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Your guide to marketing automation

Discover what marketing automation is and how to make the most of it with Zapier

By Elena Alston · May 29, 2025
A megaphone in a stylized web page. The icon is in bright orange, inside a white square with rounded corners, and placed on a light orange background.

Marketing teams juggle a lot: capturing leads, nurturing them across channels, tracking campaign performance, and personalizing every touchpoint—all while managing an ever-growing stack of tools. Doing that manually isn't just time-consuming—it's unsustainable. That's where marketing automation comes in. 

In this guide, we'll walk you through what marketing automation is, how it works, the key benefits, and how you can get the most out of it with Zapier. Whether you're just starting to automate marketing or looking to scale your strategy, this article will help you build smarter, more efficient workflows that keep your marketing engine running smoothly.

Table of contents

What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation is the process of using software and digital tools to automate marketing and sales tasks across multiple channels—like nurturing leads, sending email campaigns, managing social media, tracking customer behavior, and beyond. 

Marketing automation essentially helps businesses manage every customer interaction automatically—from generating initial interest to upselling to existing clients. By automating these end-to-end processes, marketers can deliver more personalized (and consistent) experiences at scale, while nudging potential customers down the sales funnel. 

Marketing automation tools

Because marketing touches so many channels, different types of tools fall under the marketing automation umbrella. And while there's no one-size-fits-all solution, the best marketing automation tools are the ones that integrate smoothly with your existing tech stack and scale with your team's needs.

Here are some popular types of marketing automation tools—and what they're used for: 

  • CRM platforms like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zoho CRM help you manage contacts, track activity, and automate follow-ups with prospects.

  • Marketing automation platforms like Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, and Customer.io combine behavior-based automation, segmentation, and multi-channel messaging into one system.

  • Email marketing software like Mailchimp, Brevo, and Flodesk make it easy to design and schedule email campaigns—like welcome sequences, product updates, or re-engagement emails—based on list segments or custom triggers.

  • Advertising tools like LinkedIn Ads, Facebook Ads, and Google Ads allow you to sync audiences, capture leads directly, and track conversions. 

  • Social media scheduling tools like Buffer and Hootsuite help you plan and publish content consistently across your social media platforms. 

How does marketing automation work?

At its core, marketing automation replaces manual, repetitive marketing tasks with software that responds to customer behavior in real time. Instead of sending every email or updating every CRM record manually, marketing automation uses predefined rules and triggers to deliver the right message at the right time. 

When you use marketing automation services, this is how it typically works behind the scenes:

  1. Customer activity is tracked across your marketing channels—like website visits, abandoned carts, ad clicks, or new subscribers. These touchpoints help build detailed customer profiles.

  2. Audience segmentation happens automatically. Based on the behavior and data collected, your audience is grouped into segments—like new leads, warm prospects, or existing customers. 

  3. Personalized messaging is triggered. With the audience segmented, automation tools send targeted emails, SMS messages, newsletters, or product announcements based on user behavior. For example, someone who downloads a guide might be added to a nurture sequence, while someone who abandons a cart could receive a reminder. 

  4. Content is optimized through A/B testing. Many automation platforms allow you to test different subject lines, messages, or timing. The system can automatically adjust which version is used based on performance, helping you refine your messaging without manual intervention.

  5. Tasks are coordinated across tools. That might mean creating a task in your project management app when a high-quality lead enters your CRM, or syncing contact data between apps to keep everything aligned.

  6. You stay top of mind with scheduled and triggered campaigns. Regular touchpoints—like newsletters, re-engagement messages, or product announcements—can be scheduled in advance or triggered by specific actions. This keeps your brand visible and relevant as customer needs evolve.

Screenshot of visual of marketing automation

Benefits of marketing automation: what it can do for your business

Marketing automation doesn't just save time—it transforms how you engage with leads and customers at every stage of the journey. By automating repetitive tasks and delivering personalized, timely communication, your team can focus on strategy and scale without sacrificing quality.

Here are some of the most impactful benefits:

More efficient email marketing

Email marketing automation allows you to send the right message at the right time—without manually managing lists or scheduling every campaign. When you automate email marketing, you can set up email drip campaigns that nurture leads over days or weeks, automatically triggered by user behavior (like a form submission or link click). This keeps leads engaged without constant oversight.

Smarter CRM management

With CRM and lead management automation, your contact records stay up to date and your sales team is always in the loop. You can automatically assign leads to reps based on deal size, trigger follow-up tasks when prospects take action, and move leads between deal stages—all without touching a spreadsheet.

Dynamic content marketing

Marketing automation helps you get more mileage out of your content. You can automatically share new blog posts, create videos from social posts, repurpose high-performing content into email campaigns, or trigger follow-ups based on content engagement (like downloading a guide or watching a video). Automation makes your content work for you—long after you hit publish.

Consistent social media output

Social media marketing automation helps maintain a steady presence without needing to post in real time. You can schedule posts in advance, automatically share blog content across platforms, and even trigger follow-ups when someone engages with your content. This keeps your brand visible and your audience engaged around the clock.

Tailored strategies for B2C vs. B2B marketing 

Automated marketing looks a little different depending on your audience. For B2B businesses, automation often focuses on longer sales cycles, account-based marketing, and multi-touch email nurturing. For B2C, it's more likely to include time-sensitive campaigns, SMS offers, and behavioral automation. In both cases, every message will feel timely and relevant to the person receiving it.

How to get the most out of marketing automation with Zapier

Even with the most sophisticated digital marketing tools, you run the risk of your efforts becoming fragmented if you're not finding a way to connect them together. Without that connection, you'll have a hard time figuring out what's working for your business and what's not. 

Enter: Zapier. Zapier is the most connected AI orchestration platform—integrating with thousands of apps from HubSpot to ActiveCampaign to and Salesforce. Through automated workflows called Zaps, you can capture and nurture leads, track customer behavior, personalize campaigns, and more—automatically. Here's how. 

Lead capture and lead nurturing

The faster you follow up with a lead, the more likely you'll convert them. And with automation, you can do it instantly. Instead of manually exporting CSVs or monitoring form submissions, you can set up workflows that move leads through your funnel automatically.

For example, when someone fills out a form on your site, subscribes to your newsletter, or submits their details through Facebook Lead Ads, Zapier can automatically send that data to your CRM. Whether you're using HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive, CRM and marketing automation lets you instantly create or update contact records—without you lifting a finger.

Create or update HubSpot contacts from new Facebook Lead Ads leads

  • Facebook Lead Ads logo
  • HubSpot logo
Facebook Lead Ads + HubSpot
More details
    Your new contacts are no good to you in a form, waiting for you to export them. Let this Facebook Lead Ads-HubSpot integration take on that work. It will trigger whenever a new user submits a response to your Facebook Lead Ads, automatically creating a contact on HubSpot or updating an existing match with their answers.

    Send new Unbounce leads to Salesforce

    • Unbounce logo
    • Salesforce logo
    Unbounce + Salesforce
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      This integration makes it easy to push Unbounce leads from your landing page forms into records in your Salesforce account. Set it up to automatically convert your incoming data so that you can stay focused on conversion and sales!

      Create or update HubSpot CRM contacts for new subscribers on Mailchimp

      • Mailchimp logo
      • HubSpot logo
      Mailchimp + HubSpot
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        Need to make sure you have every chance to develop those relationships beyond your newsletters? Activate this Mailchimp-HubSpot CRM integration and we'll make sure to keep your CRM updated from then on. Once you do, every new subscriber added to Mailchimp will either add a new contact to HubSpot CRM or update an existing entry, keeping track of all of them for you automatically.

        Add new LinkedIn Ads as leads in Salesforce

        • LinkedIn Ads logo
        • Salesforce logo
        LinkedIn Ads + Salesforce
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          The sooner you log new lead details into your system, the better. This integration handles that process for you. Whenever a new lead submits their details to one of your Lead Gen forms on LinkedIn, their information will be automatically added to Salesforce so your sales team can begin developing the relationship immediately!

          From there, you can trigger a welcome email or start a multi-touch nurture sequence in tools like Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign. That way, new leads hear from you right away—with personalized content tailored to their specific movements. 

          Add new HubSpot contacts to Mailchimp lists

          • HubSpot logo
          • Mailchimp logo
          HubSpot + Mailchimp
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            Your customers will never miss an important promotional email from you because you forgot to update your Mailchimp list. This HubSpot-Mailchimp integration automatically adds new HubSpot contacts to a Mailchimp list so you can focus on designing the perfect email campaign instead of copying your contacts list.

            Add new Salesforce contacts to ActiveCampaign as subscribers

            • Salesforce logo
            • ActiveCampaign logo
            Salesforce + ActiveCampaign
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              With this Salesforce ActiveCampaign integration, add new Salesforce contacts to ActiveCampaign as subscribers to seamlessly manage your marketing lists.

              Pro tip: Use a paths step to route leads into different nurture campaigns based on their behavior or engagement. For example, you might send someone who downloaded a pricing guide into a sales-focused email sequence, while someone who attended a webinar gets a more educational drip campaign.

              Lead tracking and reporting

              Capturing leads through social ads is only half the equation—knowing what happens after is what helps you optimize and scale. Marketing automation makes it easy to track every lead's journey and feed that data back into the tools your team relies on for performance and decision-making. 

              With Zapier, you can automatically send lead conversion events back to platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Lead Ads, and LinkedIn Ads. This helps you accurately track ROI, improve attribution, and optimize your ad targeting based on what's actually converting—not just who's clicking.

              Send Facebook leads to HubSpot and report a conversion event in Facebook Conversions

              • Facebook Lead Ads logo
              • HubSpot logo
              • Facebook Conversions logo
              Facebook Lead Ads + HubSpot + Facebook Conversions
              More details
                Manually managing new leads and tracking conversions can slow down your marketing efforts. With this Zap, every time a new lead is captured in Facebook Lead Ads, their details are automatically added to HubSpot, keeping your CRM up to date. Then, a conversion event is sent to Facebook Conversions, ensuring your ad performance data is accurate. This automation helps you nurture leads faster while optimizing your ad strategy effortlessly.

                Send CRM events as conversion events to LinkedIn

                • LinkedIn Ads logo
                • HubSpot logo
                • LinkedIn Conversions logo
                LinkedIn Ads + HubSpot + LinkedIn Conversions
                More details
                  Tracking conversions accurately is key to optimizing your LinkedIn Ads strategy. This Zap automatically sends CRM events as conversion events to LinkedIn, ensuring your ad performance reflects real customer actions. Gain better insights, improve targeting, and maximize your ad spend without manual data entry.

                  Send offline conversions in Google Ads for filtered Salesforce updates

                  • Salesforce logo
                  • Filter by Zapier logo
                  • Google Ads logo
                  Salesforce + Filter by Zapier + Google Ads
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                    When a record is updated in Salesforce, it’s important to ensure only certain updates trigger further actions. This Zap adds a condition that checks specific criteria before sending offline conversions to Google Ads. By automating this process, you'll streamline how updates in Salesforce impact your ad tracking, ensuring more accurate data and efficient workflows.

                    You can also log campaign data in real time in tools like Google Sheets or Zapier Tables. Whether you're tracking form submissions, sales activity, or ad performance, these auto-updated dashboards give your marketing and sales teams full visibility without the need for manual reporting.

                    Add new leads in LinkedIn Ads to Google Sheets rows

                    • LinkedIn Ads logo
                    • Google Sheets logo
                    LinkedIn Ads + Google Sheets
                    More details
                      Your time is best spent nurturing new prospects, not on data entry. Set up this integration to automatically save information submitted by new leads to your LinkedIn Lead Gen Form to a new row in a specified Google Sheets spreadsheet. Sort and filter through them at will, while saving time and effort!

                      Create records in Zapier Tables for new leads from Facebook Lead Ads

                      • Facebook Lead Ads logo
                      • Zapier Tables logo
                      Facebook Lead Ads + Zapier Tables
                      More details
                        Start efficiently managing new contacts on Facebook Lead Ads with this workflow. When you secure a new lead on Facebook, this automation will create a record in Zapier Tables for easy tracking and referencing. Enjoy a streamlined operation without the need to manually transfer data between platforms, allowing you to focus more on nurturing your leads.

                        Create Google Sheets rows for new Google Ads leads

                        • Google Ads logo
                        • Google Sheets logo
                        Google Ads + Google Sheets
                        More details
                          If you're looking for an efficient way to keep your prospects organized, this integration can help! As soon as a new lead is generated in Google Ads, this Zap automatically adds their details to a row in a specified Google Sheets spreadsheet.

                          Boost repeat sales and recover abandoned carts

                          In eCommerce, timing is everything—and automation helps you stay one step ahead of your customers without manually chasing every opportunity.

                          With these Zaps, you can automatically send abandoned cart reminders from Shopify or WooCommerce using your email or SMS marketing platform of choice, like Mailchimp or touchSMS.These reminders nudge shoppers back to complete their purchase, boosting revenue with minimal effort.

                          You can also set up automated upsell and cross-sell campaigns that trigger after a customer buys something. For example, if someone purchases running shoes, you can automatically send them a retargeting email recommending socks, water bottles, or apparel—or send them SMS offers to sign up for loyalty programs. 

                          Send sms for new paid orders in Shopify using SMS by Zapier

                          • Shopify logo
                          • SMS by Zapier logo
                          Shopify + SMS by Zapier
                          More details
                            Stay connected with your customers and provide instant updates on their orders with this automation. Whenever a new paid order is placed in your Shopify store, this workflow sends an SMS to the customer through the SMS by Zapier app, keeping them informed about their purchase. Improve customer satisfaction and save time by eliminating manual notifications.

                            Remind customers with Mailchimp about abandoned carts on Shopify

                            • Shopify logo
                            • Mailchimp logo
                            Shopify + Mailchimp
                            More details
                              Forget the days of losing potential customers when they abandon items in their cart. Re-engage customers by sending a follow-up email with a reminder to checkout. Automatically add customers as subscribers in Mailchimp and tag customers accordingly.

                              Send SMS offers via touchSMS to new WooCommerce customers after a specified time

                              • WooCommerce logo
                              • Delay by Zapier logo
                              • touchSMS logo
                              WooCommerce + Delay by Zapier + touchSMS
                              More details
                                Keep your follow-up messaging going without the need for added clicks and keystrokes. This integration lets you automatically send an SMS offer with touchSMS to a new WooCommerce customer, after a period of time that you specify.

                                Pro tip: Use a delay step to stagger post-purchase messages once a customer purchases something—so your follow-ups feel thoughtful, not spammy.

                                Manage webinars and events automatically

                                Live events are stressful, and it's easy for details to slip through the cracks. You might be able to throw an amazing conference that has your entire industry buzzing. But if you can't capture anyone's contact information, it's going to be difficult to translate that excitement into leads and profits.

                                These automated workflows will help you tackle the administrative stuff so you can focus on your attendees.

                                Add new Eventbrite attendees to lists on HubSpot

                                • Eventbrite logo
                                • HubSpot logo
                                Eventbrite + HubSpot
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                                  Your events are only the beginning of long and fruitful relationships. Make sure you lay the foundations by storing all those new contacts for the future with a little Zapier automation. After being configured and turned on, this Zap will trigger automatically whenever a new attendee is detected for your event on Eventbrite, adding them to your chosen list on HubSpot as well, every time.

                                  Add new Ticket Tailor customers to Brevo subscriber lists

                                  • Ticket Tailor logo
                                  • Brevo logo
                                  Ticket Tailor + Brevo
                                  More details
                                    If you use Brevo to manage your email lists, then this Zapier integration will make it easy to email your Ticket Tailor customers. This Zap automatically adds the name and email of all new Ticket Tailor orders to the Brevo subscriber list that you specifiy.

                                    Add new Zoom registrants to Mailchimp as subscribers

                                    • Zoom logo
                                    • Mailchimp logo
                                    Zoom + Mailchimp
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                                      Stay in touch with your Zoom webinar registrants by adding them to a Mailchimp subscriber list. Use Zapier to start automatically adding new Zoom Webinar registrants to Mailchimp as new subscribers.

                                      Use AI to segment and score customers based on actions

                                      Segmentation is the foundation of personalized marketing—but manually categorizing contacts based on behavior or CRM tags can only take you so far. With AI-powered automation, you can take customer segmentation to the next level.

                                      Using Zapier, you can automatically send new leads or customer data to an AI tool—like ChatGPT or AI by Zapier—to analyze, score, or enrich that data. For example, AI can infer a lead's intent based on CRM fields or generate a lead score using your own sales criteria in your prompt.

                                      Once enriched, the lead is automatically routed into the right segment in your SMS or email marketing platform (think Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign). From there, you can trigger personalized drip campaigns tailored to their location, interests, engagement level, or predicted value.

                                      Segment Salesforce leads with ChatGPT and send Brevo email

                                      • Salesforce logo
                                      • ChatGPT (OpenAI) logo
                                      • Brevo logo
                                      Salesforce + ChatGPT (OpenAI) + Brevo
                                      More details
                                        Targeted email outreach starts with effective lead segmentation—but doing it manually in Salesforce can be time-consuming. This Zap uses ChatGPT to automatically analyze and segment new Salesforce leads based on your chosen criteria, then sends a personalized email through Brevo. It streamlines your lead qualification process and ensures every message reaches the right audience at the right time.

                                        Segment Pipedrive leads with ChatGPT and add to ActiveCampaign campaign

                                        • Pipedrive logo
                                        • AI by Zapier logo
                                        • ActiveCampaign logo
                                        Pipedrive + AI by Zapier + ActiveCampaign
                                        More details
                                          Manually segmenting leads in Pipedrive for targeted campaigns can slow down your marketing workflows. This Zap uses ChatGPT to automatically evaluate and segment new Pipedrive leads based on your criteria, then adds them to the appropriate campaign in ActiveCampaign. It helps you deliver more relevant messaging to the right leads—without manual sorting or delays.

                                          Send Mailchimp campaigns to specific HubSpot leads with ChatGPT

                                          • HubSpot logo
                                          • ChatGPT (OpenAI) logo
                                          • Mailchimp logo
                                          HubSpot + ChatGPT (OpenAI) + Mailchimp
                                          More details
                                            Manually identifying which HubSpot leads should receive a specific Mailchimp campaign can be time-consuming and error-prone. This Zap uses ChatGPT to analyze or qualify leads based on your chosen criteria, then sends the campaign only to those who match. By automating lead filtering and campaign delivery, you ensure more relevant outreach—without the manual lift.

                                            Send personalized SMS with OpenAI when Mailchimp links are clicked

                                            • Mailchimp logo
                                            • ChatGPT (OpenAI) logo
                                            • SMS by Zapier logo
                                            Mailchimp + ChatGPT (OpenAI) + SMS by Zapier
                                            More details
                                              Engage your audience more effectively by following up on their interest. When a subscriber clicks a link in your Mailchimp email, this Zap triggers a conversation in ChatGPT to draft a personalized response, which is then sent to the user via SMS. This automated workflow ensures timely, relevant communication that increases engagement and nurtures leads, all while reducing manual work.

                                              Make social media manageable

                                              With marketing automation, you can extend the reach of every one of your social posts by instantly sharing it across your social media platforms.

                                              Use these Zaps to automatically cross-post content from one platform to another or post content on a schedule. Share your latest Instagram posts to Facebook and Pinterest, or post new YouTube videos directly to your Facebook Page—without switching tabs or copying links.

                                              It's a simple way to keep your brand visible across channels and get more value out of every piece of content you create.

                                              Pin your new Instagram posts on Pinterest

                                              • Instagram for Business logo
                                              • Pinterest logo
                                              Instagram for Business + Pinterest
                                              More details
                                                Save yourself the trouble of posting the same content twice by setting up this integration. Once active, this Zap will then watch your Instagram account, automatically triggering whenever you post a new photo or video and pinning it to a specified board on Pinterest. Now your followers can keep up with everything, no matter where they find you!

                                                Share your new Instagram posts to your Facebook page

                                                • Instagram for Business logo
                                                • Facebook Pages logo
                                                Instagram for Business + Facebook Pages
                                                More details
                                                  If you want to share photos from Instagram to a Facebook Page it's fairly manual. This integration automates the process so new photos on Instagram go straight to Facebook page.

                                                  Send new YouTube videos in a channel to a Facebook Page

                                                  • YouTube logo
                                                  • Facebook Pages logo
                                                  YouTube + Facebook Pages
                                                  More details
                                                    There's new video content being created and shared constantly, it is so hard to keep up! Cut out a the tedious work of sending new YouTube videos to your Facebook page by automating all of that work. Keep your followers in the know without ever spending time on that task again!

                                                    Share new posts from Ghost to Buffer

                                                    • Ghost logo
                                                    • Buffer logo
                                                    Ghost + Buffer
                                                    More details
                                                      Automate social sharing for your content in Ghost and automatically send new posts to your Buffer account.

                                                      Streamline marketing automation at scale

                                                      The best way to streamline your sales workflows is to go beyond a simple two-step Zap. When you start with the bigger picture, you can find even more opportunities for scaling while improving efficiency.  

                                                      For example, here's a visualization (using Zapier Canvas) of how a hypothetical marketing team might build an automated marketing process that collects and nurtures leads, boosts repeat sales, cross-posts content at scale, and ultimately funnels them down the sales pipeline.

                                                      Screenshot of canvas breakdown of marketing automation

                                                      Modern marketing isn't just about automating a few tasks—it's about orchestrating a seamless experience across every tool, channel, and team. With the right automation services in place, you can scale your efforts without sacrificing personalization or control.

                                                      Zapier makes that orchestration possible. By connecting your entire marketing stack, you can build flexible, automated systems that respond in real time to customer behavior and business needs. Get started and see what you can build today. 

                                                      This piece was originally published in May 2020, with previous contributions by Nick Moore and Krystina Martinez. It was most recently updated in May 2025 by Elena Alston.

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