IPA IP 2024 Question 1
A question IPA Japan published in 令和6年度 ITパスポート試験 公開問題 問1, translated into English. ITPEC is based on the same exams.
Which of the following is the most appropriate description concerning marketing automation (MA)?
Explanation
Making the identification, acquisition and nurturing of prospective customers more efficient — marketing automation is software that automates the work of turning prospects into customers.
An MA tool collects data on prospective customers (leads): web visits, downloads, email opens, event attendance. It scores each lead by its level of interest, sends each one content suited to its stage (lead nurturing), and hands the leads that are ready to buy over to sales, often through SFA or CRM. The repetitive marketing work before a sale is automated, so sales staff spend their time on the most promising prospects.
Answer (d)
Why not others:
- •(a) — analysing the large volumes of data accumulated in a company and using them in business strategy is business intelligence (BI)
- •(b) — collecting, accumulating and analysing information for each product sold in retail and services is a POS system
- •(c) — having software robots take over routine manual work is RPA (Robotic Process Automation); the word automation alone does not make it MA
Key rule: MA automates marketing before the sale (finding and nurturing leads); SFA supports the sales staff's own activities; CRM manages the relationship with existing customers.
Business Strategy Management · AI-written, may contain errors
This question comes from the past questions IPA Japan publishes, translated into English by ITPEC Practice. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with IPA or ITPEC. See the original paper (PDF) or Report an issue.