Marketing automation is key to reducing workloads, Zapier says

From calendar events to email management, automation plays a major role in workflows across industries. A little more than half of marketers used automation in team communication, according to a recent poll by Zapier.

About 42% of marketers reported using automation to identify and target customers. More than a quarter of them used it to schedule emails, and about a third used marketing automation to send tailored messages, manage a subscriber database, or notify their team members of events. Automation saves marketers about 25 hours per week, according to Zapier.

Zapier took a look at how various professionals use automation in their roles. It polled 1,500 workers in marketing, IT, accounting, human resources, and sales or customer service in small to medium businesses across the U.S.  Zapier released its report on Monday.

In IT, 51% of the workers polled used automation to manage emails. Many also used it to communicate with colleagues (46%), update project lists (42%), meet deadlines using a calendar (39%), and test proof of concepts (33%). They save about 20 hours a week, Zapier said.

About 43% of accountants use automation to import hours into payroll, according to Zapier. Around 40% used it to communicate with their team, collect receipts, and streamline purchase and budget approvals. This saves them about four hours a week.

Meanwhile, about four in 10 sales and customer service professionals used automation to message their team members about a lead or a customer, message a lead or a customer, and collect invoices and payments. About a third used automation to forecast sales and for CRM hygiene.

Automation saves sales representatives about four hours a week and customer service representatives about 16 hours a week, according to the poll.