11 Best Marketing Automation Practices to Follow in 2025 and Beyond

63% of marketers are planning to increase their automation budgets. 

Companies that leverage automation outperform their competitors by 63% and see a 14.5% boost in sales productivity. 

The statistics above show that automation is no longer just a luxury but necessary for businesses looking to scale effectively. 

This post dives deep into 11 best practices that will keep your marketing automation strategies effective and future-proof. 

Let’s get started!

Before we dive into the best practices, let’s examine why marketing automation is important for your business, in case you are not yet convinced. 

5 Reasons why marketing automation is a must for your business

Marketing automation saves time, increases efficiency, and helps you scale your marketing efforts seamlessly. Here are five key reasons why marketing automation should be a must-have in your business strategy:

• Boosts efficiency and productivity: With marketing automation, businesses can automate repetitive tasks like sending emails, scheduling social media posts, and segmenting audiences. This allows your team to focus on more strategic tasks, improving overall productivity. 
• Improves lead nurturing and conversion: Automation allows you to guide prospects through their buyer’s journey by sending targeted messages based on their actions. This personalized touch increases the chances of converting leads into paying customers. Research shows that businesses using automation for lead nurturing see a 10% or more increase in sales opportunities. It ensures your leads receive the right information at the right time without manual follow-ups.
• Enhances customer personalization: Marketing automation enables you to deliver personalized content tailored to your audience’s preferences and behavior. This boosts engagement, leading to higher customer satisfaction and retention. 
• Increases ROI and reduces costs: Automation doesn’t just save time; it saves money. By automating tasks that would otherwise require manual labor, businesses reduce operational costs. Marketing automation also delivers better targeting, which improves ROI. After implementing automation, 80% of marketers experienced increased lead generation and improved ROI.
• Streamlines campaign management across channels: Managing campaigns across various platforms can be daunting, but marketing automation makes it easy to handle multiple channels from one place. Be it email, social media, or paid ads, automation tools allow you to integrate and manage all your campaigns seamlessly, ensuring a consistent message. 

11 Best marketing automation practices to follow

To make the most of marketing automation, it’s crucial to follow best practices that align with your goals. Here are the 11 best marketing automation practices to follow: 

1. Define your goals and objectives

Before diving into automation, you need to know what you’re aiming for. Are you trying to increase lead generation, boost conversions, or nurture existing customers? Without clear objectives, it’s difficult to understand where to head your marketing automation efforts. 

Let’s take an example: if your goal is to convert 20% of trial users into paying customers, your automation efforts should focus on sending targeted onboarding emails or reminders when trials are about to expire.

Once you’ve nailed down your goals, everything else in your marketing automation will flow smoothly. You’ll know which tools to use, what metrics to track, and how to adjust your approach based on results.

2. Know and segment your audience

77% of ROI from marketing automation comes from segmented, targeted, and triggered campaigns. Why? Because people respond better to personalized content that speaks directly to their needs and behaviors.

Audience segmentation means dividing your contacts into smaller groups based on common characteristics — this could be anything from their company size, industry, or user behavior. 

Take Mailchimp, for example. They excel at audience segmentation by sending “getting started” guides to new users, and the focus is on advanced tips or upcoming feature releases for experienced users. 

To start segmenting your audience, think about these factors:

• Demographics: Age, gender, job role, location.
• Behavior: How they interact with your site or app.
• Purchase history: New customers vs. loyal, repeat buyers.
• Engagement levels: Highly engaged users vs. those who are slipping away.

Once you’ve segmented your audience, you can craft targeted campaigns that cater to each group’s specific needs.

3. Create a customer journey map for your audience

A customer journey map is a way to get inside your customer’s mind. It helps you visualize every step a customer takes, from discovering your brand to making a purchase, and even post-purchase engagement.

To create a customer journey map, start by identifying key stages of your customer’s lifecycle:

• Awareness: How do they first hear about your brand?
• Consideration: What information do they need to move forward?
• Decision: What convinces them to purchase?
• Post-Purchase: How do you keep them engaged after they’ve bought?

By understanding these steps, you can design automated workflows that engage customers at the perfect time.

Take Dropbox as an example. Their customer journey begins with offering free cloud storage to new users. As users become more dependent on the service, Dropbox nurtures them with upsell emails, demonstrating how paid plans offer more storage and better features. 

They also automate follow-ups for those who don’t convert, offering limited-time discounts to increase conversions.

4. Emphasize lead nurturing

Lead nurturing is all about building a relationship with potential customers who aren’t ready to buy just yet. And trust me, it’s critical — 50% of leads are qualified but not yet ready to purchase. The goal here is to keep your brand top-of-mind while guiding leads through their journey until they’re ready to take the plunge.

Automation plays a massive role in lead nurturing, whether it’s through personalized drip email campaigns, retargeting ads, or behavior-triggered messages, lead nurturing can be done at scale without losing that personal touch. To build your lead nurturing strategy, you can:

• Create targeted email flows: For example, if someone downloads an ebook, follow up with emails that provide more resources or case studies related to that topic.
• Use behavioral triggers: If a lead visits a pricing page multiple times, automatically send them an email offering a free demo or additional information.
• Offer value consistently: Don’t always push for the sale. Instead, send valuable content like tips, webinars, or helpful articles.

A real-world example is Intercom, a customer messaging platform that uses a mix of email and in-app messaging to nurture leads. 

When a new user signs up, they don’t just receive a standard “welcome” email. Instead, Intercom sends a personalized welcome email series, offering tips, tutorials, and product features specifically tailored to that user’s actions. 

As the lead engages more, Intercom adjusts the content to be more advanced, guiding them toward deeper product adoption and eventual purchase.

5. Create engaging content

Engaging content is the backbone of lead nurturing, conversions, and brand loyalty. It’s not enough to automate communication, you need to provide value with every touchpoint. According to HubSpot, 82% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing, and with good reason, 47% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of content before even engaging with a sales rep. If your content doesn’t grab their attention, automation won’t make much of an impact.

Creating engaging content starts with understanding your audience’s pain points and interests. It’s essential to deliver content that solves problems and educates rather than just pushing sales.

• Start with value: Begin by identifying the questions your target audience is asking. Then, create content that directly addresses those pain points. 
• Diversify content formats: Don’t limit your content to just blog posts. People consume information in different ways. Some prefer reading blogs, while others may enjoy videos, infographics, or podcasts.
• Personalize content: Personalized content makes your audience feel like you’re speaking directly to them. Using data from your marketing automation platform, you can deliver highly targeted content. 
• Engaging storytelling: Use storytelling in your content to humanize your brand and make it relatable. Instead of just focusing on features, create case studies that tell the story of how a business transformed using your product. 
• Regularly update content: Content can quickly become outdated, especially in fast-evolving industries like SaaS. Keep your audience engaged by regularly updating your content. This can be as simple as refreshing an old blog post with new data or repurposing a popular webinar into a downloadable guide. 

Automation helps you deliver this content at the right time, but the content itself needs to be powerful enough to keep your audience engaged.

6. Actively engage in social listening and monitoring

Social listening isn’t just about responding to complaints — though that’s certainly part of it. It’s also about identifying trends, understanding your audience’s needs, and finding new opportunities for engagement. When you know what people are saying, you can tweak your messaging, product offerings, and even your marketing campaigns in real-time to stay relevant.

Automation tools make it much easier to monitor conversations across multiple channels without manually searching each platform. For instance, tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Social allow you to set up real-time alerts for when your brand, products, or specific keywords are mentioned. 

This ensures that you never miss a conversation, whether it’s happening on Twitter, LinkedIn, or even a niche industry forum. Automation can also analyze sentiment, allowing you to see whether the chatter around your brand is positive, neutral, or negative.

To implement social listening in your SaaS strategy: 

• Choose the right tools: Use tools like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or Brandwatch to set up real-time alerts for brand mentions and keywords.
• Respond quickly: Ensure your team is ready to engage promptly when key issues or questions arise.
• Adjust based on insights: Use the data gathered from social listening to tweak your content, marketing strategy, and even product features based on what your audience is talking about.

7. Run multichannel marketing campaigns

A single-channel approach can no longer meet modern customer expectations. Today’s consumers engage with brands across multiple platforms, and failing to meet them where they are means missed opportunities. 73% of consumers prefer to shop through multiple channels. 

Moreover, multichannel campaigns ensure you’re staying top of mind. When a prospect sees your brand in their inbox, on social media, or through a paid ad, it reinforces your message, making it more likely for them to engage. 

Automation tools make multichannel marketing more manageable by allowing you to create, track, and optimize campaigns across different platforms from one centralized dashboard. With Encharge, you can automate messages, track user behavior across channels, and ensure your messaging is consistent regardless of where your audience engages with your brand. 

Here’s how to get started: 

• Pick the channels where your audience is most likely to engage.
• Automate workflows that trigger actions based on user interactions (e.g., social ads followed by email sequences).
• Measure and optimize your campaigns frequently to ensure consistent messaging and maximize results.

For example, let’s say a prospect interacts with one of your Facebook ads but hasn’t converted. Using automation, you can follow up with a targeted email that highlights the benefits of your SaaS product, or retarget them with a Google ad that showcases customer success stories.

8. Personalize your marketing messages for better response

Over 71% of consumers expect personalized communication from brands. Let’s face it, nobody wants to feel like just another number on a company’s mailing list. Sending personalized messages significantly boosts engagement, conversion rates, and overall customer satisfaction. When customers feel that a brand understands them, they’re more likely to engage and eventually convert.

Here are some tips for sending personalized marketing messages that works like charm: 

• Use data to segment audiences: Personalization starts with gathering and analyzing data. You can then segment your audience based on criteria like purchase history, location, interests, or how far along they are in the buying journey. 
• Personalize email campaigns: Start with the basics, like using the recipient’s name in the subject line or opening. But don’t stop there—go further by tailoring the content of the email to match the recipient’s interests. Personalized emails generate a 29% higher open rate and 41% higher click-through rate. 

Here is a personalized email example from Miro. 

Dynamic website content: Personalization doesn’t have to be limited to emails. You can also personalize your website experience. Canva is a master at this. When you visit their website, the homepage dynamically adjusts to show design templates based on your browsing history and trends near them. 

Tailor messaging based on user behavior: Automation tools make it easy to trigger personalized messages based on user behavior. For example, if someone has abandoned their shopping cart, you can send a follow-up email with a special offer to encourage them to complete the purchase. 

Use personalization in ad campaigns: Personalization extends beyond emails and websites. Paid ads can also be highly personalized based on user behavior. Facebook Ads, for instance, allow you to retarget users who have visited specific pages on your website or engaged with your content in a certain way.

This way, you can build stronger relationships with your customers and drastically increase your chances of converting leads into loyal users.

9. Test and optimize the previous campaigns 

Marketing campaigns are not static. Consumer behaviors change, industry trends shift, and new tools are constantly introduced. To get the best possible results, you need to continuously test and optimize your previous campaigns. This process allows you to refine critical elements such as subject lines, call-to-actions, design, and timing to see what resonates most with your audience.

Automation platforms like Encharge make it easy to implement these tests, analyze user behavior, and apply insights. You can test various elements like email frequency, message timing, and content formats across different channels. This ensures that your campaigns stay fresh and aligned with your audience’s changing preferences. 

10. Revisit and update your contact database on a routine basis

Your contact database is one of the most valuable assets for your SaaS business, but it’s not something you can set and forget. Over time, contacts change roles, companies, and even email addresses, which can lead to outdated or inaccurate information in your database. 

Studies show that data decays at a rate of 2-3% per month, meaning that if you don’t maintain your database, up to a quarter of your contacts could be obsolete within a year. Keeping your contact list up-to-date helps you avoid sending emails to non-existent addresses, which can harm your sender’s reputation and lead to lower deliverability rates. 

Read more: 9 Critical Steps to Improve Your Email Deliverability & Land in Inboxes

With automation, you can automate certain aspects of this process by setting up workflows that flag inactive users, incorrect email addresses, or outdated contact information. For example, you can automate a re-engagement campaign that targets users who haven’t interacted with your emails in the past 6 months. If they still don’t respond, you can automatically remove them from your list to maintain a healthy database.

11. Timely track the performance metrics

Tracking performance metrics allows you to measure the effectiveness of your marketing automation efforts. It helps you answer questions like: 

• Are your emails being opened? 
• Are your leads converting into customers? 
• Are your social media campaigns driving traffic to your website? 

Without tracking, you’re left guessing at these answers, which could lead to wasted time, effort, and resources. 

Automation can help you a lot with tracking, and here’s how to do that: 

Set clear KPIs

Before you begin any campaign, it’s essential to define the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will determine success. For email campaigns, this could be open and click-through rates; for lead generation, it could be conversion rates and lead quality.

Use dashboards to track in real-time

Automation provides real-time dashboards that allow you to track the performance of your campaigns across multiple channels. These dashboards give you instant access to critical data like customer engagement, user behavior, and conversion metrics. 

Automate reporting

To make things even easier, you can set up automated reports that deliver performance insights to your team on a regular basis. This way, you’re always on top of the data without needing to dig through analytics manually.

By monitoring data in real time and making adjustments based on insights, you can ensure that your business stays agile and competitive.

Top 3 marketing automation tools for your business

When it comes to choosing the right marketing automation tools for your business, the options can feel overwhelming. But the right tools can drastically improve your marketing efficiency, help you nurture leads, and boost conversions. Here are the top 3 marketing automation tools that stand out in 2025.

1. Encharge

Encharge is designed for B2B SaaS companies but is a versatile solution for businesses of all types. Its key feature is the ability to send behavior-based emails, which allows you to automate personalized messages depending on user actions. 

Whether someone signs up for your service or abandons their shopping cart, Encharge can send timely emails that nudge them in the right direction. It also integrates with over 48+ tools, including HubSpot, Stripe, and Intercom, making it an excellent choice for streamlining your marketing stack. 

2. HubSpot

HubSpot is another widely recognized marketing automation platform, especially for small to medium-sized businesses. It offers an all-in-one marketing, sales, and service solution that allows businesses to create and automate email campaigns, manage leads, track customer journeys, and more. 

HubSpot’s strength lies in its ability to centralize all your marketing efforts — whether it’s content creation, social media management, or SEO — in one easy-to-use platform. It also provides built-in CRM and reporting features, allowing you to track campaign success and ROI in real-time.

3. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation tool ideal for businesses looking to combine email marketing, CRM, and automation. It excels in customer experience automation, allowing businesses to automate tasks like lead scoring, customer segmentation, and personalized emails. 

One of its standout features is its ability to trigger automation workflows based on customer behavior across multiple channels, including email, SMS, and social media.

Transform your business with the right automation strategies

By following best practices such as defining your goals, segmenting your audience, and optimizing campaigns, you can make the most of automation. It allows you to deliver personalized messages, nurture leads, and streamline your marketing efforts for maximum impact.

Ready to take the next step? Get started with Encharge today and start automating your marketing for better results. It’s time to elevate your business to the next level!