technology companies.  There’s a perception in many B2B communities that marketing automation is difficult to implement, expensive, and time-consuming.  While none of those things are necessarily untrue, most accounts are overblown.

Below, we’ve collected a list of statistics to (hopefully) set the record straight on marketing automation.  This collection covers the utilization, evaluation, and outcomes of marketing automation systems.  The most important takeaways from these statistics are the benefits of marketing automation over time and the opportunity for organizations in industries where marketing automation is underutilized.

Without further delay, here are thirty-four marketing automation statistics that every B2B marketer should know:

1. There are 211 different marketing automation solutions on the market today. (Capterra)
2. As of 2015, Infusionsoft had the lowest starting price among the seven leading marketing automation solutions at $199/month, while Eloqua had the most expensive starting prices at $2000/month. (Capterra)
3. The 5 industries with the highest marketing automation adoption rates are: 1. Software & Internet, 2. Telecommunications, 3. Computer & Electronics, 4. Health & Pharmacy, and 5. Business. (Mintigo)
4. In non-tech companies, marketing automation software has a mere 3% adoption rate.(VentureBeat)
5. Marketing automation has benefitted from the fastest growth of any CRM-related segment in the last 5 years. (HubSpot)
6. 84% of top-performing companies are using or plan to start using marketing automation between 2012 and 2015. (Gleanster)
7. 1 of every 4 B2B Fortune 500 companies is already using marketing automation, along with 76% of the world’s largest SaaS companies. (Pardot)
8. 76% of large companies (>100 employees) have adopted marketing automation, compared to only 26% of medium (10-100 employees) and 18% of small companies (<10 employees). (Buyer Zone)
9. 60% of companies that make more than $500 million in annual revenue use marketing automation software. Only 5% of companies with $5 million to $20 million in annual revenue and 3% of companies with less than $5 million use marketing automation. (Buyer Zone)
10. 45% of companies use lead nurturing functionality within their marketing automation platform. (Aberdeen Group)
11. Of the companies using marketing automation software, more than half use multiple systems.(VentureBeat)
12. CEOs and Business Owners are 25% more likely to be involved in a marketing automation software purchase compared to other business software purchases. (Capterra)
13. 77% of CMOs at top-performing companies named their most compelling reason for implementing marketing automation as increasing revenue. (Gleanster)
14. CMOs reported the most important criteria for a marketing automation system are ease of use (92%) and the ability to tie marketing performance to sales (72%). (Gleanster)
15. Among B2B marketing managers, the most important criteria for a marketing automation system are: 1. Price, 2. Product integration (e.g., CRM, social, web, mobile), and 3. Ease of use.(Pepper Global)
16. Overall, lead nurturing functionality was ranked as the most important feature to marketing automation software buyers, followed by CRM integration and analytics/reporting. (Pepper Global)
17. 63% of respondents identified the ability to set measurable objectives for each of their campaigns as the biggest value driver of marketing automation. (Gleanster)
18. 75% of companies using marketing automation software implemented their platform in less than 6 months. Only 7% took over a year to implement. (Pepper Global)
19. Marketing automation drives a 14.5% increase in sales productivity and a 12.2% reduction in marketing overhead. (Kapost)
20. Gartner estimates a 15% savings on creative production when businesses use a marketing automation system. (HubSpot)
21. Emails sent via marketing automation drive 18x more revenue than email blasts. (HubSpot)
22. Companies who use marketing automation convert 53% more leads to marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and report 3.1% higher revenue growth than non-users. (Aberdeen Group)
23. Businesses that use marketing automation for nurture experience a 451% increase in qualified leads. (The Annuitas Group)
24. B2B marketers who implement marketing automation increase their contributions to the sales pipeline by 10%. (Forrester)
25. 75% of companies using marketing automation realize ROI within 12 months, 44% see it within 6 months. (Focus Research)
26. 78% of high-performing marketers say that marketing automation software is responsible for improving revenue contribution. (Position2)
27. 79% of top-performing companies have been using marketing automation for more than 2 years. (Gleanster)
28. 63% of companies that are outgrowing their competitors use marketing automation software. (Position2)
29. By 2020, customers will manage 85% of their relationships without talking to a human. (Gartner Research)
30. 85% of B2B marketers using marketing automation platforms in 2014 feel that they’re not using them to their full potential. (SiriusDecisions)
31. Only 8% of organizations in a recent survey were using marketing automation to nurture their existing customers.(SiriusDecisions)
32. 41% of B2B marketers planned to increase their marketing automation budget in 2014. (Pepper Global)
33. Approximately 11 times more B2B organizations are using marketing automation now than in 2011. (SiriusDecisions)
34. The adoption of marketing automation is expected to reach at least 50% by 2015. (SiriusDecisons)

Let us know what you think:

• Which statistic(s) did you find most interesting?
• Which statistics(s) were most surprising?
• Do you have any statistics to add to the list?