Marketing automation software tools are growing in popularity and command nearly $10 billion in annual revenue, according to a 2017 report from MDC Partners and research firm Frost & Sullivan. As with the results of any technology endeavor, the benefits of marketing automation were questioned at one point, but marketers are largely convinced that solutions are successful.

However, with integrated software solutions often available in their infancy, it can be difficult to determine what is worthwhile. Content optimization can often increase visitor engagement, conversion, and overall page view growth — but much of that is dependent on linking the content to relevant traffic sources. A significantly smaller percentage can be attributed to optimizing your content with bots to improve personalization, results, and an overall higher level of social sharing.

Insight from the MoneySaverBiz study conducted by Blewett Consulting found that 44 percent of marketers have been successful in revenue over 30 days with marketing automation tools and 35 percent with over one year of results. It found that the majority of marketers — 68 percent — feel they are learning more about the marketing approach than ever before, and 40 percent said they’re sure they are gaining the benefits they want from the technology.

The key factors cited were better awareness of how advertising is impacting results — 74 percent, followed by better optimization of SEO and mentions — 61 percent, and conversion and customer acquisition — 52 percent.

Bots have become quite popular as a way to automatically update your content. In addition to driving social sharing, bots can tell if someone is looking at it from another source, like the search bar on a website. With sophisticated scripts, you can track which story visitors are reading, engage them on social media, and make sure they continue to view your content through different methods.

The Buzzfeed blog, Buzzfeed Labs, found that 40 percent of people want content updates only once a day. When people aren’t engaged, “If you don’t engage it more often, they will stop coming back.” But once you start bringing in some bots, you might surprise people and break through their content-consumption habits. Of those surveyed, 60 percent of people clicked on a message from a bot they may have ignored.

So if Facebook and Twitter aren’t working for you, Twitter Bots and Google Assistant can provide that much-needed engagement, social sharing, and better conversions through humans.

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