The Cost of Marketing Automation
Being ready to take the plunge into marketing automation means that you have many questions – and perhaps none is as important as what it will cost. After all, the cost of marketing automation will have to be low enough to convince shareholders to take the leap but high enough that your company is getting the best that marketing automation has to offer. You’ll also need to use the cost revenue and savings that marketing automation will provide as a business case to add it to the repertoire of software you’re already using.
Today, the cost of marketing automation is broken down monthly, quarterly, or annually, based upon a company’s preference. The cost widely varies with prices ranging from a few hundred dollars a month to over six figures a month. Prices will depend upon the different features you add to your plans but, in general, you can expect your price to rise as you add features. The number of leads and contents that your database will hold will increase the price of your subscription dramatically. Other factors that will drive up price include the efficiency of each edition offered. A standard and basic edition of the marketing software will cost far less than a premium version of the same software, but the premium version will contain many more features.
Savings for marketing automation can come in a variety of ways. Your vendor may be able to save you money and may provide discounts if you opt for an annual contract as opposed to a monthly pay-as-you-go contract or a quarterly contract. If you want to give some of your sales team access to your marketing automation, the majority of vendors will provide this access free of charge, up to a reasonable number of users. On average, a safe estimate is that a marketing automation solution will take up between 3-5% of your total marketing budget. Large companies typically spend 3.1% of their budget and 1.6% of their attrition rate. Overall, a company is expected to spend 7% across the board on marketing automation – but this average includes small, medium, and large companies and a variety of industries.
Be aware of add-ons that some companies offer in fine print. These add-ons will increase your cost and may not be necessary for functionality. In many cases, the add-ons are ‘fun extras’ that might be neat to have but you don’t really need. Depending on the vendor you select and your marketing goals, you can get the best value for your buck as long as you read the fine print and get bids from many different marketing automation vendors. We hope this article on the cost of marketing automation was useful to get you thinking and budgeting!
