BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - August 7, 2007) - In the newly released benchmark report "Success
Strategies in Marketing Automation," Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (
NYSE:
HHS), found that fifty-eight percent (58%) of Best-in-Class companies use
marketing automation technologies; on average, 32% have been using these
technologies for over three years. Seventy-four percent (74%) of
Best-in-Class currently use, or plan to use, marketing automation
technologies in the next 12-24 months. Aberdeen surveyed more than 200
organizations with the objective of identifying how top performing
organizations utilize marketing automation technologies to accomplish
superior performance.
The top 20% of performers (named Best-in-Class) exhibit noticeable
differences in automation and efficiency of their marketing environments.
The research reveals that Best-in-Class companies achieve an optimal
balance of ~50% automation in a 'somewhat efficient' marketing environment
while Average and Laggard companies struggle with greater than 80% manual
tasks in marketing environments that are 'somewhat efficient' to 'somewhat
inefficient.' "Best-in-Class demonstrate the value of automating
standardized day-to-day marketing activities," commented Ian Michiels, Sr.
Research Analyst in the Customer Research Group at Aberdeen. "These firms
are often early adopters of marketing automation technologies, and they
invest resources in optimizing and exploiting the systems. The payoff is
in the performance."
Best-in-Class are SEVEN times more likely than Average and Laggards
combined to achieve greater than 100% return on typical marketing
campaigns. "Best-in-Class also do more than adopt technology; they
establish organizational practices around measurement and accountability
for marketing initiatives," continued Michiels. "Best-in-Class improved
year-over-year return on marketing investment 90% of the time upon
implementing a marketing automation solution. Laggard marketing departments
spend unnecessary time on manual processes and administrative tasks which
can easily be streamlined and automated with marketing automation
technologies."
The research shows readers best practices in adoption and use of marketing
automation technologies. This report is made available due in part by the
following underwriters: Aprimo, Orbis, and Volume. To obtain a
complimentary copy of the report, visit:
http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=4133.
About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market
intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more
than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely
positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating
demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment
analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets,
corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.
As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in
context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's
analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of
Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement -
Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role
Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit
Aberdeen
http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more
about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to
http://www.harte-hanks.com.
© 2007 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
260 Franklin Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02110-3112
Telephone: (617) 723-7890
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com
Contact Information: Media Contact:
Ian Michiels
Aberdeen Harte-Hanks
(925) 264-1824
Ian.Michiels@aberdeen.com