Why Every Marketing Team Needs RPA
The technology arms race shows no sign of slowing, with every organization looking for ways to drive efficiencies across their people, processes, and technology. And the pace of digital transformation will continue to accelerate as businesses look to gaina competitive advantage. While there are numerous technologies involved in digital transofrmation, automation is arguably one of the most critical. McKinsey identified that 83% of decision-makers believe automation is a vital part of digital transformation and this is driving up adoption.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is one technology gathering momentum. So, what exactly is RPA? It's software that automates a clear, defined process across one or multiple applications and systems that don't integrate. According to Gartner, RPA should be utilized to “move data in or out of application systems without human interaction” or “automate tasks with a human in the loop.” Adopting RPA increases productivity and removes manual errors as repetitive process tasks are automated.
RPA is being deployed across industries to automate many back-office business tasks. Use cases include accounts payable, onboarding employees, returns processing, warehouse management, to hospital admin, such as checking in patients. To provide perspective on the potential of the software, Forrester estimates that the RPA global market will reach $22 billion by 2025!
By implementing RPA, organizations can improve customer service, redirect employees to higher-value work, remove manual errors and reduce spend on back-office functions. Below are some of the ways marketing teams are deploying this automation.
RPA and Marketing
1. Data integration
Data integration is a long-standing issue for marketing. RPA software automates the movement and merging of data without humans needing to get involved. For example, you can connect a customer journey to a different data set, providing information on the customer’s purchasing history and then share the data with financing and auto-generate an invoice.
2. Chatbots/contact centers
The goal of a chatbot is to provide customers with information. By integrating RPA, the software can scan a document or read text and then extract unstructured information and convert it into structured data. In the case of chatbots, the software can offer self-service tools to customers in response to their specific issues or suggest other products to purchase. In addition, RPA can flag situations or decisions that require human involvement. This ability to customize is a crucial benefit.
3. Digital advertising
RPA can automate many of the time-consuming and tedious aspects of advertising while reducing errors and driving up margins. The technology automates the process, including bid adjustments for PPC campaigns. By harnessing automation, advertising teams are more agile and effective and can maximize the impact of campaigns.
4. CRM
Keeping your CRM system up to date is an arduous task and the data often has errors. With RPA, repetitive tasks are automated, removing human errors that can damage customer relationships. For example, RPA can align customer data across different systems and ensure a consistent approach to lead nurturing. Laborious tasks such as list management can benefit from the software, and it unites processes across channels and teams.
5. Reporting
Another area where RPA is having a considerable impact is reporting, as the software can automatically collate data from various sources and systems, creating a single view free of manual errors. With RPA, many marketing teams have slashed the time required to generate reports.
One of the indirect benefits of RPA is the impact on the team. With many tedious and time-consuming tasks automated, employees can focus on more creative or higher-value activities that help keep them motivated and engaged. There is no point in hiring great talent if they are executing tasks that software can perform more efficiently.
These are just some of the ways marketing departments harness RPA to deliver efficiencies and improve the quality of products. You can expect the software to become more pervasive in the coming months and years.
Find out more about Keysight's RPA solutions here and how they are transforming the efficiency and effectiveness of operations across various industries and use cases.